The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Map of the Whorl

Apocalypse of "The Fifth Head of Cerberus"

What, if anything, does it suggest regarding Wolfe's view of human genetic engineering that has his clone family is thematically the beast of the Book of Revelation?

Rev. 13
1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads  and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.A 3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast...B 

9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints...C

11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon... 12And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed... 14And deceived them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.D

16And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.E

Rev. 17
1And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters: 2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.F

  1. The seven heads of the beast that rises out of the sea are the Original, Mr Million, Number Two, Maitre, Number Five, Aunt Jeanine, and David. 

    The beast "rises out of the sea" because Le Mason du Chien is located on peninsula called The Hand jutting it out into the sea. 

    The Original is a kind of dragon because he has, snake-like, shed his skin in a bid for immortality.which  
  2. The Original is the Head that was "wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed" in that he was killed in the brain scan that produced Mr. Million and in that he was resurrected in Mr. Million.
  3. Each clone iteration kills his predecessor and goes into captivity until he returns to Maison du Chien.
  4. The beast that rises out of the earth is Dr. Marsch and V.R.T, because Marsch came from Earth and V.R.T becomes Marsch. 

FURTHERMORE: As an abo, I believe V.R.T. is a kind of dragon. I assert, tenuous as my evidence is, that the primary original form of the abos were the "red luminous worms" that Marsch recorded seeing in the wilderness with V.R.T. 

I say this, because the Shadow Child told Sandwalker that the original abo form was "mostly long."

The theme of "image" pervades all of "The Fifth Head of Cerberus." The Clones are, of course, images, and V.R.T is somehow the twin of the Clones, because he and Number Five share dreams as did Eastwind and Sandwalker. So V.R.T and the Clones are all images of the beast

As the Two-Horned beast, V.R.T comes to Maison du Chien to pay his respects. V.R.T. (the image of Marsch) kills Marsch for some offense to himself. Number Five (the image of Maitre) kills Maitre for an offense to himself as well. 

In my opinion, Mr. Million kills Aunte Jeanine after her usefulness had ended to make way for the return of Number Five to Le Maison du Chien. 
  1. Sambaltique 666, is the address of Le Mason du Chien. 
  2. The Whore that rides on the back of the seven-headed beast is Le Mason du Chien, a brothel. 

See Also
Apocalypse of the Long Sun

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