(urth) Father Inire theory

[Andrew Mason]

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Thanks for this, Lee. Let me see what I can make of it.

Is Inire a shape-shifter?  I'm inclined to say not, because in the
scenes where it's most generally agreed we see him, he's masked or
hooded - and as Jeff Wilson pointed out, this means he can actually
'disguise' himself by revealing his face - also in one case he is
naked, which is another form of disguise. In addition, Severian refers
to his life being prolonged beyond the short life-span of his race,
which suggests he belongs to the same species as Barbatus and
Famulimus, who, again, are masked. But all these disguises would not
be needed if they could change shape. (Of course, we are told that he
- if he is the jungle shaman - can change into a tiger. But this seems
rather unhelpful; Severian never meets a tiger.)

Human/alien breeding. The most relevant passage here is from _Urth_
where Gunnie is talking about the jibers; she says sometimes people
from two different origins pair up and have children, but the children
themselves are normally not fertile. It's not clear, though, if she
means people of completely different origins, or people of human
descent on different planets, who have evolved away from one another,
as we know happens. (Though if such a person came to Urth, might they
still be called a cacogen?)  This leaves me rather doubtful about
whether Inire can be anyone's grandfather. (Sex between humans and
aliens is certainly possible, witness Apheta, as Ryan Dunn points out;
the question is about offspring. I know Severian and Apheta have
offspring of a sort; but not biologically.)

(If Inire's species _can_ breed with humans, though, might the other
monkey-like people be his children?)

Thematically; might Severian's having alien descent spoil his status
as the epitome of Urth? Or should we see cacogens as now part of the
community of Urth - or perhaps Inire as having, by choice, become part
of it? I have an idea that we are meant to see Severian as descended
from people who represent all the classes of the Commonwealth - Dorcas
is an optimate, her husband is commonalty, Catherine was religious by
vocation, and either exultant or armiger by birth, or perhaps a
mixture of the two (that Severian has some exultant blood is suggested
by the fact that several people mistake him for one). We just have to
get a servant of the throne in somewhere, or perhaps Severian can
represent them himself. Might there also be a cacogen? It would be
appropriate in some ways, not in others.

(I'm not suggesting people believe this just because it's thematically
appropriate. I'd like some clues as to who his exultant and armiger
forebears were. But given the way Wolfe writes, it's quite possible
there are such clues, waiting to be discovered.)

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> I tried to peruse the text for more possible appearances of Inire and most of those
> I found have been mentioned by others in the previous thread. The one that hasn't been
> mentioned is the one that has caused the most objection to my version of the theory in
> the past: The Boatman. He is a small, bent old man though with no monkey features or
> obscured eyes mentioned. I find the fact that he hangs out in the Botanic Garden and
> discusses Father Inire's appearance (same as his own) and actions to be clues that he is
> a possible version of Inire, though others disagree.

I don't find that persuasive - that he reports having seen Father
Inire strikes me as evidence that he is _not_ the same person. But I
realise that 'I don't find that persuasive' is, itself, not
persuasive, so here are a couple of more substantial points. First,
how significant is it that the boatman _now_ looks something like
Inire, if, as I take it, he has not always done so? Did he look like
that when he lived with Dorcas? And second, Severian sees a piece of
paper with the boatman's name on it - the chart giving details of
Dorcas's burial - but, he claims, doesn't take it in. I'm fairly sure
this name is meant to be significant in some way. Presuably it isn't
'Inire'. But if it's an assumed name, why create the air of mystery
about it?