(urth) What symbols mean for Wolfe

[Daniel Petersen]

We need the illusion(?) of free
will to function as a human being on a day by day basis. But the devoutly
religious must
somehow reconcile this with the irrational awareness that we are the
creation of an
omniscient and omnipotent God who created the universe knowing it would
irrevocably lead
to every single micro-choice we end up making in life.


Well, many theologies don't at all think it follows from a doctrine of God
(e.g. omniscience and omnipotence) that every 'micro-choice' of creatures
is thereby determined and fixed without reference to the subject making his
or her own meaningful and actual choice.  As I say, I suspect Wolfe is
giving space for these variant theologies to wrestle in the Solar Cycle
rather than simply embodying one or the other.  (As does Catholic teaching
in general, I believe.)

In terms of symbology, the coin, and I'm pretty sure other moments, point
fairly strongly in the direction of some kind of theological determinism
(compatibilist).  The characterisations, as has been suggested, perhaps
point in a more theologically libertarian freewill direction.  What I'm
wondering is whether there are *symbols* in the work that image forth
libertarian notions.  Anyone?

-DOJP

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 2:05 PM, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
>
> >Bill Burgess: I'd find it a little surprising that anyone would think
> Severian was not
> >freely making the decisions which lead him on his path.
>
> I'm thinking Daniel Petersen's comment may have been inspired by
> Severian's/Wolfe's own
> line that "We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they
> invent us; we are their
> creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges.".
>
> This would appear to fly in the face of "free will". How can we fully have
> it if "symbols"
> can control and define our choices?
>
> I think this adds religious philosophical depth to BotNS. We need the
> illusion(?) of free
> will to function as a human being on a day by day basis. But the devoutly
> religious must
> somehow reconcile this with the irrational awareness that we are the
> creation of an
> omniscient and omnipotent God who created the universe knowing it would
> irrevocably lead
> to every single micro-choice we end up making in life.
>
> The quote above is related to Severian's treasuring of the (false) coin he
> received from
> Vodalus and his lack of awareness that accepting the coin led to an
> attachment to Vodalus
> and the values he fought for, which affected his choice to disobey his
> guild in regard to
> Vodalus' follower, Thecla and many other choices after that.
>
> (it does make me wonder what new values Gene Wolfe found himself adopting
> and what choices
> he ended up making based on his acceptance of symbols such as a US
> military uniform and gun)
>
> I wonder if this all relates in some way to the ring Horn chooses to wear
> in Short Sun. I think
> we readers are meant to understand it provides a portal for god-like
> beings to possess him or
> influence his choices. But for Horn, the ring might seem only to have
> symbolic meaning. Perhaps
> a practical example of how symbols might shape us when they represent
> powerful forces beyond our
> understanding.
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