Department of English and American Studies English Language And

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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Jan Zborovský

Satire in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.

2016

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

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Author’s signature

“I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.”

— Terry Pratchett

Table of Consents

1. Introduction ...... 5

2. What is Satire? ...... 6

3. Character Analysis ...... 8

3.1 Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson ...... 8

3.2 Lord Havelock Vetinari ...... 11

3.3 Commander Samuel Vimes ...... 15

4. Racism ...... 20

5. Police and Minorities ...... 26

6. Affirmative Action ...... 30

7. Jingoism ...... 35

8. Conclusion ...... 42

Bibliography ...... 45

Summary ...... 47

Résumé ...... 48

1. Introduction

British author Terry Pratchett has gained worldwide acclaim for his fiction. However, due to his reputation as a fantasy author, he is often neglected in his position as a satirist.

This thesis focuses on examining some of the satire and how it is used to convey the critical commentary on its targets. The satire created in his Discworld novels is timeless, oddly relevant and often comical. Discworld is the world that serves as the setting for

Pratchett's Discworld series novels. The world itself is built on characteristics taken from real world eras and locations. It is also claimed to be ruled by magic, but the magic that appears on Discworld is logical in its existence: "The reason it is fantasy is that it is logical about the wrong things, about those parts of human experience where, by tactic agreement, we don't use logic because it doesn't work properly" ("Imaginary Worlds"

160). Discworld is created in such a way to resemble the real world, thus making it the ideal platform for satire even if it is hidden among fantasy. By deciding to connect his satire with fantasy genre Pratchett created for himself the ideal platform to reflect our world and plant his satire in it.

The intention of this thesis is to pick some examples of satire from the Discworld series and to examine them in connections to both general views on the problematic and in connection to the views of Terry Pratchett. The main focus will be on the City Watch and other city themed novels mainly on the novels: Man at Arms (1993), Feet of Clay

(1996), Jingo (1997), Going Postal (2004) and Thud (2005), thus making the main concerns of the satire be social interactions and politics. The thesis looks at the satire through the viewpoint of Discworld characters and population. The thesis is set up in several chapters: one concerning the theoretical information about satire and how it is used by Terry Pratchett on the base level. Other chapters are concerned with examining

5 some of the main characters that are both vessel for satire and also the ones offering the views on other matters. The rest of the chapters are concerned with the themes of racism and its connections to more focused themes, from affirmative action to its connections with extreme forms of nationalism.

Finally, the thesis seeks to answer the questions of whether the satire in the series reflects Terry Pratchett’s approach to the themes or is just created by him to point out the silliness and flaws in encompassed in the themes and human nature in general.

2. What is Satire?

To allow bigger insight into the topic satire needs to be introduced even if only in its complete basics. Satire, as defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary is “a way of using humour to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc.: humour that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc.” (“Satire”).

Satire is humorous realistic, insightful and absurd at the same time. The genre traces its origin over 2400 years back to the ancient Greece where it first appeared as drama. Soon after the creation of satire in Greece, the Romans restructured it according to their own rules, creating a model for writing satire. Satire is viewed as a lesser genre due to its concerns with the ordinary foolishness of everyday life. Satire is both loved and hated for its attack on the human nature, but is also seen as common due to its focus on mundane as if it was something unusual. One of the bases for satirical writing is the almost arrogance of author because they assume a position of moral superiority over their targets.

Satire is a method of recording reality in a twisted way to make the flaws more apparent.

The danger of satire lies in the fact that if the subject is challenged and parodied in a convincing way it can be taken seriously and cause issues with the readers. The general

6 goal of satire is to shock through the usage of imagery and language and humour. The essential element of humour in satire is what separates it from the more serious genres.

As such satire can be described as a weapon against stupidity and absurdity.

In his pursuit of satire Terry Pratchett creates a neutral setting for his novels to criticise and parody nearly any subject possible. Although by picking fantasy setting he hinders himself as fantasy setting is often seen as a lesser platform and thus, it outshines the critique produced in such works. In the case of Pratchett, his examining of surprisingly many topics from benefits of dictatorship to racial issues his commentary offers thoughtful commentary on the human condition and institutional policy. As a profound satirist, Pratchett writes his novels to comment on many issues and ideas. Even the world on which his novels are based is a parody of an ancient belief. One that the world is flat and that it rides on the back of a turtle through space. This ancient belief was founded in places where people and turtles lived together and the four elephants are based on the

Indo-European variation of the said myth. Within this world, Pratchett creates imitations of political and social organisations and reflects the way people usually thinks about problems. Characters created in his stories often possess characteristics of real figures and are used for satirist purposes while also fitting into the story. These characters are evolved as the times go on through the narration thus, allowing themselves to remain topical even if the sphere they were used to comment on changed. The satire and real world imagery are used by Pratchett to create compelling stories and not to hinder the contents of the novel.

Pratchett combines fantasy and satire in a way that enables him to be both creative and politically charged within an alternate reality, giving him total freedom and adaptability in his satire. He creates a lasting form of satire that is more of a ridicule than

7 an actual attack on the values. His satire serves as both reflections on current events and portrayal of human nature and reactions.

3. Character Analysis

This thesis discusses the usage of satire through some of the major characters appearing in the Discworld series. The characters are often both used as a satire themselves and also as vessels for satirical commentary on the issues they face. The thesis looks at three of the main characters that are often appearing throughout the series. These characters take main roles in the city themed novels from the series but they also sometimes appear in minor roles throughout the rest of the series, they appear both in just mentions or actually contributing to the story in some way. The three characters this thesis will discuss are ruler of the city Lord Havelock Vetinari, Commander of the City Watch

Samuel Vimes and rightful king of Ankh-Morpork and watch Captain Carrot

Ironfoundersson. It will explore their origin and basic characteristics they hold and will also discuss their contributions on the discussed topics.

3.1 Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson

The character of Captain Carrot servers as a lens for the interactions on themes of leadership and monarchy. He is set up as an heir to the throne but at the same time lacks the ambition to follows through on it. He does everything in his powers to stop royalists from revealing his identity and works on stopping their plans to reinstate the monarchy even though he would become the king. Carrot acts as an opposite to the fantasy trope of a boy to be a king. He is the man that will not be the king. This rejection of power is in a clash with the typical stories concerning person rising to kingship through being the rightful heir to the throne. Carrots character is also in conflict with the general ideas of

8 the capitalist society on the upward mobility and what should people strive for. Carrot is happy with his middle of the chain status as he seeks the happiness not in the upper parts of the society and wealth but in the lower class. Carrots downward mobility is maintained on many occasions by Carrot refusing the promotions and instead manipulating Patrician into giving the promotion to Vimes, or by his refusals on the topic of him being the rightful king:

"Perhaps the city does need a king, though. Have you considered that?"

"Like a fish needs a ...er... a thing that doesn't go underwater, sir."

"Yet a king can appeal to the emotions of his subjects, captain. In ... very much

the same way as you did recently, I understand."

"Yes, sir. But what will he do the next day? You can't treat people like puppet

dolls. No, sir. Mr. Vimes always said a man has got to know his limitations. If

there was a king, then the best he could do would be to get on with a decent day's

work-"

(Man at Arms 373)

His views on the need of kings for the city to work are rather negative, he sees flaws in the way Vetinari leads the city but he can also see that abruptly reinstating monarchy would do more harm than good even when people feel the other way. Carrots decision to not rise above the rank of captain is also due to him not liking the idea that people will do what he orders "just because Corporal Carrot says so. Just because Corporal Carrot is

... good at being obeyed" (371). He does not see his almost magical charisma as a good leadership quality as he believes that the chain of command should be based on respect.

His charisma is a tool for achieving obedience but it is detrimental to the actual development of independent following of the orders. Carrot aims for the development of

9 moral agency in the citizens of Ankh-Morpork and not for them to just a game of Carrot says. He wants them to do what is right just because it is right and to follow the orders from the watch officers and not because it is Carrot that hands them out. This view is in contrast with the views of Lord Vetinari who sees the city population just as a herd of animals that need very precise leading otherwise they would not know what to do. Carrot finds understanding for the patrician’s views as he can clearly see that people are not prepared to do something just because they are told it is right. He understands that even though some of their views clash Vetinari is good for the city and that the ideals about kings should just stay ideals as people always want what they do not have. Even tough

Carrot Approves of Vetinari leadership he sometimes makes suggestions that are hard to refuse. In addition to Carrot being the king every citizen hopes for he is also perfect watchman. He is honest and follow the laws to the letter and also might be the only citizen to actually know them. His ideals and strict following of the law caused trouble for him when he first arrived into the city as he went and arrested the head of the Thieves´ Guild.

His strong trust in law is also projected through over the top interactions from arresting dragon attacking the city to arresting whole armies on the basis of "behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace" (Jingo 368). Even though he follows the law to the letter his approach is unique, which he has in common with Lord Vetinari and Commander Vimes

Satire presented in the character of Carrot is one concerned with ideals of capitalistic society and how everyone should strive for the highest possible position. It also plays with the ideas from English literature about rising to the kingship by completely disregarding his upward mobility and focusing on the reality that changing of government might not be the best for the people even when they desire it so much. The satire also explores the idea surrounding the human nature and how people always want what they do not have. Pratchett´s views on the human nature are reflected in their

10 interaction with Carrot as they all blindly listen to him and follow his orders. This view is also reflected in the character of Lord Vetinari and his ideals on how to lead people.

3.2 Lord Havelock Vetinari

One of the major characters used for the commentary is that of a Lord Havelock

Vetinari, the tyrant leader of Ankh-Morpork “under whose idiosyncratically despotic rule

Ankh-Morpork had become the city where, for some reason, everyone wanted to live”

(Going Postal 12). Vetinari is perceived as a despot and also as complete madman with no touch with the people, reality or with how things should be run. Unlike previous city leaders, Vetinari cares for the smooth running of the city over anything else and does not misuse the powers for his personal gains. Even though he is the most discussed leader in the series he is not a typical leader. He is neither democratic leader nor tyrant in the most extreme sense of the word. Vetinari servers as a carriage for Pratchett’s political views and satire. Vetinari’s character is created by a collection of various political leaders from both the bad ones to the decent ones from all kinds of political leanings. This character setup means that while being a combination of certain political views he is not ideal leader for any of those.

The name itself is a play on the name of a Florence ruling family the Medici.

Vetinari can be translated to veterinary rather than the translation of Medici to the doctor.

The name plays along with the notion of the ideals Vetinari holds and his interactions with the city populace and the way he rules them. From his point of view, his absolute power is necessary to lead the city population of animals as they cannot decide for themselves. Vetinari’s rule is that of the balance between force and wisdom. With this in mind, he does what is best for the running of the city and actually follows through on his

11 edicts and that they are fully carried out. Vetinari under his despotic rule transforms

Ankh-Morpork into one of the Discworld superpowers.

Vetinari holds twisted views on freedom he believes there should always be a choice even if the other choice is certain death:

"The prospect of freedom?" he said.

"Exactly," said Lord Vetinari. "There is always a choice."

"You mean ...I could choose certain death?"

"A choice, nevertheless," said Vetinari. "Or, perhaps, an alternative. You see, I

believe in freedom, Mr. Lipwig. Not many people do, although they will, of

course, protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be

completely without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the

freedom upon which all others are based"

(15)

This exchange unveils his views and shows that they are different than the commonly accepted ones. He holds views that everyone is free to make a choice, but he also believes that everyone is free to make such choices if they take into account the consequences.

Vetinari promotes freedom on his victims by giving them a choice of either following his desires or choosing death as the second option. This way of approach to freedom of choice allows him to lead the happenings the way he desires. His totalitarian power allows him to maintain general stability while creating and empowering the image of a ruthless despot who display no sympathy for his enemies. As a patrician he subscribes to the philosophy of that the main priority of a leader should be stability for his subjects. He subscribes to the ideas his family holds by following the family motto which translates

12 as “if it ain't broke don’t fix it”. This motto and his views present him as conservative with disdain to changing things however they may be flawed. Vetinari sees the flaws as inevitable because of the human nature. These views are projected in his approach to crime and how to fight it: "Crime was always with us ... and therefore, if you were going to have crime, it at least should be organized crime" (Guards! Guards! 44). this approach leads to him establishing guilds and the systems surrounding them. By establishing

Thieves’ guild and thus creating licensed thieves he takes care of the problem with crime fighting, as these newly licensed thieves take a personal interest in keeping all of the unlicensed theft to a minimum. This approach allows for bizarre but logical ways of preventing people from getting robbed. It creates a system where citizens can pay upfront to not get robbed and thus buying protection from the guild from the both licensed and unlicensed theft. Vetinari also holds quite a unique approach to the punishment. The really good criminals are given appointment with Vetinari and are offered with freedom of a choice to either work for the city or a certain death. This approach also reflects the ideas about freedom of a choice Vetinari holds. With his approach to manipulating people into doing what he wants while masking it as they are doing what he does not want them to do earned Vetinari numerous city servants. From swindler that leads the city post office to allowing seeker of truth to run fully independent and unbiased newspapers to make his opponents make think twice what they say because he might be listening. By picking servants with the right character traits and thinking Vetinari ensures the working of the institutions they lead and also ensures they suit his purposes.

The philosophies Vetinari subscribes to are formulated in response to the human nature. Vetinari’s understanding of the human nature is that people "think they want good government and justice for all, Vimes, yet what is it they really crave, deep in their hearts?

Only that things go on as normal and tomorrow is pretty much like today" (Feet of Clay

75). Similar to his views on Freedom Vetinari’s concept of a human nature is oddly logical and quite clinical. Vetinari sees his subjects as either children or animals that need the stability and to be led to prosper. Thus, Vetinari chose psychological warfare and the pursuit of stability over actual warfare and possible destabilization it could cause.

Vetinari´s position as dictator is in contrast with the general views on dictatorship which is quite negative. Pratchett presents quite a favourable view of many different types of government. From democracy through theocracy to the already mentioned dictatorship.

Pratchett takes unlikely positive views on the totalitarianism through the despotism of

Vetinari that is focused on establishing order rather than on expansion and disorder.

Vetinari recognizes the negative impact of war and even though he transforms Ankh-

Morpork into a superpower, Vetinari is aggressively against the idea of an empire, as seen in his reaction when presented with the possibility:

Surely a little bit of conquest would be in order?"

"An empirette, perhaps?" said Vetinari sourly. "We use our slaves to create more

slaves? The best we could hope for is that some of us would survive. The worst is

that we could triumph. Triumph and rot. That is the lesson of history, Lord

Downey. Are we not rich enough?"

(Making Money 320).

His aggressive statements on warfare are in clash with his status as dictator and the negative views are projected through his focus on psychological warfare and deception to achieve his goals.

The character of Vetinari servers as a platform for the satire on political leaders and views. The extremely clinical views that Vetinari holds are used to produce working systems even when they seem as completely illogical and impossible for them to work.

The satire also criticizes the systems produced, while they are working they are really not concerned with the people but with the general working of the country. Vetinari views are a satire on the ideas how the general population should be treated in connection with political decisions. It produces views that even when not caring about people as such working systems can be created and that they allow stability for the citizens even if they were not created with them as the main concern. The satire concerned with political leaders is one that plays with the ideas of other satirists that hold only negative views for dictatorial regimes and shows that in right hands even dictator can produce satisfactory results without destroying the people or the country. The satire concerning the positive views reflect Pratchett´s views that no matter what kind of political regime is in power, if it is treated the right way can produce positive outcomes. Some of the Pratchett´s views are also reflected in the views Vetinari holds. The aggressive commentary and fight against imperialistic tendencies is reflection of authors’ views on the matter.

3.3 Commander Samuel Vimes

One of the characters that serve as a carriage for satire is the character of Samuel

Vimes the commander of the City Watch. In comparison to Lord Vetinari Vimes is set up in a different way and thus is portrayed as a different kind of leader. He is set up as a follower of the spirit of the law, being constantly in conflict with himself and as an archetype of the noir style renegade cop. Vimes servers to the Pratchett as a vessel for the more bitter satire. Vimes angry commentary on war, racism, and similarly serious subjects make him into perfect vessel for the aggressive and cynical kind of satire.

Through the series, Vimes rants about the monarchy, criminals, affirmative action and aristocracy among other things that make him vivid. These views are either set up to be taken as instruction or more often to be debunked and challenged. Quite often Vimes

15 challenges his own views when he gains access to more information on the subject.

Thanks to his chronic scepticism and distrust to anything and everything Vimes manages to survive his dangerous job. At the same time, he is being used by the Lord Vetinari, thanks to his hot temper and antiauthoritarian tendencies, to achieve Vetinari’s goals.

While Vimes is quite unhappy about his swift rise through the ranks of Ankh-Morpork aristocracy he is used in this way to explore and critique all the social circles. His rise from rags to riches is closely connected to his uncompromising views on matters and also thanks to the background workings of both Lord Vetinari and Captain Carrot. Vetinari supports Vimes rise because he can use him to disrupt and confuse the normal workings of higher circles by inserting ever sarcastic and distrusting Vimes into them and he also enjoys torturing Vimes by giving him additional promotions and pilling on the official functions connected with it.

Vimes starts off as an alcoholic watchman and captain of a broken-down night watch that only employs three watchmen. Vimes fits into the category of renegade cop usually used in film noir. It is after Carrot joins the night watch that Vimes start to reform.

Under the carrots influence on Vimes the City Watch starts to work properly and flourish at an increasingly rising rate. The reforming of the watch allowed Vimes to meet his wife and marry her even though she is noble. This marriage turned Vimes into the ideal candidate for the title commander of the City Watch as now he had both the prowess of city cop and high enough status to be put through all the traditions concerning the position. His wife Lady Sybil acts as a great influence on Vimes, from discouraging him from his drinking habit to trying to change is views and be subtler when dealing with things he dislikes. This marriage also throws Vimes into a lot of conflicts as he really despises the noble circles but is forced by his newly acquired status to deal with them.

He is able to keep up with nobles even if both sides hold low opinions of each other.

Nobles hold them due to his humble origins, him being a policeman and also due to his incompatibility with the high-class thinking. Vimes hold them to low standard due to the way they act and the way they think and act without knowing enough or having any experiences with the matter.

Vimes experiences allow him to be exceptional commander as he lived through both low and high parts of the society and thus is able to see problems of the little people and act upon them with the hindsight acquired from his clashes with nobles.

The combination of both his past and his experiences with street life and higher class make him into man perfectly fit for this position as commander of the City Watch.

Even though he is proven racist and does not try to hide it he is respected by his men and his racial slurs are generally let to slip. This is due to that even though he is racist he redeems himself by not acting on his racial views and help and protect other watchmen no matter the race. His conviction is reflected in the event when one of the temporary leaders of the watch utters racial insult and is met by wave of disagreement: "But, look,

Vimesy used to say that sort of thing, too, I heard him," said Nobby. "Yeah, but that was different." "How?" "That was Mister Vimes," said Stronginthearm. … "Yeah," said

Constable Hacknee, another dwarf, "When your back's against the wall, Mister Vimes is right behind you." (Fifth Elephant 97). His actions differentiate him from the typical racists as they usually act on their ideas before trying to solve the problem themselves or trying to gain any information or understanding. His interactions are also influenced on the basis of him seeing all of the members of the watch as coopers and nothing else. This allows Vimes to build the relationship with his fellow watchmen based on trust and not based on their race, gender or any other predisposition for oppression. Which in turn mean that even though Vimes is racist with a lot of racial prejudice he is still respected by all the watchmen no matter the race.

Despite Vimes not being the diplomatic type due to his lack of finesse he is forced into the diplomatic function by the chain of promotion from regular copper to knight and then to duke. This is due to Vetinari seeing the usefulness of Vimes in his undiplomatic conduct and how it could cause confusion for the foreign diplomats due to him acting in a direct way and without finesse usually connected with diplomatic talks. Vimes surprisingly fit into his role as diplomat solving international disputes and making trade agreements with his moral forcefulness. Vimes is well-known racist. He detests basically ever other race and only works with them due to having to under the Affirmative action policies. His views change slightly as the members of the other races earn his respect and understanding through their contribution to the city. While Vimes having all these prejudices it might seem as bad for a work of a diplomat but it might just be the perfect material for diplomat due to his lack of neutrality and his recognition of the boundaries of cultural relativism. When faced with injustice Vimes steps up even if it means to be seen as undiplomatic. One of the reasons for Vetinari to appoint him diplomat is his cop instinct that helps with solving disputes:

"You know I'm no good at diplomatic talk," he said.

"On the contrary, Vimes, you appear to have amazed the diplomatic corps here in

Ankh-Morpork," said Lord Vetinari. "They're not used to plain speech. It confuses

them. What was it you said to the Istanzian ambassador last month?" … you

indicated that further transgressions would involve him, personally, that is to say

the ambassador, and I quote 'going home in an ambulance."'

… "I have to say that your observation complied only with the general thrust of

my view in this matter but was, at least, succinct"

(17 -18).

His natural cynicism and distrust sometimes earn him respect from the people he has to deal with. For example, when he refuses to eat sheep´s eyeball just because he is told that it is a tradition. This earns him respect from the tribe for not being just another figure blindly following the practical jokes just to not offend anyone and because it is presented to them as a cultural tradition. Vimes travel all around the disc, solving crimes, making deals and confusing the foreign diplomats by his straightforwardness. Vimes is dubbed by some of the people he is meeting as a nuisance and as a reason there is need for diplomats. Pratchett set up Vimes into circles and position he does not seem to fit but at the same time he manages to achieve things that would be unthinkable for the people of the higher circles. Vimes as a diplomat serves as a satire on the way diplomats usually acts and how damaging it can be due to their lack of involvement. Vimes being the undiplomatic diplomat with the track record of great accomplishments to back him. He creates a divide between the views diplomats holds and how they act and the attributes diplomat should hold even if they are in conflict with the perceived acting code for such important people. Even though this combination of traits seems unfitting for a role of diplomat he is surprisingly successful one

Satire in the character of Commander Vimes is connected with the way his character is set up. He is portrayed as always seeming to be doing the wrong job for his abilities and status. He is a character with many flaws that does not seemingly fit into the situations he is portrayed in. But at the same time him being in these situations bring unexpected solutions due to the attributes that are deemed as a hindrance for such positions. This reflects upon the ideas that only people that perfectly fit should do these roles. The attributes and solutions he brings to the diplomatic society are used as a critique of the said diplomats on the way they act and the general ideals among them. Vimes also serves as a carriage for the satiric and sarcastic commentary on the matter from the view of the

19 character involved in all of it. Pratchett uses Vimes to present his views on the matter of politics, policing and upper class. Vimes also serves as a reminder that even when being racist it does not have to mean being a bad and unreasonable person.

4. Racism

“Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because - what with trolls and dwarfs and so on - speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green.” (Witches Abroad 124)

General approach to racism is explored by Pratchett mainly through his city of

Ankh-Morpork which serves as the melting pot of Discworld population as everyone is drawn into it by the success it is having. The issues of racism are looked at as immigration of different species into Ankh-Morpork steadily grows and the groups start to clash more often because of the increase of numbers in their communities. Each of the immigrating races into the city brings their own prejudices and also their own reasons they should be oppressed in the eyes of the citizens of the Ankh-Morpork. The oppression rises from the perceived common knowledge concerning the races and also from the myths and general racial misconceptions connected to them. Most of the Discworld races and species are mixing and living together inside the city walls. This is used as a sort of looking glass to examine the interaction of those races and how they solve the ancient prejudices toward their own race and also toward the other races. These racial stereotypes are played and criticized upon as each of the races are actually set up in such way that they in some way corresponds to the stereotypes that are in general connected with them. In some cases, the members of the race do not know what is being said about them but once they learn what it is that everyone knows about them they do not try to debunk it and usually agree

20 with them. Conflicts of the two races are a usual backdrop for the city-themed novels in the series. These conflicts are frequently being solved by the City Watch that serves as the voice of reason in the racial struggles as being one of the organizations containing all of the races. Watch serves as the microcosms of social interaction as no matter what race or sex all the members of the watch are treated as another Copper while on the job.

Human citizens of the Ankh-Morpork are generally unhappy with the influx of new non- human citizens as they believe they are bringing trouble. The spectrum of views on the matter ranges from small annoyances with how they act or look to the extreme views that they should be marched out of the city because they are lesser race and only cause trouble.

The minor displeasures are usually connected with the general population of the city and not with the nobles or people with power. This is linked with Pratchett´s views on racism as he believes that racism can be overcome with experience. This results in the racism from the lower circles of society to be much more moderate. While the racism is still present as it is almost impossible to be unbiased the degree of the statements is quite low.

Thanks to the first-hand experience with the minorities they see some positives from them and only utter comments on their behaviour look or other minor problems. The more extreme notions are connected with nobility and people holding power. Those kinds of people have close to none experience with the minorities and they have no intention of changing that. They see the minorities as pests infecting the city and thus want to deal with them accordingly:

And now everywhere you look it's uppity dwarfs and trolls and rude people,' said

Lady Selachii.’There's more dwarfs in Ankh-Morpork now than there are in any

of their own cities, or whatever they call their holes. ‘… 'Definitely,' he said. 'In

my view, the godless bastards should be rounded up and marched out of the city

at spearpoint.' There was a moment's silence. 'It's no more than they deserve,' …

'Exactly! They're barely more than animals “

(Man at Arms 116-17)

Their extreme views are tinted by both their lack of knowledge and by their own feelings of superiority. The nobles have no intentions of dealing with the minorities and only seek to hinder or abolish them altogether. These extreme propositions and views are also used to search for someone to blame for the influx of new minorities to the city. The appointed culprit tends to be the unloved leader of the city or any other uncomfortable person with power.

In general, people hold negative views on the minority races as many myths and prejudices are closely knit to the culture. These things that everyone knows about the minorities are hard to overcome as they have been around for a long time, this is reflected in characters that deal with them and have experience with them but still hold some biases. This view is also fuelled by the relation between dwarfs and trolls and their cultural clashes.

Dwarfs and trolls are in a state of constant inter-species vendetta since ancient times. This feud has dragged for so long that no one actually knows why or how it started.

The important thing is that “you couldn’t trust those short, bearded/big, rocky bastards”

(Thud 36). The premise why they hate each other is setup to be quite simple on the first glance “They get along like chalk and cheese. … One is organic, the other isn't, and also smells a bit cheesy. Dwarfs make a living by smashing up rocks with valuable minerals in them and the silicon-based lifeform known as trolls are, basically, rocks with valuable minerals in them.” (Man at Arms 46). Dwarfs like to mine for precious minerals and trolls

22 do not like to be hacked to pieces when they go to sleep as they pretty much turn into stone when hibernating. This fundamental difference between dwarfs is the basis for their conflict but not the only reason. From ancient times dwarfs and trolls led wars over territory and rights to not get eaten/smashed to bits. These clashes and feuds resulted in the two species hating each other more or less on the basis of hating each other since ever.

While residing in the city the hate is still present but the clashes are much less common as both dwarfs and trolls live in separate ghettos and try to keep out of each other way.

Because they both know that you cannot trust the other party.

As the basis for more heated exchanges serves the celebration of an ancient battle between trolls and dwarfs in the Koom Valley. The battle of Koom Valley is the only battle in known history where both armies ambushed each other. The ancient feud between the races rises to the top of the priority list whenever the celebration days of the battle are close. The Koom Valley is no longer the battle or the place for dwarfs and trolls it is state of mind on why they should fight and hate each other. Because of the unclearness of the ending of the battle, both fractions believe that they won the battle and that the other side ambushed them. This serves as the basis for their continued distrust and disputes.

On the Discworld and especially in the city of Ankh-Morpork racism and speciesism is so prevalent and ingrained into the culture that there are hardly any characters that are not racist in one way or another. Even the characters in the forefront of the stories are usually somehow biased and hold some racial prejudices even when they are being portrayed as the good guys.

The only characters that are actually not racist are Lord Vetinari; the despot leading the city of Ankh-Morpork; and Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler; the ever present street food

23 vendor and entrepreneur. Both of these characters are presented as not racist but not due to being nice people or liking everyone. In the case of Lord Vetinari the matter is that he sees his subjects only as either cog in the machinery of the city or as dirt that is stopping the proper working of the city and needs to be dealt with. In the case of C.M.O.T Dibbler is a much simpler view of that as long as they pay him he has no problem with dealing with anyone no matter the species. For Dibbler, everyone is a just potential customer or just a walking wallet. The only non-racist characters are set up in such way on purpose.

They are set up to show that not being racist does not necessarily mean that they are good people. One will do anything or get rid of anyone to keep the city running the other one will interact with anyone or do anything as long as there is profit to be had. This is to show that goodness of a person is not necessarily connected to their ideas.

The idea of racists not necessarily being bad people is explored through the institution of the City Watch, as pretty much every race is represented in it and every officer is racist or holds racial prejudices toward other races. Even though they are all racist to some degree they are generally perceived as good people due to their connection with the City

Watch. Thus, racism is not explored as just black and white issue; either being wrong or right. It is explored through lives and interactions of the people that hold such negative views and are forced due to their job in the watch to deal with the targets of their distrust.

Thanks to the amount of races and cultures presented in the watch conflicts among watchmen tend to arise. These clashes incline to be minor racial jokes or squabbles over some wrongly uttered word. The jokes range from stepladders for the new dwarf recruits to garlic for the vampire ones. These jokes serve as both ways to let some steam off and as a test for the new recruits. The general camaraderie among the watchmen works even though many of them were recruited during periods of racial clashes in the city. The mutual experience allows them to bond even when being from races that are in a state of

24 constant vendetta. From the first day, they join the watchmen are taught to think of other watch members as just another copper and not in connection with their race or gender.

“Ain't no dwarfs or trolls or humans in the Watch, see,' said Colon. ‘Just Watchmen, see?

… 'I LIKE DWARFS,' said Cumberbatch, hurriedly. 'ALWAYS HAVE. NOT THAT

THERE ARE ANY IN THE WATCH, MIND,' he added, after barely a second's thought.

'You learn quick. You'll go a long way in this man's army,' said Cuddy’” (302). This philosophy is followed due to the need for watchmen to work together no matter the race.

If the racial prejudice would be allowed to flourish inside the watch it could cause the problem of watchmen demanding the right kind of support when being in trouble. “When copper’s in a tight corner and blows his whistle for back-up, I don’t want him demanding that when it arrives it’s the right dammed shape “(Thud 111)! This view is demanded due to how dangerous the work can get and to ensure the mutual trust among all of the watchmen. The relations built on trust are needed for the effective running of the watch as it allows to deploy troops while not having to think about their origin. It is also beneficial if the officers can work with and help Ankh-Morpork citizens no matter their race, thus watchmen are demanded to comply with these rules while on the job. Even though all of this is being taught to them the racial clashes still appear but are usually solved by the command of the watch reminding the watchmen to think of themselves as coppers and leave their race and gender behind while on the job. The watch holds rather negative views on the problems caused by racial prejudices and hate. The views of the watch on the matter has little to do with watchmen being any better in the prejudice department, it is mostly connected to the hate Commander of the watch holds against trouble being caused on the basis of some ancient feud or fanatical views, that has little to nothing to do with things currently happening.

The basis for the satire on racism lies in the way all of the races are put together into once city and are forced to interact with each other. It is mainly explored through the interactions between the city population, and through the way the minority races are set up and what rumours surround them. The satire spans from problems people have with immigration to offering kind of resolution to the problems. The immigration problems are explored through the way humans from the city see the new immigrants and how their opinions range based on the experience they have with them. The second point being critiqued is the idea of disputes being based on ancient prejudices or some other ancient problem that have no connection to the present day. Third look on the racism is taken through the characters that are not racist but are set up in a way that makes them even worse than the racist characters in some ways. Pratchett uses the ever-present racism as a looking glass at the idea that there will always be racism no matter what. Solution to the problem is also offered through the institution of City Watch where everyone treats everyone as another policeman no matter their origin. This view is connected to the opinion Pratchett holds on the racism that it can only be overcome or diminished by gaining experience with the world and by gaining new views on the targets of their hate.

5. Police and Minorities

One of the more focused areas of racial problematic is that of police and minority interactions. It is explored and criticizes in connection to racism perpetrated by the captain of the Day Watch and in his interaction with minorities and what are his views concerning them. The main actor in this commentary is the character named Quirke. He is seen by his colleagues from the Night Watch in quite an unflattering way. His nickname is Mayonnaise Quirke because “he’s rich, thick and oily … and smells faintly of eggs”

(Man at Arms 222). In general, Quirke is described and perceived as rather unpleasant.

His description is finished by the remarks on the way he acts: “Quirke wasn't actually a bad man. He didn't have the imagination. He dealt more with that sort of generalized low- grade unpleasantness which slightly tarnishes the soul of all who come into contact with it” (225). The latter description is finished by the author in the footnotes where he compares his general unpleasantness to that of the British Rail, this comparison is used to bring the description of his character down to a more real level that can be understood by most people who had to deal with any rail company. Quirke´s character is set up in such a way as to reflect the typical racist police officer that does not have much sympathy or care much about minorities and is not opposed to showing his views publicly or even act based on his views. “There was, on the whole, no real racial prejudice in Ankh-

Morpork; when you've got dwarfs and trolls, the mere colour of other, humans is not a major item. But Quirke was the kind of man to whom it comes naturally to pronounce the word negro with two gs” (225-6). The exaggeration of bad aspects of Quirke personality is used to strengthen the point against the oppression of minorities based on their race, colour, or any other fantasy aspect they might hold. The work of Quirke in the watch reflects his ideas and beliefs. In his investigations, Quirke subscribes to the ideas of the laws of chance. The laws of chance are a collection of chances, happy accidents, accidental discoveries that “play far greater role in the police procedure than narrative causality would like to admit” (161). This collection of happy accidents points out that the crime solving procedure can be quite random and based on chances that cannot be affected by the actual work of the policeman. The collection also presents the ideas of how some of the crimes are solved by a randomly overheard remarks, a person being in the right place at the right time and also some more dodgy ideas of crime solving such as that “someone of the right nationality [or species] happening to be within five miles of

27 the scene of the crime without an alibi” (161). Captain Quirke strongly believes in the last dodgier part of the law as this part represents his ideology toward minorities. Quirke’s idea of crime solving also follows the ideas and ideals Patrician holds on the subject: “If there was crime, there should be punishment. If the specific criminal should be involved in the punishment proces then this was a happy accident, but if not then any criminal would do, and since everyone was undoubtedly guilty of something, the net result was that, in general terms, justice was done” (223). The ideas that the city leader holds in combination with Quirke’s ideals create an ideal platform for the oppression of minorities by the watch. The idea is spun further on when Quirke closes a murder case by arresting a troll on a basis of him being near the place when it happened and also being a troll thus having the motive to kill the dwarf. It was of no importance that the troll was too big to get into the place where the murder happened or that he could not kill any of the other victims. All of the evidence required for the arrest was him being near the crime scene and being a member of the opposite of the feuding species. And even “if he didn't do that, he probably did something. There's plenty of evidence against him. … He's a troll” (223).

The general views of crime and punishment are set up in such way to be an ideal tool of oppression toward minority races and toward poverty ridden parts of the city population.

These views are used as such by Quirke who holds strong disdain for both groups.

One of the worst characteristics that Quirke holds is that he does not see anything wrong with the way he thinks and works toward completing his goals. Even though he arrested a troll that could not actually commit the crimes, he opposes the logical arguments from the opposing watchmen by saying that they “got to see the big picture”

(229) and that they have to think in terms of the whole city when taking this arrest on its face value. The thing he means when talking about the whole city is that they have to act in such way as to give a satisfactory result for the better parts of the city and ignore the

28 problems it might cause as long as they do not concern them. He sees the law as something that should serve to help the higher class while not giving any thoughts to the problems of the lower class and minorities. He strongly trusts in his principles and that makes him believe that what he is doing is for the good of the city and even though the arrest had the exactly opposite effect and only raised more trouble. His approach to the problematic causes problems among the population and makes them turn on the watch.

The arrest causes mobs to roam the city because the actions of the watch angered every community inside the city. The basis for such displeasure lies in the fact that “'the dwarfs don't like the Watch 'cos of Mr Hammerhock [the victim], and the trolls don't like the

Watch 'cos of Coalface being arrested, and people don't like the Watch 'cos of all these angry dwarfs and trolls around'” (234). The civil unrest servers as a reflection of the derogatory actions and views of the laws and how they should be followed in connection with the people. By interpreting the law in a way that only focuses on helping the upper class creates ideal platform for civic unrest and even more trouble. To counter this behaviour and mob uprising a prevention method is offered by Captain Carrot “'we're the

City Watch,' … 'That doesn't mean just that part of the city who happens to be over four feet tall and made of flesh’” (98). He holds pure views of the laws and they also hold the ideals which should be connected to the law and its enforcement. He strongly believes that no matter the status or species the law should have the same weight for everyone.

From his point of the view law is absolute and as such should apply to everyone, this idea is presented in his actions. He takes laws so seriously that he is not afraid to arrest city leaders or even whole armies on the basis of probable breach of peace.

The satire for the oppression of minority races by the police lies in the exaggerated character of the watch Captain Quirke who enjoys and uses every opportunity to hurt the minorities. The idea of police work is taken to the extreme through the false accusations

29 and arrest and how the police do not see anything wrong with what they are doing. It criticizes the ideas that law should only apply to the poor and leave the rich alone.

Another point that is being made is that of an official presenting the defence of the cause in connection to the bigger picture while ignoring how much trouble it causes in its wake.

The satire is taken to the possible end such behaviour could cause and explores the problems it can cause. More of a reaction than the solution is being offered for this satire, the actions of the police cause more trouble than they solved and thus, the satire points out where the trouble lies and what might be done to avoid it.

6. Affirmative Action

Another theme the thesis comments upon is the problematic of Affirmative action policies. Affirmative action can be easily explained as “positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded” (Fullinwider). This piece of legislation generates high amounts of controversy when the steps involved in the selection of new employees are actually connected to preferential treatment based on the basis of race, gender or ethnicity.

Pratchett introduces the theme of affirmative action by actually presenting its name in the novel. The reader is introduced to the idea by Sergeant Colon of the night watch when he is despairing over the new recruits. Colon utters his comment on the subject with the quality of the recruits in mind. “What was it called? Oh, yeah.

Affirmative action hirin’ procedure or something. Silicon Anti-Defamation League had been going on the patrician and now- “(Man at Arms 24). The employment of the three new recruits is forced upon night watch as a result of the conundrum with acquiring non-

30 human officers for the force and at the same time trying to keep them from the sight of the higher society of Ankh-Morpork. “They weren’t to go in the Day Watch, of course.

And those bastards in the Palace Guard wouldn’t take them, either. Oh, no. Put’em in the

Night Watch, because it’s joke anyway and no-one’ll really see ‘em. No-one important, anyway” (25). So the three new recruits end up joining the night watch as it will fulfil both the demands of the minority communities to employ their representatives into official functions and it keeps them away from the major part of the city population by deploying them in the night where only the unimportant people can meet them. The displeasure of the current officers of the watch is at first projected through the comment of Colon “A troll and a dwarf. And that ain’t the worst of it-” (25). At first, the identity of the third recruit is not presented and the idea of something much worse than accepting a dwarf and a troll into the watch is illustrated. With deliberate cutting of sentences and carefully placed commentaries such as one that Vimes was thinking: “It wasn’t as if he was speciesist, he told himself. But the watch was a job for men” (25). Pratchett conveys the idea to the reader that the people from the watch are more displeased by the idea of recruiting a woman than by the idea of recruiting troll or dwarf officers. This idea is further developed by the dialog between Carrot and the new female recruit Angua. As they patrol the city together Angua gives Carrot questions about members of the night watch. They end up talking about Vimes “I don’t think he likes the new recruits. … 'Well, he doesn't like trolls much,' … And then we had to have a dwarf, otherwise they'd be trouble” (28). This comment shows the displeasure from both being forced to acquire new officers defined by a certain trait and to acquiring non-human officers. The exchange continues with Angua saying “Oh. Yes, but I'm not a troll or a dwarf” to which Carrot tries to answer “No, but you're a w— “This proclamation makes Angua stop in her tracks and say angrily “That's it, is it? Good grief! This is the Century of the Fruitbat, you know.

Ye gods, does he really think like that?” This exchange finishes up by carrot saying “The

Patrician said we had to have a bit of representation from the minority groups” and by

Angua angrily replying “Minority groups!” (28-9). Once again Pratchett exploits the abrupt endings of the sentences to empower the idea of sexism by the part of the watch and also later on with comments from the general population of the city to empower the views of people on a woman in the watch. This whole part of the narration is debunked by the end of the novel when the following exchange explains that the apparent discrimination by the watchmen was aimed at her being a werewolf and had nothing to do with her being a woman:

'Did you know she was a werewolf?'

'Um . . . Captain Vimes kind of hinted, sir . . .'

'How did he hint?'

'He sort of said, "Fred, she's a damn werewolf. I don't like it any more than you

do, but Vetinari says we've got to take one of them as well, and a werewolf's better

than a vampire or a zombie, and that's all there is to it." That's what he hinted

(322)

Pratchett plays with the idea of sexism that is also inherent to the positive discrimination policies. He uses Angua who is both first woman in the watch and also first werewolf.

Angua is used as a point that affirmative action can bring discrimination thanks to the treatment it offers. She is being treated as minority because of being woman hired under the policy even though by her general look she is part of one of the halves of the majority population. Another point she is being used for is that even when there is apparent discrimination based on one of her aspects it is not as it seems. Her being werewolf strongly corresponds to the distrusts she generates as on the Discworld werewolves are

32 not highly regarded due to indisputable realities of their lifestyle and general behaviour in their homeland. Connected to her species are the concerns of her colleagues connected to her and it serves as a lens for looking at her and her actions. The sexism connected with comments on a woman being in the watch are dismissed by the other members of the watch on the basis that it is time to move on with times and there is nothing wrong with it.

In the previously quoted exchange Angua says “it is century of the Fruitbat” (28), to strengthen her point against Vimes views, this can be seen as a criticism of the often used straw man argument ‘Come on it is current year’ that is often used by politicians or comedians. This argument is frequently used to speak against ideas and beliefs which the user of the argument deems to be old-fashioned or conservative. This can be presented as light parody or attack on the users of such phrase as it holds not real value and adds nothing to the discussion.

In another situation, Pratchett uses the ideas of the affirmative action to spin the situation to absurdity. As with many things the population of the Discworld takes ideas to much higher literal level or from a completely different perspective than they are normally presented. The way the population of the Ankh-Morpork takes ideas is used to illustrate how absurd can ideas of Affirmative action be if taken from the wrong point of view. The situation used to discuss this idea is one where watchmen find themselves between two mobs of dwarfs and trolls, and try to conscript two trolls into the watch to get them out of the way so they can proceed to their goal. This produces a reaction from the dwarf crowd about the fact that there are too many troll officers in the watch now and not enough dwarf officers: “Hey, you can't put them in the Watch!' shouted a dwarf from the crowd. ‘Why, hello, Mr Stronginthearm,' said Carrot. 'Good to see community leaders here. Why can't they be in the militia?' 'Well . . . you've only got the one dwarf, for one

33 thing . . .' he began.” (285) The idea of the crowd about equal opportunity hiring is quite flawed and thus helps to this absurd demand to uphold the equality of numbers of dwarfs and trolls in the watch to arise. The demand that is based on flawed interpretation of the ideas is answered by as much exaggerated reaction by Carrot who decides to follow the demands of the mob by enlisting random dwarfs from the crowd into the watch militia:

“Good point,' said Carrot. 'That's a good point.' He scanned the faces. 'Right. We need some honest, law-abiding dwarfs . . . you there . . .' 'Me?' said an unwary dwarf” (285).

This action from Carrot stops the crowd from being unhappy about the whole situation as both opposing minorities are in equal numbers in the watch. The idea is spun even further when even the members of the watch accept the views on the situation that the crowd holds and are actively enforcing the equality in numbers of the two species in the watch. When some of the new troll recruits are unhappy about their involuntary recruitment they are forced to stay by the troll officer, Detritus because “you trolls can't leave now,' ... ‘otherwise, too many dwarfs. That's numbers, that is” (286). A similar reaction is produced by the dwarf officer when one more troll is being recruited for the force. “Permission to enrol another dwarf, sir? To maintain parity” (296)? These reactions go hand in hand with the understanding that the general population of the city holds of the affirmative action policies and also the equal opportunity policies. These over-the-top interactions with the ideas of Affirmative action are used as a point against such policies.

In a parallel to the backlash caused by the affirmative action initiatives in the Unites

States, the views of most of the Ankh-Morpork population on the expansion of the watch through Affirmative action and by employing the ideas of equal opportunity are rather negative. Even if both caused a backlash the problem that the population of the Discworld sees is quite opposite to the problems in the Unites States as the citizens are afraid of the equal opportunity in the watch and are concerned by the lack of control of personnel

34 employed. This causes them to predict the failure of the watch on a basis of there being too much equality and that if anyone can join the watch it cannot operate properly.

The satire in connection to Affirmative action explores both the basic ideas of the policy and also the extreme cases it can create when taken wrongly. The policy is explored from the point of authorities trying to keep them going while hiding their new recruits from the general public to not cause waves of displeasure. The satire explores both the intentions of the government and the distaste of employers to being forced to recruit not based on the actual skill but on the basis of race or gender. Pratchett explores the ideas of positive discrimination through reactions it causes in the city population and by the reactions generated by the remaining staff of the watch. His views on the policy as such is rather negative because it generates more problems than it actually fixes for both the new recruits and among the population.

7. Jingoism

This thesis also discusses the issues of racism from a political perspective. Pratchett explores is the idea of Jingoism which is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as

“the feelings and beliefs of people who think that their country is always right and who are in favour of aggressive acts against other countries.” (“Jingoism”) Jingoism is closely connected to the ideas of nationalism and to feelings of superiority over the foreigners that are not as good as us.

From the moment nationalism and Jingoism appear for the first time in a more significant way, Pratchett’s views of these topics are quite clear. His views and his opposition to them are mainly projected through the character of Lord Vetinari who is strongly opposed to the ideas of the extreme nationalism. Vetinari is not very happy with

35 the situation and allows his dissatisfied attitude to seep through his sarcastic remarks on the subject matter:

'Why are our people going out there?' said Mr Boggis of the Thieves' Guild.

'Because they are showing a brisk pioneering spirit and seeking wealth and

additional wealth in a new land,' said Lord Vetinari.

'What's in it for the Klatchians?' said Lord Downey.

'Oh, they've gone out there because they are a bunch of unprincipled opportunists

always ready to grab something for nothing,' said Lord Vetinari. …

The Patrician looked down again at his notes. 'Oh, I do beg your pardon,' he said,

'I seem to have read those last two sentences in the wrong order’

(Jingo 24)

These descriptions of the intentions of the citizens venturing onto a new island can be quite easily exchanged for one another and still be quite close to the truth. Vetinari´s views are quite clear in that the description of the people venturing forth is only based on the person looking at them and how strongly they feel about their own country. The feelings of superiority are often mutual and the ideas and views people hold are seldom different. This setup for the satire is used to show the meaningless nature of such extreme form of nationalism.

Quite a few of the city leaders are swept by the ideas of jingoism and expansionism and try to make Vetinari see their point of view in superiority of Ankh-Morpork and thus make him agree with their plans of waging a war against the inferior and as they put it to

“show the Johnny Foreigner the error of his ways” (28). The strong belief of their superiority rushes them forward toward the war even though the city has no standing

36 army or financial means of acquiring one. They strongly believe that the war will not last long because the enemies are “lots of cowards, the Klatchians … The moment they taste a bit of cold steel they’re legging it away over the sand” (40) Even though Vetinari´s views on the ideology of his counsellors is quite negative in the end he lets them prepare for the war. The cause behind this decision is his belief that the opposing side holds people with same ideology and ideas as the people that are trying to force him into believing into the superiority of Ankh-Morpork and how inferior their foes are. He voices his concerns as a reasoning for his decision: “I can't help but think that over there in

Klatch a bunch of idiots are doing the same thing. They're saying to the Seriph "It's time to sort out those devils in Ankh–Morpork, offendi” (35). Vetinari is not affected by the superior complex that took hold among the Morporkian nobility and realizes that people of similar thinking and actions might be on the other side of the conflict and thus allows the nobility to take the matter into their own hands while he tries to find a way to solve the problem. General view of the nobility on the matter is that the proud Ankh-Morpork cannot let Klatch do as it pleases and listen to its demands. The strong belief of their superiority rushes them headlong into the conflict with Klatch even though there is no logical point in doing so. They are so strongly taken by ideas of Jingoism that they do not see that they have no chance of succeeding what so ever in their goals due to lack of experience or funds. The reality does not matter because their belief in the inferiority of

Klatchians is so strong that no matter what happens they will win just based on being superior to them.

The demeaning view on the Klatchians deployed throughout the book is illustrative of the general views the population of Ankh-Morpork holds. The Klatchians are given so little credit that they are only seen by the Ankh-Morpork citizens as a homogeneous nation stuck in their barbaric ways and backward thinking. This view is presented by the

37 comments characters produce on the address of their own superiority over Klatchians as well as on the barbaric and uncivilized traditions the other nation holds. They reinforce their own feeling of superiority by producing comments about their views on Klatch. The statements are often spiteful and range from calling all of the Klatchians good for nothings and towelheads/ragheads through accusing them all of being thieves to the immorality of their views on marriage and polygamy. One of such comments is produced by sergeant Colon on his views of financial reality in Klatch, he firmly believes that "you can probably live like a king for a year on a dollar, in Klatch"(110). This comment reveals the unrealistic expectations that the citizens of Ankh-Morpork hold toward their own currency and also provides an example of how little they actually know about reality concerning their barbaric foe. These beliefs are ingrained into the population as basic knowledge and facts. Because “everyone knows they’ve been” (127) doing such things and those are the values and ideas they follow. Pratchett presents the thoughts through conversations and ridicules them at the same time in a single exchange. The authors of such claims usually contradict their own views on the matter by including opposite views into their own arguments later on in the discussion. One of such ideas is connected to the belief that Klatchians will flee at the sight of the Ankh-Morporkian weaponry and the first fight with their forces. But at the same time, it is common knowledge that the

Klatchians are vicious and mad for fighting with their curved words. When presented separately in the discussion they are both believed and seen as the truth. But once they are put together and presented by someone not blinded by the Jingoism they are dismissed by another commentary on the inferiority of Klatchians. One of such commentaries is uttered on fighting capabilities of Klatchians after hearing the conflicting ideas: “You mean, like they viciously attack you while cowardly running away after tasting cold steel?” (42) which in-turn gets denounced by adding that they cannot be obviously trusted

38 as already mentioned before. These feelings of superiority are encouraged to the point of

“You know we're better'n Klatchians. Otherwise, what's the point” (190)

The us and them mentality is challenged by the character of Corporal Nobbs as he often confronts the ideas that his colleague holds with remarks on how similar the things he is criticizing are to the reality in Ankh-Morpork. Nobby servers as the voice of reason in the society blinded by the feelings of Jingoism and for that he gets called unpatriotic and could get into trouble for siding with their lesser foe. The comparisons Nobby produces in discussion with Colon are often dismissed with a commentary about how

“us” might be doing the same, but at least not for the same barbaric reason they are doing it. One of such exchanges ends up with Colon agreeing to the fact that he burps after a meal but at the same time, he finds a way to denounce this similarity by “yes, but I don't pretend it's polite, Nobby” (43). The strength of Colon’s grasp on the ideals is displayed when the two of them end up in one of the cities in Klatch and are presented with the realities of the place. When presented with the striking similarities between both cities: from an exact copy of one of the Ankh-Morpork street vendors through crowd fascination with anything that might be interesting to the behaviour of the City Watch; Colon still tries to hold to his beliefs by criticizing them. He still adamantly holds onto his views even when mocked with a connection to the similarities of the watch behaviour “All they wanted to do was push us around a bit! Typical Watch behaviour,'” and he continues to mock him by saying” ‘Not ours, of course” (293). These obvious similarities are dismissed on the already above-mentioned account of there not being any point in any of this if they are not the better ones. This view nicely sums up the relation between the views of the general populace and their conviction why it is necessary to confront their foe. Because obviously they are the better ones and they have the duty to prove it.

Pratchett also includes a character that is strongly against the jingoistic tendencies arising in the city but still is not able to stay above them. The character is Commander of the City Watch Vimes. Vimes is upset by the attitude the city’s aristocracy holds and the prejudices it raises in the city. He tries his hardest to stay unbiased toward the Klatchians.

With these views in mind Vimes reassures himself after confrontation with one of the

Klatchian living in Ankh-Morpork that “there is no reason why a Klatchian couldn’t be a pompous little troublemaker”, but this realization makes him feel “uneasy about it, like a man edging along the side of a very deep crevasse” (158). But even then as he tries to be as unbiased as possible, Vimes is unable to suspect Klatchians in regard with the conspiracy to trigger a war between the two nations. Every clue that points toward

Klatchians being behind this is disregarded by Vimes as being set up to shift blame onto them. His inability to believe that Klatchians could be behind the conspiracy is criticized by his Klatchian counterpart policeman 71-Hour Ahmed. Ahmed criticizes him that in his stubborn rejection of the jingoistic ideas he went so far as to even see it as unthinkable to give any credit to Klatchians and their schemes. The comment Ahmed offers on the matter states that Vimes should “treat all men equally” and he should “allow Klatchians the right to be scheming bastards” (342). With these words, he tries to help Vimes see his mistakes and make him more open toward the idea that he might also be affected by the ideas of Jingoism.

The satire in connection to the extreme forms of nationalism lies in the reactions people have the ideas. It explores how the views of the elite affect the degree of reaction from the general population. By blinding the elites with the feelings of superiority and through their ideas on the matter Pratchett explores the reactions of the general population and how they are affected by the feelings of superiority. The satire lies in the portrayal of both sides in the conflict. They think the same way about their foe and they have strong

40 feelings of superiority and how it is impossible to make people see the reality once they are indoctrinated. Pratchett offers commentary on the matter through three different types of people and how they are affected by the ideas of Jingoism. He goes through the notions and criticizes the whole idea of Jingoism and extreme nationalism and at the same time project his views on the matter that extreme kinds of nationalism can affect everyone even if they are strongly opposed to them. This view goes hand in hand with his negative views on war and instability it causes, as even if the person is strongly against such ideas they are being affected by the instability it causes.

8. Conclusion

Pratchett is a man of strong opinions and this results into all of his satire being more or less tinted by his views. The less serious satires he produces can be safely pointed out as being the least affected by his views. From his views on the fantasy tropes, he likes to mock throughout his stories to his views on the more serious problems.

The chapter on characters dealt with three major characters from the city themed

Discworld novels. These characters can be categorised as both being a satire of certain elements themselves and also be vessels for commentary on problematics they meet on their way through the stories. The character of Carrot offers to look at the human nature in connection to political leadership as he is the rightful heir to the throne and people tend to listen to his orders even when they do not know about his destiny. Carrot also serves as a light parody of some fantasy tropes in his denial of kingship and the way he seeks happiness going down rather than up. The character of Vetinari serves as a carriage for

Pratchett´s political views in his denial and aggressive comments on imperialism.

Vetinari himself also serve as a satire on many political leaders as he is a combination of many of them. In the case of Vimes, his character serves mainly as a vessel for the commentary rather than being satire. His character is a mashup of fantasy and television tropes but his main role in the series is to point out the stupidity of systems that are often being satirised. His ever cynical approach servers Pratchett as a way to comment on the satire in the novels. All three examined characters serve to Pratchett as both satirical vessels for his views on the matters and also as a mockery of the usual traits such characters are expected to hold.

The parts dealing with specified issues are also an illustration of the views

Pratchett holds on the matters. His ideas concerning racism are quite clearly understandable. The views Pratchett holds can be easily pointed out to be that even when

42 someone is racist it does not have to mean they are a bad person. This view is projected in the majority of characters as they all hold some racial prejudices. Racism is viewed as something ever-present and almost impossible to completely get rid of. The general idea behind everyone being racist to some degree is that racism can be overcome and diluted and an even racist person can still work along the target of his hate. These views are projected through the institution of the Watch as it is a collection of all the races and it manages to work on the basis of not allowing segregation and forcing all the members to think of their colleagues as another copper. The views projected through the satire on the themes of police and minorities and affirmative action are the type of satire presented through exaggeration and ridiculous reactions. In the case of the minority abuse, the abuse itself is projected through actions of the overly negative character and, thus are presented only in the negative way. In the case of affirmative action, the silliness of such legislation is presented through the wrong reactions and overreactions of people to it. These two themes are presented in a much less aggressive way and are just a light ridicule on the fact of how wrong and stupid they can get. It is quite different in the case Jingoism as the satire concerned with that theme is quite harsh on the characters that act in its name. This nicely reflects the general views Pratchett holds on warfare in general as all of the characters are affected in some way even when they are actively fighting against such ideas.

Pratchett´s views are apparent in all of his satire. In some of the satire the influence is very light but if his views are in clash with the problematic discussed, they become much more profound and outward. Pratchett masterful work with satire allows him to project his ideas and ideals through his fantastically mundane world that is so similar to ours. The similarities between the two worlds work as both tools to hide such satires and also allows him to be much more precise in picking his targets. The usual satire Pratchett

43 produces is light-hearted mockery rather than attack aimed at the perpetrators. But even then his satire is on point and offers an insightful look at the problematic even if being masked in his fantasy setting.

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Summary

This bachelor thesis focuses on the subject of satire in novels from the Discworld series written by Terry Pratchett. The main subject of the thesis is three characters of Captain

Carrot, Lord Havelock Vetinari and Commander Samuel Vimes, the racism and themes of affirmative action, police and minorities and jingoism and authors attitudes projected through the topics. It aims to provide some insight on the problematic of satire in fantasy writing and the integration of it into the story of the novels. It also aims to explore the views that are being portrayed through the satire and how they link up with regard to

Terry Pratchett’s view of the subjects and how strongly they are affected by his views.

The bachelor thesis is divided into eight main chapters. There are three chapters focusing on individual characters and how they serve the notions of satire. Four of the chapters focus on individual themes of Racism, Police, and Minorities, Affirmative Action, and

Jingoism. They discuss the usage of satire in the subjects and strongly they are criticized.

The conclusion focuses on summarizing and offering some insight into the usage of satire by Terry Pratchett.

Résumé

Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na témata satiry v novelách ze série Úžasná

Zeměplocha spisovatele Terryho Pratchetta. Hlavními tématy této práce jsou tři postavy a to Kapitán Karotka, Lord Havelock Vetinari a Velitel Samuel Elánius, dalšími téma jsou také rasismus a tématy positivní diskriminace, policie a minorit a jingoismu a také pohledy autora na daná témata a jeho názory na ně. Tato bakalářská práce se snaží přinést pohled na problematiku satiry ve fantastické literatuře a její integraci do příběhů těchto knih. Také se zaměřuje na zkoumání názorů a pohledů, které jsou vykresleny satirou a jak jsou propojeny s názory Terryho Pratchetta na daná témata a jak moc jsou ovlivněna jeho názory. Tato bakalářská práce je rozdělená do osmi hlavních kapitol. Tři podkapitoly se zabývají jednotlivými postavami a jejich využitím pro samotnou satiru. Čtyři kapitoly se zaobírají jednotlivými tématy a to rasismem, policii a minoritami, pozitivní diskriminací a jingoismem. Tyto kapitoly přináší pohled na použití satiry a také na sílu kritiky, které jsou vystaveny. Závěr je zaměřen na souhrn probraných témat a zhodnocení pohledů na využití satiry Terry Pratchettem.