(urth) fully divine and fully human

Son of Witz sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org
Tue Nov 25 23:03:44 PST 2008


On Nov 25, 2008, at 5:03 PM, Marc Aramini wrote:

> The complexity of Wolfe's symbols are beyond simple  
> categorization.  The claw is both a divine relic and an ordinary  
> thorn.  Severian is both the conciliator and a dupe of aliens.  Time  
> turns our lies into truths.
>
> The church has similar mysteries - three in one, the substance of  
> christ being fully divine and fully mortal, and other paradoxes that  
> can't be explained but can explain other things.
>
> The most basic perusal of the text assures us that terms for God are  
> translated as New Sun - the sun dial for example.  The conflation of  
> new son and new sun, as well as the symmetry of all the titles leads  
> us to the obvious conclusion that the narrator is torturer,  
> conciliator, lictor, autarch, and new sun.
>
> This was obvious to me in the seventh grade when I read this as a  
> tale of  the parousia, but Severian is more than a revelatory Christ  
> - the text tries very hard to establish credence as divine by the  
> use of saints names, the miracles, contiguous use of water and  
> healing, the triumph over death - but there are diabolical forces at  
> work that mimic the divine.  The coin of vodalus is a symbol of the  
> sun, but it is false.  Severian is both a fraud and a conciliator,  
> and this is something that I can find only in Wolfe. A false Christ  
> can still get the job done by pretending to be what he wants the  
> people to believe he is.


you're surely right.
the diabolical forces that mimic the divine part is especially apt.  
and I suppose surely one could argue that the cosmology is bogus and  
he is 'just' a dupe.  I like the ambiguity.
this is the sense I meant with the satanic catholic church comment.   
I'd say the same about many yogis and such as well.
I also found the false coin very profound.  I took it somehow as about  
the false oaths, oath breaking, and , how would you put it, improper  
allegiance.

having just read it my second time, I suppose I'm just geeked on all  
this and surprised how thorough and consistent it seems to be within  
the seemingly convoluted structure.  I didn't get it at all the first  
time. Early in Urth, I sort of got it, but I agree with Jordon that it  
is sort of a spoiler to the puzzle. The first read through was a  
serious WTF?!?!? for me. the second was more exciting than any fiction  
I've read.  Upon rereading, I was determined to pay close attention to  
the clues, figuring that the 4 books should have a tight symbology if  
it was really suggesting all that Urth was giving away.  I was not  
imposing this Christological viewpoint.  this stuff all just started  
springing out at me. surely somewhere in me my inner cathaholic was  
suggesting it all.

really great to hash this stuff out with you all.
thanks.
~SonOfWitz
who is really just Mike, but I hate having my name all over the  
internet.
sometimes the pseudonym seems obnoxious though.



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