From: raster@highfiber.com (Charles Dye)
Subject: (urth) re: Palaemon's exile
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 13:25:48 

Dan Parmenter <dan@lec.com> writes:

> [snip]  Remember, the scene that I cited was of Winnoc (the Pelerine
>slave) recounting being whipped by Palaemon.  [bobbitt]
>
>Incidentally, Palaemon's behavior and words when he sends Severian on
>his way are very odd.  First he claims that Thrax is by the sea.  Then
>he tells Severian to pay attention to his good advice but remarks that
>Severian would probably forget it all.  Palaemon, who we are told
>elsewhere was fond of Severian for his perfect memory.

I don't find the first error odd at all.  Palaemon, who is sending
Severian into exile, is naturally reminded of his own exile.  Severian
is heading upriver, but old Palaemon is confusing it with his own
journey downriver to the coast.  Winnoc, you recall, was "planning to
sign aboard a certain ship" when he got an offer from the Pelerines.
Winnoc was still in his hometown, where Palaemon presumably beat him,
since he made a side trip to visit his mother before leaving.

Palaemon also gets in a sly evasion in this chapter.  He states that
guild members have been dispatched before, "though whether those were
such cases as this the chronicles do not say."  He doesn't tell
Severian that he doesn't know; he just reports what "the chronicles"
have to say!

raster@highfiber.com


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