(urth) The Politics Of Gene Wolfe

Marc Aramini marcaramini at yahoo.com
Sat Jul 3 09:59:48 PDT 2010


Of course Wolfe as an exmilitary man at the end of his seventh decade is going to have an affinity for weapons.  My father, now seventy and an ex marine, always had a gun in the house, took me shooting as a child, taught me boxing, and completely embraced the martial 
culture as necessary to protect the people that you love.  I was always taught if someone came in the house kill them and put a weapon in their hand and if they almost get out the door drag them back in. He doesn't go anywhere without his gun and has a concealed weapon permit.

I imagine Wolfe is more devout than my father, but my mother is a devout catholic and also exmilitary and weapons are normal, just a part of every day life. What is surprising about someone who fought in Korea recognizing that weapons are necessary in life when someone else may hurt you?

On Fri Jul 2nd, 2010 12:02 PM PDT Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

>On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 11:30 AM, Jack Smith <jack.smith.1946 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 4.  Guns frequently appear in Wolfe's contemporary American settings, like
>> Castleview and Free Live Free.
>
>...not to mention very prominently in _The Sorcerer's House_.
>
>
>> Of course, weapons may just be used for dramatic effect.   However, our
>> author seems to believe that weapons can be used for good as well as evil.
>> No blanket condemnation of lethal force and lethal instruments.
>
>Weapons as such are morally neutral objects. It is their use that is
>morally fraught. As the saying goes, "Gods don't kill people;
>religious fanatics kill people."
>
>-- 
>Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
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