(urth) The Secret House Within BotNS

[Lee Berman]

>A.P. Marques- 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.
 
Antonio, I feel your pain. For the longest time I could see all these clues and 
hints of clues but I had no idea what Wolfe was really trying to get at. Perhaps
I still don't, but I think I have some idea.
 
It may be that Gene Wolfe is just light years smarter than anyone else. Or perhaps, 
as he describes Agia, he is just better at making puzzles for others than at solving
them. But I think he is an extremely intelligent, learned guy who spent years trapped
in an agricultural/mechanical college, in the army, in a boring engineering job with
all sorts of intense thoughts about religion and philosophy and history and science all
boiling around in his brain with no outlet.
 
So, in broadest terms, I think that's the Secret House of BotNS, a mixture of 
autobiography and a desire to be understood by a guy so smart he is really hard to
understand. I think there are some aspects woven within the story which are inspired
by details of Gene Wolfe's personal life. Some of these will be accessible to us via
online biographies but others will not. (actually I think Horn's relationship with 
Nettle and his sons comes closest to true autobiography- Mrs. Wolfe is named Rosemary
and rosemary is a member of the nettle family).
 
More specifically I agree with Tim, Ryan and others (esp. Peter Wright) that much of the
sub-text is about how a character such as Severian is prodded and pushed by secret forces
much greater and more knowledgeable than he is to accomplish various supernatural goals.
This concept is interesting in relation to all of humanity, to government and politics, 
to Jesus, to Gene Wolfe and his own life and even perhaps the reader and his/her own life.
 
Even more specifically, I think Gene Wolfe is trying to address the question of the 
purpose of the pagan world in regard to Christianity. What purpose did God have in leaving
humanity to suffer through the pre-Christ, pre-Moses ages where petty gods and monsters
jerked us around? Why did God make angels knowing some of them would fall. Why did he put
Adam and Eve (Meschia and Meschianne) in Eden, knowing they'd succumb to temptation? Why
did he make earth knowing he'd have to cleanse it with a Flood, etc. 
 
Well, perhaps the exact "why" is beyond us. But BotNS might be Wolfe's answer as to "how",
i.e. God uses agents, sometimes human, sometimes evil, sometimes superhuman, to achieve His 
ultimate goals. And that's why we see so many shape-shifting, animalistic, human-mating
gods and monsters in the mythology of ancient people. The process of corrupting then 
cleansing humanity through Floods and Christ and who knows what else in the future is a 
neccessary part of our spiritual development. (and perhaps other beings, as seen on Blue)
 
For me a story which goes beyond itself to address divine issues, issues for all humanity,
and personal issues for author and reader is more enjoyable than a simple plot. And that is 
why trying to map out the Secret House of this story is worthwhile for me. Could I find
so many secret, relevant, interesting connections in, say, Robinson Crusoe? I don't know. I
haven't tried, but I don't think so. I've read it many times but I never got the overwhelming
sense that I was missing something as I did with BotNS. I know I am not alone in that feeling.
 
(p.s.I am not religious myself, it is the religious mind of Gene Wolfe that I find so interesting). 		 	   		  
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