From: "Robert Borski" <rborski@coredcs.com>
Subject: (urth) Grandmother Dorcas
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 15:38:46 

In LEXICON URTHUS, in the entry under Dorcas, it reads: "She dies at the
age of sixteen or seventeen while giving birth to her first child, a son
named Ouen."

But in SWORD, Dorcas relates the following: "I lived with my husband above
a little shop, and took care of our child."

Later, in CITADEL, when Severian recontacts Ouen, he asks of him, "Your
father was a shopkeeper. What of your mother?" To which Ouen replies: "I
never knew her, sieur. Cas they called her, but she died when I was young.
In childbirth, my father said."

To me this implies Ouen was the first-born child and Dorcas survives his
delivery, since she remembers taking care of him. When Dorcas becomes
pregnant a second time, however, she dies; Ouen not remembering her means
he was probably still a toddler--certainly no older than three. But did
this second issue survive--which would mean Severian had a paternal aunt or
uncle? For all Ouen's father, the old boatman,  tells us--i.e., he ran a
shop that sold cloisonne and garments; he and Cas were together for four
years, less a month and a week--he never mentions having *any* offspring,
so it's certainly possible the second child (the existence of which Ouen
would be too young to remember) survived. Dorcas' husband being unable to
nurse the child, or perhaps grief-stricken because of his wife's death,
either rejects or abandons his second-born, and so it is raised by others. 

Is there anyone in New Sun who might correspond to this lost aunt or uncle
of Severian's? I'm not sure, but the tendency to produce twins is genetic,
and so if this person later married and reproduced it's not unreasonable to
assume twins might be born, just as Severian and Severa are to Catherine
and Ouen. And if these twins were later to enter the same trade as their
grandfather, or more sinisterly know of each other carnally in the same
fashion as Dorcas and Severian--well, you  can probably guess where I'm
going. 

So I ask you? Is it possible--and please note, this is speculation
only--that Agia and Agilus are also the grandchildren of Dorcas and that
Severian is their first cousin? Could it be the Claw is summoning Agia as
well as Severian to the cathedral tent of the Pelerines?

Robert Borski

   


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