(urth) The mystery of the image of an astronaut cleaned by Rudesind

David Stockhoff dstockhoff at verizon.net
Mon Jul 5 12:15:49 PDT 2010


I forgot about the second time Rudesind appears, when he says something 
odd about the painting of Inire, but also that there is a painting of 
himself. He seems confused and excited. But he was a boy when the 
painting was painted---if he is Inire then Inire was also a boy when his 
was painted. Fechin painted it. Is that possible?

The Autarch then appears, as the procurer, then Inire, but Rudesind is 
gone. So doubling arises in the scene.

Jeff Wilson wrote:
> On 7/5/2010 12:43 AM, Eugene Zaretskiy wrote:
>> Saying that it proves Inire is guiding
>> Severian seems ridiculous to me (and perhaps only me) since Rudesind's
>> directions could have been obtained from anyone, and if Inire wanted
>> to guide Severian in meaningful ways, there were many other, better
>> opportunities to have done so. Why search for masks for the sake of
>> masks?
>
> There is a very strong mask motif in the BOTNS, so of course we look 
> for a theme of multiple or at least dual identities that would be 
> built or established with that motif. It's not the only theme that a 
> mask motif could support, but others like a protective shell theme 
> don't seem to apply - a couple of the earliest images in the book are 
> the collapsed curtain wall and Eata slipping past the guards at the 
> gate, if anything the BOTNS is about transgressing barriers....which 
> disguises help you do as well.
>
> And on his first appearance, Rudesind delivers directions that are 
> *not* available from anyone, in fact the armigers deliberately 
> misguide him and Rudesind literally sets him on the correct path. This 
> is not the only path, as Rudesind admits the other way might let him 
> make it to Ultan's study after more hours of walking. However, the 
> directions given in his second appearance in the more dangerous 
> proximity of the House Absolute are much more crucial.
>
> Or is Rudesind's second appearance rather Inire's first appearance? I 
> wasn't kidding about Rudesind being Father Inire's body double; it 
> would be very handy to have an alter ego who *can* be in the same room 
> with you at the same time, and the irony of a senile old man calling 
> thousand-year-old Inire old and senile and fumblind with a cover story 
> being commuted into a self-deprecating acknowledgment of his 
> reputation and an admission that he's a complete deception is very 
> Wolfean - and parallels Severian's disembly with Thais, Pega, and 
> Odilo on the raft in URTH.
>



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