I don't think that we're ever asked/encouraged/persuaded to think that Severian is anything other than than flawed/wrong/sinful. To me, that's part of his appeal.<br><br>I have never forced myself on a woman. But I share - or at least shared - lots of Sev's faults as a young man. Pride, boastfulness, arrogance. I'm lucky enough to be married to a woman who is equally up-front about her own shortcomings, too.
<br><br>There's *something* about Sev's story that makes me think that, despite his moral errors, he's just one of us. Every Man. And his faults and foibles make his account all the more compelling.<br><br>I believe you can read too much into a story. GW portrayed a flawed, perhaps misogynistic man. Does that mean anything outside of the story? I don't believe so. Any more so than when an actor - a nice guy at heart - portrays the wife-beating-child-abusing-vagrant-slapping character that the producer/director/screenwriter had in mind.
<br><br>At least actors have the luxury of representing just one character at a time. Authors don't have that luxury. They're accountable for all of their characters. And if they were all nice .... well, it wouldn't be much of a story, would it?
<br><br>M<br><br><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/04/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Sarah Dorrance-Minch</b> <<a href="mailto:isobelwren@yahoo.com">isobelwren@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br><br><b><i><a href="mailto:brunians@brunians.org" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">brunians@brunians.org</a></i></b> wrote: <blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;">
<span class="q"> <div>> I did not see much evidence of his being unconcerned with<br>> consent in the books that I did read.<br><br>Screwing a chick in a boat while she is asleep strikes me as being just a<br>little bit unconcerned with consent.
<br></div> <div> </div></span> <div>Was that in the second book? The one my Barnes and Noble used book order canceled? Just my luck. Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that point. At least he's brutally honest about his past. I wouldn't call that sugar-coating.
</div> <div> </div> <div> </div></blockquote><div><span class="e" id="q_111d90c609134df9_3"><br><br>Sarah Dorrance-Minch<br>(in SCA, THL Isobel Wren, called "Midori")<br><br>Mother to Sophie (10/28/02), Liesl (5/17/04) and Kassandra (4/1/07) and
<br>militant lactivist dairy queen. I should wear a cowbell. <br><br>In a dark time, the eye begins to see</span></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>Urth Mailing List<br>To post, write <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:urth@urth.net">
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