(urth) Father Inire - Hethor

[Andrew Mason]

Jerry Friedman wrote:

> Severian meets Isangoma, who is naked,?in Father Inire's Botanic Gardens.? Same with Severian meeting Dorcas.? She has an attractive slender figure, the female equivalent of Isangoma's "sinewy frame".? Isangoma sees Severian as a tokoloshe, and Dorcas briefly sees him as a vampire.? Isangoma tells a supernatural story that gets interrupted, and Dorcas tells Severian a story of the Conciliator?and then can't remember the darker legends.? Isangoma?banishes Severian from the hut, and Dorcas banishes him from her life.? Who better to keep an eye on Severian at times and lead him to the right experiences than Dorcas?? And of course, if Severian suspected Dorcas was Inire (or just Isangoma), he'd be reticent about it.

It seems to me that the Isangoma-Inire theory has more going for it
than the Isangoma-Dorcas or Inire-Dorcas theory. The difference is
that we have quite an elaborate backstory for Dorcas - though, to be
sure, not a complete one - and know more or less what she was doing in
the place where Severian found her, so identifying her with another
character would subvert what we think we know. Isangoma, by contrast,
is a mystery, with no other roots in the story, and has some
definitely puzzling features - why does he have an African name but
look South American? Why can he see Severian and Agia while Marie
cannot? This, I think, makes it not implausible that he is someone
else in diguise; and since Inire is known to be disguised on occasion,
and on one of his appearances is described as looking like Isangoma,
he is a likely candidate.

Of course, it doesn't have to be so. The problem with reading Wolfe is
that we know some things are hidden beneath the surface, but for every
proposed theory about them there are also rival theories which are
equally possible. Nevertheless it seems to me that this one is
relatively reasonable.