(urth) Urth Digest, Vol 76, Issue 173

[James Wynn]

>> James Wynn:
>> The Rajan calls Hoof, Hide, and Sinew his sons. He warns Hide that Jahlee
>> (in soul travel and bearing the soul of Chenille) could be his "sister or aunt".
>> ResurrectedHorn accepts an inhumu bearing Sinew's soul as his son.
>
> Lee Berman-
> In your theory, Horn also becomes enjoined with a Neighbor named Greenbuck?
> In conjoining all these ungulate animal parts and humans, inhumi and
> Neighbors into his family, what exactly is the Narrator creating?

Well, he /was/ a greenbuck. I don't know his name or whether such 
concepts are valid for Neighbors. The Not Horn becomes the father of the 
Not Sinew. But in a sense, they were father and son. The connection was 
there.

I think Wolfe is, again, exploring the nature of identity. He destroys 
and refabricates Pas through Jerboa and Sand (and Oreb, says I), he 
refabricates Chenille through Jahlee, refabricates Horn in the pit and 
then through Silk, he refabricates Silk in a variety of ways.  I think 
he refabs several other characters throughout the books but lets not get 
into that. He obliterates these identities and restores them to see how 
they react like some evil scientist in his tower.

What what am I beyond my memories? What are we to God? I could see this 
being a very important personal question to Wolfe. Additionally, 
familial titles are a key theological/mythological issue. The Christ is 
called The Son of God (a concept systematically described by the early 
first century Jewish philosopher Philo), but it is a mistake to think of 
him as God Jr. By the same token we call God our Father; Roman Catholics 
make free use of the terms Father, Mother, Sister, Brother; Evangelical 
Christians call each other Brother and Sister. What are the values of 
such relationships (real or titular) to one stripped of physicalities 
such as memory.

In short, Wolfe has many angles. He is accomplishing many different things.

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