Professional Documents
Culture Documents
There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who,
when presented with a glass that is exactly half full, say: this glass is half full. And
then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to
those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me?
Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger
glass!
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Truth)
1) Introduction
2) The Discworld novels
3) The Truth: Plot and Characters
4) Themes
5) Parallels between the Discworld and our world
6) Parody and humour
7) Vetinari: an ideal ruler?
8) My opinion and conclusion
1) Introduction:
This essay is about the Discworld novel The Truth, by Terry Pratchett.
The novel, about the arrival of the printing press in Ankh-Morpork, parodies
the modern newspaper and tabloid world, and contains many references to
events such as the Watergate scandal or to films such as Pulp Fiction.
The Discworld novels are works of comic fantasy, comparable perhaps
to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Since
Terry Pratchett once worked as journalist, he is able to parody tabloids very
effectively, and strews the novel with very funny puns and references to our
world, as in all of his novels.
In this essay, I will talk about the plot, characters and themes of this
novel, as well as about the references Pratchett makes to our world. I will also
analyse how Vetinari rules the city, and the humour and parodies the book is
full of.
These locations also represent several countries of our world: for instance
Fourecks, home to kangaroos and interminable deserts is clearly an imitation
of Australia; vampires from Uberwald all roll their r’s as if they came from
Russia, although they somehow speak perfect English; and Ankh-
Morporkians often mention words from Quirm that are somehow French in
Elena Partridge 3
Main characters:
- William de Worde comes from a very rich and noble family, but does not
share their speciesist ideals; he leaves the riches behind, and becomes a
poor writer in Ankh-Morpork.
- Sacharissa Cripslock is a good-looking young girl, the granddaughter of
William’s previous engraver, who “suffered from misplaced gentility and
the mistaken belief that etiquette meant good breeding”. Under that
respectability, however, is a lot of dammed-up disreputability just waiting to
burst out, and she gradually transforms while working as a writer with
William.
- Gunilla Goodmountain, Dozy and Boddony are the dwarfs who set up their
printing machine in Ankh-Morpork.
- Otto Chriek is a pledged vampire (meaning that he doesn’t drink blood)
and a photographer working for the Ankh-Morpork Times.
- Vetinari is the Patrician and tyrant of Ankh-Morpork
- Charlie is the double of Vetinari, a shopkeeper trying to be cunning and
failing miserably
- Foul Ole Ron, the Duck Man, Arnold Sideways, Coffin Henry and
Altogether Andrews are the beggars that William hires to sell his paper.
- Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip are killers hired to remove Vetinari from the Throne
- Wuffles is Vetinari’s dog
- Gaspode is Ankh-Morpork’s infamous talking dog, who impersonated
Deep Bone
- Commander Vimes, Captain Carrot, Sergeant Angua and Nobby Nobbs
are part of the City Watch.
- Slant is a zombie and a lawyer working for the “concerned citizens”
planning to remove Vetinari from power. These include
- Lord De Worde (senior), a powerful and intolerant noble and the father of
William.
4) Themes:
Racism (or speciesism):
“My grandmother used to think humans were sort of hairless bears. He doesn’t
anymore.”
“What changed his mind?”
“I reckon it was the dying that did it”.
(The Truth, page 198)
I believe one of the best things about Terry Pratchett, apart from his
humour, is his ability to mention serious themes in a very unusual and
convincing way, even though his books are pure comic fantasy. The theme of
racism is a recurrent one in the Discworld series, but presented with dwarves,
trolls, vampires and werewolves instead of simple humans. It is an important
theme in this book, as it is one of the main reasons for which the conspiracy
against Vetinari is committed. Mr Windling, one of William De Worde’s fellow
lodgers, and Lord De Word are the main racist characters, one of the reasons
for which they are the “baddies” instead of Vetinari, the tyrant.
Elena Partridge 5
The Truth is, of course, largely a parody of the media. Pratchett was an
actual journalist, so he knows exactly what goes on in this world and how
many lies are printed every day. The main opposition is between William’s
serious newspaper, that prints the truth and “what the people are interested in,
and human interest stories, which is what humans are interested in, and the public
interest, which no one is interested in” (p.336); and the Ankh-Morpork Enquirer,
which represents your typical tabloid selling impossible stories, such as “Man
stolen by elves” and “mystery fire”. Paradoxally, “readers might have a very
relaxed attitude about the guilt of politicians, but were red-hot on the things like the
size of the weather” (p.315).
Elena Partridge 6
The Enquirer parodies the credulity of most people, who will believe
anything if it is on television or in the newspapers, or if it comes from a source
of seeming authority, like scientists or politicians. They believe that there are
special people to write the news, and that the authorities check the stories to
tell if they are true or not. They also find unrealistic stories more interesting
than real news, such as who is going to rule the city. This relates to our world:
if you compare how much space has been devoted to talking about the oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico to the space devoted to, for instance, Tiger Wood’s or
Cheryl Cole’s private lives, it don’t think it would be very surprising to find that
more has been said about the marriages of two stars than about an enormous
environmental catastrophe.
It also shows us how desperate people are to believe that the
authorities, in this case the Patrician, are fooling them: “I heard only the other
day that giant rocks hundreds of miles across crash into the country every week, but
the Patrician hushes it up” (p.209). This is a bit of a paradox, since they believe
that the authorities are fooling them and that, at the same time, they check
that everything the papers publish is true.
In The Truth, Pratchett also explains how to make newspapers sell: the
two main rules are that names sell newspapers, and that people like being
told what they already know.
In short, “news is unusual things happening (…) and usual things happening
(…). News is mainly what someone somewhere doesn’t want you to put in the paper
(…) except that sometimes it isn’t. News (…) all depends” (p.341).
Insanity
“But surely dogs can't talk—” Sacharissa began. “Oh dear oh dear oh dear,” said
Gaspode, “Did I say I was talking?” “Well, not in so many words—” (p.311)
There are several types of insanity in this novel, some considered as
negative, and others considered rather positively. The first “crazy” person is
the Bursar: “he was incurably insane and hallucinated more or less continually, but
by a remarkable stroke of lateral thinking his fellow wizards had reasoned , in that
case, that the whole business could be sorted out if only they could find a formula
that caused him to hallucinate that he was completely sane” (p.19). This type of
insanity is not really that remarkable, as the Bursar is most of the time more
intelligent and rational than the rest of the wizards.
Another type of insanity is that of the beggars. All of them are more or
less mentally retarded,like the Duck Man, with a duck on his head in
permanence that he himself doesn’t see; Altogether Andrews, suffering of a
multiple personality disorder; and Foul Ole Ron, who never says anything
rational. However, they are the only ones who actually see that Gaspode is a
real talking dog; this shows that sometimes, you have to be a little bit crazy
and open minded to see what really exists. Our world has had quite a few of
these types of geniuses.
Finally, Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip both become somewhat crazy after
receiving the flash of dark light. This insanity could be said to represent the
ghosts of the people they had murdered coming back to haunt them; this
shows that people do get what they deserve, and that no crime goes
unpunished.
Elena Partridge 7
so much more interesting than the truth… In this way, Terry Pratchett
parodies tabloids and sensationalist or conspirationist newspapers that have
little or no truth behind their stories, but that are still bought by a large number
of people.
- The Discworld is “a flat, circular planet that rests on the backs of four
elephants, which in turn are standing on the back of a giant turtle” (p.350).
This comes from two cosmological myths, one of the World Turtle, which
occurs in Hindu, Chinese and Native American mythology, and that of the
world-elephants, mythical animals supporting the world in Hindu cosmology.
notice that William de Worde is a serious journalist just like Bob Woodward
(the journalist who uncovered the scandal) was.
- The “bad guys”: “Mr. Tulip and Mr. Pin are the kind of people who call you
'friend'. People like that aren't friendly” (p.11).
There are quite a few books and movies from which these two characters may
have been inspired: for instance, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar in Neil
Gaiman's Neverwhere (who refer to themselves as the Old Firm, and call
each other 'Mr'); or the thugs Jules Winfield and Vincent Vega from the movie
Pulp Fiction (see lower down for more details on Pulp Fiction parodies in The
Truth); or Mr Wint and Mr Kidd from the James Bond movie Diamonds are
Forever.
- Gunilla Goodmountain:
Goodmountain (the main dwarf in charge of the press) is the literal translation
of Gutenberg, the famed inventor of movable type.
- Caslong:
Caslong is another dwarf in charge of the printing press; his name comes
from Caslon, a well-known typeface in which the first printings of the American
Declaration of Independence and Constitution were set.
Elena Partridge 10
- Boddony:
This is another very aptly named dwarf: Bodoni is a typeface designed at the
end of the eighteenth century by Italian printer Giambattista Bodoni.
- Gowdie:
This is yet another typeface-named dwarf: Frederic William Goudy was an
American type designer who designed several Goudy fonts
- Feng Shui: “I could've done all right with the Fung Shooey, though.” (p. 8)
- “A thousand years ago we thought the world was a bowl,” he said. “Five
hundred years ago we knew it was a globe. Today we know it is flat and round
and carried through space on the back of a turtle.” He turned and gave the High
Priest another smile. “Don't you wonder what shape it will turn out to be
tomorrow?” (p.33)
This refers to the Men in Black quote: “1500 years ago, everybody knew that
the Earth was the centre of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew that
the Earth was flat. And 15 minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on
this planet. Imagine what you'll know... tomorrow.”
- “When the late Mr Hong chose to open his Three Jolly Luck Take-Away Fish Bar
in Dragon Street during the lunar eclipse.” (p.39)
This could be a reference to one of H. P. Lovecraft’s novels.
- The way Ankh-Morpork was built: “But then, practically everywhere in Ankh-
Morpork had cellars that were once the first or even second or third floors of
ancient buildings, built at the time of one of the city’s empires when men thought
that the future was going to last forever. And then the river had flooded and
brought mud with it, and walls had gone higher and, now, what Ankh-Morpork
was built on was mostly Ankh-Morpork. (…) People just bricked up the doors and
Elena Partridge 11
windows and built on another story. In some parts of the city, they say, there’s six
or seven levels underground. Mostly full of mud. And that’s choosing my words
with care—” (p.76-77)
Terry Pratchett observes in the Author’s Note that “the way Ankh-Morpork
dealt with its flood problems (…) is curiously similar to that adopted by the city
of Seattle, Washington, towards the end of the nineteenth century.” Indeed,
after the fire in 1889 that burned the entire city to the ground in 12 hours, it
was decided to rebuild the city 8 to 32 feet higher to avoid flooding and
sewage problems. Ankh-Morpork too was almost entirely burned to the
ground, after its inhabitants learned about fire insurance (in the book The
Colour of Magic).
According to local lore, the city fathers decided that it would take too long to
fill the land properly. So buildings came first -- huge brick and stone structures
and only after the city was rebuilt did the fill project begin. The result was that
the first stories of all the buildings were buried. (source: http://www.senior-
inet.com/articles/article5.htm)
- “…lies could run round the world before the truth could get its boots on.”
(p.106)
This saying, often repeated in The Truth and the key to discovering that Lord
De Worde had organized the conspiracy, is attributed to Mark Twain.
- “But I reckon you could get twelve thousand if you’ve got a –ing pair. Futtock is
very collectable at the moment.” “Twelve thousand!” burbled the old priest. His
eyes gleamed with deadly sin. (p.109)
This scene spoofs the Antiques Roadshow television program, in which
people bring their old items to be identified and appraised by experts. When
asked if the reference was deliberate, Pratchett said: “My god, I don't think I
could have made it more obvious... 'You'd get more if you had a pair' and
'have you still got the box it came in?' and the piggy little gleam the owners
get when they realise that it's worth a wad. Except on ARS the owner isn't
clubbed to the ground at the end, which I often think is a shame.”
end they always had to take the one nearest the door. This allowed all of his
horses to be exercised.
- “Have you locked him up,' said Sacharissa suspiciously, 'in a deep cell, and made
him wear a mask all the time, and have all his meals brought by a deaf and dumb
jailer?” (P.338)
This is a reference to Alexandre Dumas' novel The Man in the Iron Mask.
Pulp fiction
The Truth contains a great many references to the movie Pulp Fiction:
- “Do you know what they called a sausage-in-a-bun in Quirm?” said Mr Pin.
(p.81)
This is a reference to the famous "Quarter Pounder with Cheese" dialogue
from Pulp Fiction between Vincent and Jules.
- “An' then... then I'm gonna get medieval on his arse.” (p.159)
This is a quote from Pulp Fiction, spoken by Marcellus Wallace.
- ““Not A Very Nice Person At All,” she read. “I wonder what kind of person
would put that on a wallet?” (p.299)
Well… In Pulp Fiction, Jules’ wallet read Bad Motherf***er.
- ““Let us use your “ing” presses or I'll “ing” shoot your “ing” head “ing” off!”
she screamed.” (p.304)
Sacharissa’s outburst is reminiscent of Honey Bunny's unexpected yelling at
the café clients in Pulp Fiction: “Any of you f***in' p***ks move and I'll execute
every motherf***in' last one of ya!”
“Seamstresses” (or ladies of the night, if that makes it clearer). Crime was
thus not so much eradicated as organized, and, for a small fee, citizens are
free from muggings or thefts. The other advantage is that all unlicensed crime
is severely punished by the Guilds. Vetinari then proceeded to carefully turn
the different Guilds against each other, so that they hated each other more
than they disliked him. Ankh-Morpork’s power system is compared in THUD!
To a room full of people shouting at each other with, “in the middle, a man
doing quietly his own thing.”
The other way Vetinari manages to keep his position is by making sure
that Ankh-Morpork ruled by him is slightly better than without him. This way,
all the Guild leaders prefer for him to stay at the head of the city, as the
conspirators describe: “the trouble with the city at present (…) is that a number of
otherwise intelligent people find that status quo… convenient, although it will
undoubtedly ruin the city” (p.68).
The way the Patrician rules the city is very simple: if everything works,
he doesn’t change anything: “From what I hear he doesn’t do a –ing thing!” [Mr.
Tulip] complained. “Yeah”, said Mr. Pin smoothly. “one of the hardest things to do
in politics.” (p.43).He knows that people don’t want fairness or justice, they
just want things to stay as they are. As he told William on page 79: “People
like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when
you tell them new things. New things… well, new things aren’t what they expect.”
This very sensible way of ruling the city, combined with the fact that he very
rarely wields his power against the wishes of the people, have allowed him to
keep the power over a number of years.
The final reasons for the Patrician's continued rule include his mastery
of diplomacy and manipulation of human nature, his distant and menacing air,
his everpresent calmness and composure which make other people ill at ease
(“ The Patrician’s bright, enquiring smile did not so much as flicker”, page 40), his
abilities as a listener (often people tell him things simply to fill his silence) and
of course his very impressive skills as an Assassin (“Mr. Slant had failed to tell
the New Firm about a number of things, and one of them was that Vetinari moved like
a snake” (p. 149)).
The one problem, perhaps, is that the readers know the identity (or can
deduce it easily if they pay attention) of the person behind the conspiracy,
while the characters don't because they don't have as much information as we
do. It's a case of the reader being a bit too omniscient for his or her own good
and ruining the final revelation a bit. However, the jumps between the story of
William or that of Mr. Pin or Tulip are always well done, and manage to
always keep the reader one his toes as to what will happen next. I do
understand that Terry Pratchett’s novels are a bit hard to get into, but once
you’ve understood how the Discworld works and what is happening in the
book, you’re hooked!
Along with Going Postal and Making Money, two Discworld novels that
narrate the rise of banks and the Postal Office in Ankh-Morpork, The Truth is
one of my favourite Pratchett books, probably because it is so easy to
compare them to our own society. I think the observations he makes are very
judicious, especially about how gullible people are when something seems to
come from a knowledgeable source. It is just like with television, the Internet
or even politicians nowadays: because they seem reliable, most people
believe everything they say. However, most newspapers are not actually
supervised by anyone, so they can say anything without it being necessarily
true. Just take any tabloid and look at the different articles: how many of them
do you think are really true? A lie can run around the world before the truth
has got its boots on.
[Death] sighed. “WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?”
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of potato. “SQUEAK,” he said. Death
waved a hand dismissively. “WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST
WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.”
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Truth)