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

[Ryan Dunn]

Any clue to Inire is worth considering and processed however you see fit. Same with speculation on the humanity of other characters.

If Tzdakiel's shapeshifting, Inire's mirrors, Hethor's time traveling pets, time traveling ships, Severian as Apu Punchai is all fair game, then it stands to reason that Inire, who is CLEARLY controlling the goings on of the entire planet, appear in many aspects of Severian's life (unknowingly to Severian) to control his journey, instill character traits, build the right memories, all so that his final test on Yesod comes off successful.

If Zak can change from a strange dwarf thing to a furry monster. Could Inire change from a red wizened ape who could be a man, into Inire, into Fechin, into Rudesind? If he IS doing these things, and spying on Severian's journey, isn't that important?

How is that not important to at least consider? Disagreeing with it is one thing, disregarding this speculation out of hand seems to be a bit brash.

...ryan


On Jul 7, 2010, at 11:49 AM, António Pedro Marques wrote:
> I'll have to ask yet again - clues to *what*, please? IF some of the characters that appear throughout the book are Inire in disguise, then what? What happens? What doors open? What new understanding of the story is enabled? What's the net worth of such a knowledge? What is it that we don't grasp about the book that we'd begin to grasp that way? No one has answered this so far.
> 
> It's as if we posited that Watson's second wife was in fact Mary Morstan's cousin. What would that contribute to the story?