(urth) The Two Coins...
Gerry Quinn
gerryq at indigo.ie
Sat Aug 14 06:53:39 PDT 2010
From: "Ryan Dunn" <ryan at liftingfaces.com>
> On Aug 14, 2010, at 7:24 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote:
>
>> No, there was positive ID from Ouen's locket, and lots of supporting
>> evidence. Also the narrator plays detective and finds this out with no
>> particular reason for us to doubt it, which IMO is a literary signal that
>> this is canon.
>>
>> The hypothesis that Dorcas is Severian's grandmother has distinctive
>> characteristics that many such hypotheses lack...
> No, the positive ID was that Dorcas was Ouen's mother, if I recall. The ID
> that Severian was their grandson was based on Ouen's profile, based on a
> comment by the Innkeep off-handedly (right?).
>
> I happen to agree with you, I'm just saying, if we can draw such a
> conclusion based on such an ID, then we can do it elsewhere. Severian, at
> many points in the story, seems to be nudging to reader without speaking,
> as if to say "look at this".
>
> He does it with those stinking coins, that's why I begged the question,
> "what's going on here? anything?"
Fair enough about the locket, but there was certainly some explicit
detective work on Severian's part afterwards. I don't think anything
similar occurs in most cases, so I think the Dorcas thing has a particular
authenticity that most such ideas lack.
- Gerry Quinn
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