(urth) a lurker asks a question

[Matt Teel]

Hello all.  I'm emerging from underneath my rock to ask a question.  
 
I've read and re-read and re-re-read Book of the New Sun, and part of the fun is figuring out how each chapter, each scene, contributes to the whole.  That's hardest with the earlier chapters, I find, and particularly with Chapter VI: The Master of the Curators.  I love this scene, but other than the need for Severian to get the books for Thecla, I'm wondering what the Point is.  
 
I've gone through the Urth archives and haven't found an answer, so I thought I would bring it to the group.  What does this chapter contribute to the story?  I mean, on a superficial level we certainly get a feel for life in the Citadel, the stagnation of the culture; we get some interesting information about another guild ... but what else?  What am I missing?  Surely there's more to it than that.
 
Thanks.
 
Matt


      
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