From: James Jordan <jbjordan@gnt.net>
Subject: (whorl) Horn Lives
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 13:11:24 

	I'm finally done with the book, and have not finished all the posts, but 
at this point I'm not at all convinced that Horn is gone and Silk lives. 
Quite the opposite. But I'm not completely sure. Let me make a case for 
this reading, and you can respond.
	Because I think all you guys are wrong.
	We have to pay attention to who the narrator is. Hoof and Hide NEVER 
believed that "Father" was Horn. Neither did Remora. Now Remora CLAIMS that 
he got the narrator finally to see the light and admit that he is Silk? 
Really? Are we supposed to believe this? People have been trying to get 
Horn to do this for over a year, but he knows fully who he is. But when 
they keep it up, as he says himself, sometimes he just stops arguing. Are 
we really supposed to take three pages of Remora's testimony and pit it 
against hundreds of pages of testimony from the narrator? Really?
	Yes, Remora is a "good guy," if definitely annoying. But he has his own 
preconceptions. I don't think he's lying, but I don't think he recognizes 
the truth at all. He sees what he wants to see.
	Sure, the kids who write the final chapters believe he is Silk. Of course 
they do. And so does Remora. But there is no indication FROM THE NARRATOR 
that he ever accepts this, is there?
	Why don't they think he is Horn? Not just because he looks different, but 
because he manifests Silk's abilities, which are not Horn's. But (a) Horn 
has always tried to mimic Silk, and that's part of it. And (b) we have 
Horn's personality in Silk's body. Thus, he manifests Silk's physical genes 
and gifts, becoming an outstanding leader. And he has some of Silk's 
memories, since they are lodged in Silk's physical brain.
	This construction fits perfectly, I submit, with the theology of the book. 
Christians live in Christ, in the body of Christ (both personal and 
churchly), and receive the same Holy Spirit as Jesus received. So, Horn 
lives in Silk's body, and receives the same Oreb. And, feeding on Christ's 
body eucharistically, Christians receive from Him. Similarly, Horn is 
receiving things from Silk's body.
	But Horn's personality as dead and obliterated? No way. It is Silk's 
personality that is gone.
	Now, the narrator does say that he killed Hide and Hoof's father. But this 
could mean several different things, such as that his actions on Green 
resulted in the death of his body. It does not have to mean that a reviving 
Silk drove out the remnants of Horn.
	At the end, the astral body of Horn appears most like Silk. Well, as 
Christians mature they are supposed to become more Christlike. That is, 
their inner selves are supposed to conform to Christ. And in the astral 
sphere, what we see are the inner selves. I don't think that this Silk-like 
appearance of the astral body means any more than that. Similarly, the 
human appearance of the astral inhumi shows that they are becoming human in 
their inner persons.
	It's Horn, folks. First, middle, and last. Horn all the way. Horn becoming 
more Silk-like. Horn "becoming conformed to Christ in the inner man" as St. 
Paul puts it. But Horn. Nobody else.
	There. That's the gauntlet.

Patera Nutria


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