Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 11:36:03 -0600
From: James Jordan 
Subject: RE: (urth) Quetzal On Urth? (allegory?)

At 10:55 AM 11/27/2002, you wrote:
>Allegory, typology, or symbolism? Let me explain...
>
>Charles said:
>Well, I don't see it that way, though I'll grant that this is a matter
>of interpretation.  Quetzal identifies himself with the cobra in the
>sense that he's trying to lure A-man and Wo-man from the garden (the
>Whorl) up into his tree (Green) by doing everything possible to carry
>out the Plan of Pas.  My interpretation differs from yours in that you
>see Urth, rather than the Whorl, as "the garden."  Each interpretation's
>validity depends on the point of view.  Yours is valid if Quetzal was on
>Urth, which I do not believe him to have been.
>
>Crush responds:
>I'm afraid I don't agree that your interpretation is feasible. Quetzal says
>that the cobra lured A-man and Wo-man into his tree, BUT (at the time of
>LS3:1) they *had not yet climbed down*. This means that the cobra had
>*already* lured them into his tree. The next part of the story was when they
>climbed down. Now Quetzal is engaging in allegory here, but I don't consider
>it very difficult to understand: Since A-man and Wo-man have already climbed
>the "tree", the "tree" is the Whorl which took them off the Urth. Since
>A-man and Wo-man have yet to "climb down," then "climbing down" is
>disembarking to Green. If I could accept your interpretation, it would make
>many things easier, but, alas, the interpretation does not follow the
>allegory.

Nutria rejoinds:
         Makes sense, but I don't think its the only way to read it. You're 
right I think that serpents are all over these books, and deliberately so. 
But surely Scylla is a serpent also? The title of the chapter is "The 
Slaves of Scylla." Is that what Quetzal is? In that case, going with your 
allegory, it was Scylla who helped or had Typhon build the whorl. It is 
Scylla's tree. In the chapter, Quetzal's own tree is of recent planting.
         I'm thinking that the notion that that the inhumi are slaves of 
Scylla may open some new avenues of investigation....
         Try this: Scylla wanted the Whorl to deposit its people on Blue, 
where she ruled. Quetzal has his own plan, to get them to his own tree: 
Green. On Blue, inhumi are slaves of Scylla, like everyone else. A return 
to Green, to Quetzal's tree, is "the highroad to freedom." Freedom from 
what? From being a slave of Scylla?
         I'm just playing with possibilities here.

Nutria


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