(urth) Faterh Inire

[Lee Berman]

>larry miller: The jungle guide is definetly Inire.  Dorcas husband 

>and Isangoma on the other hand Id have to disagree with you.  Isangoma 

>along with Robert and Marie are just people from our time being observed 

>by Severian and Agia.  Inire being Dorcas husband makes no sense to me
>but Id love to hear any thoughts you have on why you think so.

 

Well, I think I am willing to pursue Father Inire further than anyone else

in the world (except, perhaps, Gene Wolfe and he ain't talkin').

 

At the risk of sounding argumentative, which I don't want to be, I'm curious

about your skepticism regarding Isangoma. Sure that trio is put there for 

to be observed by Severian (not Agia, I think she is a pawn with different

purposes). But why? And what serves to link Urth and Earth if not Father Inire?

Plus we have a jungle shaman who is Inire and an "Isangoma", which means shaman,

in a Jungle Hut, both with dark, metallic skin. The connection is pretty strong 

for me.

 

Dorcas' husband being Father Inire is surely a difficult leap of faith few are 

willing to make. I was willing because I was looking. None of the bits of 

evidence are compelling by themselves. It only makes sense, like a jigsaw puzzle,

if you identify each piece with other pieces around it.

 

So, to start, when an small, old, bent man with a wry neck says Father Inire is a 

small, old bent man with a wry neck I have to start wondering about his identity.  

When Dorcas' husband says he was there when Father Inire planted the averns, 

perhaps he doesn't mean he was simply watching.

 

Just before the Jungle Hut, Severian tells Agia a Father Inire story which seems

to suggest he has a somewhat creepy fascination with young girls (surely a Lewis

Carroll reference, especially when paired with mirrors). I think the consensus for

Dorcas'age when she first gave birth was about 15, so that might qualify Dorcas'

husband as being similar in that regard.

 

Some other non-human literary characters who had a fascination with young human

women were the ancient Greek and Roman gods. They were always falling in love or

lust and changing their form so they could mate with some young ingenue. The 

offspring of such mixed-race matings were usually demi-gods or heroes. I think 

this analogy helps us to understand why Severian is inexplicably special in this

story. Like a Greek hero he falls into fantastic adventure after adventure. He

doesn't always win but nothing seems to be able to kill him and he has special

powers which we eventually find out originate in him, not a blue jewel.

 

Anyway, similar collections of evidence can be used to identify other possible Inire

iterations.  I mentioned Hethor in a recent post.  Fechin and Ceryx are two other

oft-discussed possibilities.