Contrary to the information on the title page of The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe did not write the novel. Instead, the protagonist of the tale, Severian, the apprentice to the torturers, recounts the story of his experiences in the first person. The author clarifies his distant role in the Appendix, in "A Note on the Translation" where he explains that he is merely the translator of Severian's writing from "a tongue that has not yet achieved existence -- into English" (211). Here, he speaks of Severian as the real author of the tale as he explains such things as, "Severian sometimes seems to assume that an extinct species has been restored" (211). Severian possesses an essential quality which makes this unique choice of narration possible: he remembers everything.
It is my nature, my joy and my curse, to forget nothing. Every rattling chain and whistling wind, every sight, smell, and taste, remains changeless in my mind, and though I know it is not so with everyone, I cannot imagine what it can mean to be otherwise. [Wolfe 11]
Severian looks back on his journey with the awareness of events to come, as he explains "I gathered up the books and hurried along, though I did not know it, to meet my destiny and eventually myself in the Chatelaine Thecla" (48), and also the knowledge gained from his experiences, "I am wise now, if not much older, and I know it is better to have all things, high and low, than to have the high only" (182). Also, as Severian writes "During the brief time I have occupied the throne," he hints at his position after the tale ends (164). At many points in his narration, Severian addresses the reader directly with the expectation that he or she is familiar with the fantastic world, "No doubt you . . . have perhaps seen the Wall many times, and perhaps passed often through one or another of its gates" (207). Not only does Wolfe completely include the author in the story, but the reader as well.
1. How does this narrative style affect the reader in relation to the narrations of other fantasies read?
2. Why does the author remove himself completely from the position of writer, passing himself off as merely the translator of the tale?
3. What effect is produced by Severian's knowledge of events to come and general wisdom in recounting his tale? Does this weaken the suspense of the reader?
Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer in Shadow & Claw. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1981.
Last modified 24 April 2004