(urth) 5HC

[Lee]

>Gerry Quinn: I mean, what would actually be Wolfe's purpose in intending

>an alternate story?  In what way is a story of two rival aboriginal races, 

>one of which clearly believes its ancestors are human but is incorrect 

>despite its human memories, better than one in which there is one aboriginal 
>race, and one that is of human ancestry just as they say?


>Antonio Pedro Marques: ...making the whole exploration of identity more 
>profound.


I feel Antonio has the answer. One can take a minimalist approach to

interpreting the novel and assume it is just one person who is killed

and replaced. (keeping in mind that before the corroboration of this in a

Wolfe interview, some skeptics felt doubt over whether Dr. Marsch was replaced).


Or one can extrapolate the story to the fullest in which every character

in the book is struggling with personal identity issues (including #5's

family but for different reasons there).


The advantage to the expanded interpretation is that it allows this book to

serve as a sort of Proustian allegory for the human race. It allows Wolfe

to express the sentiment that if we humans think about ourselves deeply 

enough, none of us really knows who we really are or where we really came 

from.


Not everyone enjoys thinking about themselves or the human race in this

manner but this level of interpretation of 5HC exists for those who do

let their thoughts drift in this direction.


>The abo who replaced Marsch, and who would seem well equipped to know...


No. You seem to be assuming that the killing and replacement of humans is a 

conscious function of these creatures. I (and others) are seeing the opposite:


The drive for killing and imitation is an unconscious instinct. The reason for

this is that a conscious awareness that you have killed and replaced somebody

would hinder your ability to imitate them. So from Shadow Children to Abos to

Victor/Dr. Marsch there is a strong self-delusion happening, driving each 

imitator to think they really are their victim and to invent whatever lie is

needed to perpetrate that delusion.


Thus Victor does not continue writing in Dr. Marsch's personal journal to trick 

other people into thinking he is Dr. Marsch. He does it primarily to trick

himself.


>....does not believe in Veil's Hypothesis.  


Exactly. How could an Abo believe in a theory which would expose his deception?


>(Indeed, Veil herself provided a reason to disbelieve it any, pointing out her 

>motivations for wanting to believe it.)


So Dr. Veil both formulates and disbelieves her theory that humans on these planets

have been replaced. Once again, Wolfe gives us a choice. Which story do YOU believe?


>The relaxation method (not principle) was invoked by Marsch to describe 
>what has happened to the clone sequence whose end-product is currently 
>No. 5 - each is now nearly identical to the previous one.



No. Marsch is using this principle to explain to Number Five why his chain of clones

approach is NOT working. There is no adjustment. No adaptation. This is meant as

irony, coming from a being who is (unconsciously) a master of adjustment and adaptation.


Number Five and Maitre's burning frustration is illustrated in the dream sequence. In the

dream, the captain will not untether the ship until he can figure out what is tying the 

ship to the dock. They (Number 5/Maitre) consider themselves superior but don't understand 

why they can't even achieve mastery of this one backwater planet.


Number Five doesn't want to hear it, but the answer to his question is given by "Victor" in 

the guise of Dr. Marsch. Adjustment and adaptation, the exact abilities which have allowed 

the native, imitative species to take over both planets.