(urth) Five Severians -- Severian-as-Clone

[Lee]

>David Stockhoff: Technically, Severian is a demigod.

Agreed! And for me that eggs the questions:

What are Typhon-Pas, Echidna and Scylla?

What are Tzadkiel, F, B and O?

What are Father Inire and The Cumaean?

What is The Outsider?

If we condense the ancient god pantheons and judeo-christian beliefs
into one scheme (as I think Wolfe does), I think we can make some very good,
definitive guesses. Especially if we conflate the ancient pagan gods with 
judeo-christian demons.

Prometheus/Azazel is an example of the ancients doing just that. Jove/
Jehovah may be something similar.

>Paul Watson: First, it's a family mausoleum, but I can't get that one to fit 
>(too many of Severian's relatives still alive during the BotNS to account for 
>2 open coffins).

I think it works as a family mausoleum if the family is one such as found in 
Fifth Head of Cerberus with Mr. Million, Maitre and Number Five. Especially if
we can concede that all of them, in some way, can be seen as "Gene Wolfe".

>Marc Aramini: I never much cared for this kind of stuff, Jolenta as Marilyn Monroe 
>and whatnot.  Of course autobiography is in there in some way shape or form , but this 
>kind of mapping always rubbed me as interpretationally barren.  

I agree and disagree. I think it serves the general principle of acknowledgement
of autobiography, which is so important it can barely be overestimated. But the problems
kick in from being too detailed, subjecting each element to scrutiny and debate.

For example I think Marilyn Monroe is not the best choice as a model for Jolenta.
She is too blonde and not busty enough. OTOH, there was a drab looking Hollywood 
brunette named Margarita Cansino who was transformed into "The Sex Goddess". With a 
huge make-over, which included plastic surgery and red hair dye, she became the silver screen 
bombshell Rita Hayworth. Her famous pin-up (seen in Shawshank Redemption) 
remained popular among soldiers through the Korean war.

I could argue with myself that Tina Louise, another busty, red-headed screen bombshell 
makes a good candidate for Jolenta also. Her dynamic on Gilligan's Island as Ginger 
in contrast with the pretty but less glamorous Mary Ann, is very similar to what we see 
between Jolenta and Dorcas.

But such arguments, while perhaps fun, distract from the original autobiographical message
which I think is more important than identifying exactly what element from the real world
matches elements in Wolfe's fiction.