Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 21:28:32 -0700
From: maa32 
Subject: (urth) catamites and narrators

Just a short note based off an old point made by James Jordan:
he claimed that Wolfe would never have a protagonist with homosexual 
encounters.  However,there is some evidence that works against this both in 
Fifth Head of Cerberus, in the relationship of Blood and Musk, and in the 
strange commentary made by Severian about little Severian - (when he insists 
that he didn't have anything to do with molesting the child, who would have 
thought of that before he brought it up?  He plants the seed in the mind with 
his occupatio - "I didn't do it, so don't think I did")

Blood and Musk aren't evil becuase they are homosexual.  Not even in Wolfe.  
To have Severian defend himself creates a bit of suspicion, doesn't it?  And 
Additionally, Mr. Borski has already elucidated on the strange preoccupation 
with circumsicions and various other repressed evidence of homosexual behavior 
in The Fifth Head of Cerberus, available at Cave Canem.  For an author who 
should be a bit opposed to it, there seems to be an awful lot of it in his 
books - and a lot of it that goes relatively uncommented upon, too.  While 
Wolfe may be clearly anti-feminist at times, I don't pick up this hostility to 
the very idea of homosexuality.  After all, he loves Proust's Remembrance of 
Things Past.  Just my two cents on something that was said many days ago.  
Sorry I'm so far behind.
Marc Aramini



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