(urth) Spiritual and Ecological Sucession

[Jordon Flato]

But that's not Urth, that's Ushas.  The green man lives on Ushas, not Urth.
 So if Wolfe was giving a literal answer to a literal puzzle he was either
lazy, or wrong.





So there.

On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org>wrote:

> On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:48 PM, Jordon Flato <jordonflatourth at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 1:13 PM, Son of Witz <<Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org>
> Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> People keep getting it wrong.
>> Wolfe wrote to Marc, "No, No, No, Green is Urth"
>> NOT "Urth is Green"
>>
>> But Wolfe DIDN'T say "Green is Ushas", which to me would have made it
> harder to discount it as anything other than a nod toward a literal
> solution.  He said Green is Urth.  This sets up in my brain in a purely
> symbolic/metaphoric resonance.
>
> If Green is Urth (and hey, we're being literal here, so let's not get
> cheeky with this Urth/Ushas are the same thing crap) then Green would have
> to been in Severian's past, pre Ushas conversion.  And that, to me, seems
> completely impossible, unsupported, and just doesn't make sense.
>
> Urth becomes Ushas.  It does not remain Urth.
>
> So if Green is Urth, to me this sets up a clear metaphor that Green is a
> symbol of what Urth would have become without a flood.  A world ruled by
> monsters, taken over by survival of the fittest, and left to rot and decay
> in it's own filth.  Sure it's lush, but it's a lushness of hell.  So, yes,
> clearing the sewers is a highly resonant act to Severian bringing the flood.
>
> And Blue has a number of thematic resonances with Ushas.  So Wolfe has set
> up a great system for us where he can play with the symbolic consequences of
> a Urth without Flood (Green) and an Urth with flood (Blue).
>
> At least that's what strikes me in the moment.
>
>
>
> But UR wrong! And stupidly inferior!
>
> Just kidding.
> I like this. The idea of twin planets, with and without deluge is very
> interesting.
>
> It is possible that Green is some wild future of Urth where the pondscum in
> the Green Men took them over, brought their consciousness into the plant
> consciousness and made canibalistic flora. And It is possible that planets
> could be moved around, for whatever reason, swapping Blue for Lune, and it's
> possible that the Whorl was gone for waaaaaay long and is essentially a new
> ark.  But the book gives us NONE of that.
>
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