Secret of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence
Question: I just finished the "The Citadel of the Autarch" and somewhere early on in the series it's mentioned that Master Palaemon whispers to Severian the secret of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence which "he never revealed to anyone, save once"?
Does anyone know to what this refers or have more information to make sense of this part?
MY ANSWER
1)It's also something he commits to to help steady himself. He argues that he and his fellow torturers "are the only sound stone.” Integrated, tight, eternal, consistent. Severian does not like being unsteadied. Being unsteadied, being made to realize, outside of his desire to actually realize them, that within him are desires to destroy and mutilate Jolenta so to wipe her self-contentment of her face, is what drives him to rape her. After the rape, he finds himself, steadied.
Interestingly, torturers are made to seem admirable in the text for their willingness to obey, their absolute reliability to do so in a world where almost nothing can be relied upon, but Severian also allows into his text a prompt to possibly compare them THEREFORE to ascians. We are told:
“They keep little guard,” Agia whispered. “Vodalus told me their leaders are so well obeyed they can scarcely conceive of treacherous attack. In the war, our soldiers surprise them often.” Here, this absolute willingness to obey, isn't made to seem the only thing that keeps the Commonwealth afloat, it isn't the steady stone, but instead more like a psychological defect, a crack in the armour, that in fact makes their own society vulnerable to attack.
2))I'll say that I think your exploring it as means to alleviate guilt is something I would agree with as well. Only I think Wolfe meant for Severian to be right about the necessity of having some part of the civic structure being absolutely reliable, being thoroughly professional. It's like knowing that people counting votes in American politics, will do the count right, regardless of whether Republican or Democrat, bcs that's what counters do.
So Severian doesn't follow orders reluctantly, but because he believes it's what keeps order from devolving into chaos. He's ruminate on this a lot. This said, when Severian tells us that he will obey the leader of the Pelerines bcs that's what torturers do, obey, this is a different matter. He isn't obeying her bcs it keeps the commonwealth intact or for matters of this sort, but because being the arm of this "queen" makes him feel like a "good boy," committed to reigning a "bad boy," who refuses to obey her commands and return home. It's now much closer to what the Ascians are about, which isn't about high minded principles, but about automatic masochistic surrender to a leader to gain her favour and approval.
When WizardKnight's Able goes to Skye after.... SPOILER ALERT he dies, he obeys the princess there and lets her do all the thinking for him, basically for the same sordid reason. He explains it as a deliberated decision, but it feels like an Ascian-akin surrender of self. It's just so much easier to be an extension of her rather than someone who might counter her, and go chase down those the realm decides for him are "bad boys," like the angrborn. This is lack of mind, not being intellectual and high-minded.
In UotNS we come to understand that Severian was chosen as the New Sun, in part, because he is willing to do the unthinkable to the entire planet.
MY REPLY
He was chosen because, deprived of a mother, a fact that lent him to project his mother onto other obvious targets, those who are tall or with large breasts, he would inevitably project his mother onto Urth as well, like we do when call our planet our Mother Earth, or our own countries, our own Mother Countries. Then all he needed to do was imagine the planet as hurt, as with a deep wound -- which he does -- and then as a good boy who is hoping to claim the love he knew so little of, he would commit himself to saving Mother Urth even if it would mean castration or death. Nothing would stop him. It's too overwhelming powerful a desire in boys who have found themselves mostly outside their mother's attention and love. This is why he was selected. Owing to his early background, he would have no genuine ability to choose another course. Laura, in "There are Doors," chooses Green for the same reason. She knew, given he missed his mother so badly, he could not help but project his mother onto her, and this would mean she could use him for the purposes she had set out to use him for.
https://www.reddit.com/r/genewolfe/comments/1ai94ul/question_about_the_guilds_secret_in_book_of_the/