From: "Robert Borski" <rborski@charter.net>
Subject: (whorl) Mother Godspeak (Redux)
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:49:40 

Adam S. again, asking:

<What, then, is your interpretation of Horn's statement "I asked the Greater
Scylla on the Red Sun Whorl how I could find Seawrack again. She taught me
how to communicate with her sister here"?

<It can't be that Scylla taught Horn to speak the Neighbors' language, as
your earlier post seemed to imply, because: 1) Horn doesn't need to speak
the Neighbors' language to communicate with the Mother; 2) According to your
reading Horn already knew the Neighbors' language (and in any case the
translation scene was prior to the meeting with Greater Scylla).>

I'll concede you the two points about Horn not needing to understand
Neighbor to summon the Mother, but am uncertain about the question you ask.
Horn has asked the Greater Scylla of Urth how to find his mermaid sweetie
Seawrack; why he believes Scylla knows this is beyond me (is she running an
intergalactic missing persons retrieval service on the side? Are we to
believe she's currently in contact with the Mother?), but apparently she
does, for she teaches Horn how to communicate with her sister--the
Mother--who subsequently tells Seawrack she must go with PassilkHorn on part
II of the Whorl's Great Journey. But again, what is the Mother doing on
Blue? Scylla of Urth at least is trying to take over a world; as Typhon at
one time puts it, "There are powers in the sea now that would rule." But
before the colonists reach Blue, the only "people" hanging around are a few
stubborn Neighbors and some inhumi. I'm therefore at a loss to figure out
the Mother's mission d'être (or why she'd still be communicating with
Greater Scylla, if that's your argument); it must be mighty important,
however, if, as you suggest, Cilinia has somehow convinced her father that
Blue must be their first target of choice. What, in other words, does
Cilinia gain by coming all this way to rendezvous with the Mother? What,
precisely, is in it for her? And why, if Cilinia has schemed so diligently
to be with Greater Scylla's "sister," does she want to go back to her tomb
on Urth and take the long dirt nap?

Somewhat related question to Adam, Blattid, or Alex, whoever cares to
answer: why, in your opinion, does the Mother (rather a benign figure
compared to Greater Scylla) give Seawrack to Horn? And how does she acquire
the mermaid--especially, if, as I've argued, she's really Screadhbhuidhe, a
special talent?

PS. Thank to George Terry for sourcing the ignoramus/agnostic quote.

Robert Borski





*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
*To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request@lists.best.com
*If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth@lists.best.com