(urth) Overthinking/Underthinking "The Fifth Head of Cerberus"

[Gerry Quinn]

On 13/08/2014 13:44, Lee wrote:
> I think the first human contact in the system was the crash of one 
> starship. I think the first human source material the native imitative 
> creatures had to work with was dying or even dead humans. (perhaps 
> only their spirits?). Hence the massive imperfection of Shadow 
> Children as imitative copies of humans. They struggle with even the 
> basic (to us) concept that a person = one individual. When Sandwalker 
> and the Old Wise One are in the pit together, they try to touch each 
> other at different times and each time the Shadow Child proves too 
> insubstantial and passes right through Sandwalker's body.

But The Old Wise One is NOT a Shadow Child.  He is not physical, but 
created from the consciousness of the nearby Shadow Children and (as an 
increasing proportion) Sandwalker.  It's very clear that the Shadow 
Children are solid humanoid creatures (if they were not, they would 
provide unsatisfying meals for the Marshmen), and that the Old Wise One 
(whom Sandwalker first assumes to be a ghost, and who notes that once he 
was sometimes called the Group Norm) is different.

> We are given a story that chewing a certain weed has changed humans 
> into Shadow Children. Maybe we can accept that stunted growth an bowed 
> legs could be the result of such a thing. Shining eyes and telepathic 
> powers are a lot more questionable. And intangibility seems too much 
> of a task to ask of any weed. 

The effects don't extend to intangibility.  But telepathy creates the 
intangible Old Wise One.

> Conversely, if Shadow Children are indeed the offspring or product of 
> shadowy, native beings, everything about Shadow Children makes sense 
> to me. Their name, their imperfect human form, their telepathy, their 
> pluralism and their intangibility are all explained. The Old Wise One 
> also makes a comment about them being there when men first arrived. He 
> then admits he is confused and doesn't know which story is true. With 
> this, I think Wolfe is clearly giving his readers the choice of which 
> story to believe. And, as this discussion demonstrates, some of his 
> readers prefer one story and others prefer the other. 
And his confusion only starts as the Shadow Children are eliminated and 
Sandwalker forms an increasing part of his consciousness.

This is all made quite explicit in the text.

- Gerry Quinn