(urth) Drotte-Roche mixup

[Jeff Wilson]

On 4/19/2011 6:49 AM, David Stockhoff wrote:
> Sorry, I forgot to actually say what I was talking about. I meant the
> wrapping-a-body-in-a-body thing specifically. (If a body meet a body
> wrapped in a body coming through the rye...)
>
> Rose's hands appear to be gloves of a kind, that seem to work on both
> bios and chems by covering the limb, not replacing it. That is, I doubt
> Rose actually lost her limbs and needed new ones---she merely lost the
> use of them due to extreme age.
>
> But of course this kind of thing is just a subcategory of prostheses and
> cyborg-robotics in general among Wolfe's characters.

I think it might be part of his theme about how a single action can 
serve many purposes, variously good and evil, ultimately doing the will 
of the Increate. Even Nicky, who wears his own hands in "The Death of Dr 
Island", has a divided self. The non-speaking Nicky crassly gropes , but 
considering how the speaking Nicky can gratuitously simulate the rage 
denied him by medication, it may really be an act of kindness to 
discourage the girl from being too close to his dangerous self.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >