Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 11:28:26 -0600
From: John Barach 
Subject: Re: (urth) 5HC a good introduction to wolfe? (was Washington

Dan'l writes:

> More: you are to think that he is an n-th generation clone of our 
> own beloved Gene Wolfe. (I believe it was John Clute who gave a
> canonical list of arguments for that being Number Five's real name.) 
> The name is quite fitting, too: the clone-series that includes Five,
> Maitre, and the original of Mr. Million, is clearly a series of 
> vicious predators upon their fellow humans who use genetic 
> manipulation to acheive their ends -- that is, Number Five is a 
> gene wolf. Gene, of course, is short for "Eugene," well-born: that 
> is exactly what Number Five is _not_. He is simply gene, born. Etc.,
> etc. This is full of the kind of play that would delight Derrida if 
> he could ever bring himself to read American SF...

You'll find the arguments at Robert Borski's Cave Canem webpage
(http://webpages.charter.net/rborski/number5.html).  I note, though,
that he says "Number Five's name is the male equivalent of Jeannine or
Jean/Gene."  I'm not sure that "Jean" and "Gene" are really equivalents,
since "Gene" is short for "Eugene" and "Jean" (French) is the English
"John."

But I note with interest that (according to "'A Story,' by John V.
Marsch") on Sainte Anne, all boys are named "John."

   ... his mother called him John (which only signifies "a man,"
   all boy children being named *John*) Eastwind (Ace, p. 84).

If Number Five's name is the French male equivalent of Jeanette, then
he's called Jean, the English of which is John -- the standard name for
any boy on the neighbouring planet, and also the name of John V. Marsch.
Interesting, I said to myself, but significant...?

Speaking of which, is there some significance to "Marsch"?  I note that
John Eastwind and John Sandwalker in "A Story" are named after
circumstances connected with their birth.  And what is John V. Marsch's
middle name?

John


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