Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 12:19:46 -0500
From: James Jordan 
Subject: RE: (urth) Some problems if the Pancreator/Outsider is the

At 03:33 PM 6/12/2002 -0400, Rostrum wrote:

>I assumed that these were deliberate parodies of Islam, Judaism,
>Christianity, etc. by Typhon et. al.  But since Typhon thought it was all
>bunk, he inadvertently incorporated bits that connect to the real God -
>references to Jesus, the Outsider, etc.

         Good point. Hadn't thought of it that way. Just what Typhon might 
well have done.

>I think the only out is to either assume this is an earlier universe or
>that we're not supposed to try to literally fit Severian's adventures into
>Christian Salvation History -- they are an icon of God's work in our
>world, rather than literal speculation about how our story might continue.

         Well put.

> > Well, if I recall, Tzad is a Hierogrammate. But I could be wrong.
>
>P.S. -- Can't resist sharing this: my wife was telling our three-year-old
>twins stories from the Bible and they pointed to the story of the Plagues
>of Egypt and wanted to hear it.  When she got to the part about Passover
>and the Angel of Death, one of girls screwed up her face and said,
>
>"Angels not do that."

         Oddly, Wolfe reacted quite negatively to the God As Torturer idea 
when I presented it to him. I thought "Shadow of the Torturer" meant that 
Severian was God's shadow-agent, torturing the world through distresses 
toward perfection. But Wolfe did not like that. No, no. The whole torture 
business is Severian's horrible background out of which he is struggling to 
emerge as a more decent person. As for me, I like MY idea better! It 
certainly seems to fit the overall narrative better.

Nutria



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