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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=severiansola@hotmail.com
href="mailto:severiansola@hotmail.com">Lee Berman</A> </DIV></DIV></DIV>
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One thing to consider- if Jolenta is really Severa the ex-witch, then Merryn and
the<BR>> Cumaean are being deceptive in pretending they don't know her.
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">A
good point. You would expect them to know her. Definitely a strong
point against her having been a witch.</DIV></DIV>
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There is evidence they<BR>> are being deceptive. Firstly, they pretend
Hildegrin is not there. Also, they might be<BR>> pretending they don't
recognize Severian as a torturer and that they have arranged this<BR>>
meeting with him on purpose (a coincidence that two witches from the Citadel and
<BR>> Severian's childhood happen to appear in the middle of nowhere to
intercept his journey? <BR>> I don't buy it).<BR><BR>It seems not unlikely
that devotees of Vodalus and those who deal with them tend towards discretion
when they meet strangers. As for the rest: it’s a story; building
conspiracy theories on the coincidences inherent to stories achieves
nothing. </DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><BR><BR>> Even after Severian introduces Jolenta by name, the witches do
not call her that name.<BR>> She is just "the sick woman". In my view, this
episode could be one of a string of<BR>> pre-arranged situations, complete
with rehearsed lines, designed to test and/or poach<BR>> Severian's nascent
New Sun powers of healing and resurrection by those who only have <BR>> a
dark, perverted version of that power. (the Lake of Birds, the avern battle,
Typhon, <BR>> etc. are further examples)<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Such a theory has the advantage that everything naturally deducible from
the text can be waved away and ignored. <BR> <BR><BR>> > Gerry Quinn:
Why the fear of posting it, if all posters but I would consider it
evidence?<BR><BR>> Heh, heh. Fear? Nice try. Actually I do respond to all
polite requests when I can. I think you<BR>> have been making an effort
lately Gerry, but I still don't really trust your sincerity yet. I<BR>> hope
you can understand that.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>You’re repeating your lines. But I wasn’t making a polite request
above. I was pointing out that if you had anything, you’d have posted
it. If your “evidence” is worth anything, my words cannot negate
it.<BR> <BR><BR>> > A worse problem, perhaps (for Jolenta as
witch-Severa, is Wolfe’s selection of her as an <BR>> > exemplar of the
commonality.<BR><BR>> And choosing Severian, (her twin?) as an example of
servant of the throne. On the other hand, <BR>> by doing this he does bring
both characters to mind and asks us to compare them and their social
<BR>> class. Social class is related, in part to height, and Jolenta is tall,
like Severian.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Tall is sexy in the Commonwealth, for precisely that reason; thus Jolenta
is tall. We are not told, however, that the waitress
is.<BR> <BR><BR>> Keep in mind, Gerry, that Jolenta as Severa is only a
suggestion. There may have been no intention<BR>> by WOlfe to include a
Severa. It seems quite clear that Jolenta-as-Severa can't be proven or
<BR>> disproven with the evidence we are given. I'm comfortable leaving it at
that. </DIV>
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<DIV>Indeed, even Merryn has considerable defects as a candidate, and it may
very well be that no sister-character exists at all. That said, the
question of whether something can be proven or disproven rests substantially on
one’s standards of proof.</DIV>
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<DIV>- Gerry Quinn </DIV>
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