Elena Partridge 1

Report on The Truth, by Terry Pratchett

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.

2) The Discworld novels:

Where to begin? Terry Pratchett has written 37 Discworld novels until
now, as well as many other books. All are very well-written, humorous and
often satirical, set in the colourful fantasy world of the Disc. The series
contains various 'sub-series', in which are found the same characters, as well
as a number of free-standing stories (such as Monstrous Regiment, for
instance). Characters and locations reappear throughout the series, variously
taking major and minor roles.
Elena Partridge 2

The books are essentially in chronological order, and advancements

can be seen in the development of the Discworld civilisations, such as the
creation of paper money in Ankh-Morpork, or the creation of the first
newspaper, as seen in The Truth. These developments, however, happen in a
couple of days rather than over several centuries like on Earth: for instance,
the time span between the arrival of the press in Ankh-Morpork and the
apparition of the first tabloid is only one day.

Main “sub-series” characters:

- The Ankh-Morpork City Watch, including Commander Vimes, Angua,

Corporal Carrot, Detritus and Sergeant Colon
- The Unseen University Wizards
- Vetinari the Patrician
- Rincewind the “wizzard”
- The Lancre Witches: Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax
- Death
- Tiffany Aching and the Nac Mac Feegle
- Moist von Lipwig
- The History Monks
- And many, many others, including Cohen the Barbarian, William De
Worde, the beggars, various Guild chiefs and members, dwarves, trolls,
gargoyles, gods, an orang-utan, the Disc’s only talking dog, and Nobby
Nobbs, an entire species unto himself.
All of these diverse and imaginative characters can be seen to parody,
or to improve, one or several aspects of our world. For instance, the three
Lancre witches represent an aspect of the Trinity (the mother, the maiden and
the hag), Vetinari is a dictator the likes of which we might find in many Third-
World countries, as we will explore later in this essay, and Nobby Nobbs and
Sergeant Colon represent the corrupt police. The uniqueness of these books
comes partly from the fact that these characters are portrayed positively
rather than negatively; in fact, many characters that, in other books, would be
portrayed as “bad guys” are in the Discworld quite the opposite.

Main “sub-series” locations:

- The lost continent, also named Fourecks, also named Ecksecksecksecks,

also named XXXX
- Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Disc
- Lancre, tiny kingdom in the Ramtop mountains
- Quirm
- Genua
- Uberwald, home to vampires and werewolves and dramatic thunder

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

origin. Terry Pratchett explains this because of influences that happen

between worlds, like tiny leaks in the space-time.

3) The Truth: Plot and Characters:

The Truth is about the first Printing Press, and the newspapers that
develop in Ankh-Morpork as a result. The main character is William de Worde,
of the old and noble family of de Worde, but he was disinherited because of
his feelings, contrary to that of his intolerant father. He earns his money by
writing a small news sheet that he sends to noble people that are interested in
learning about the current events in Ankh-Morpork. He usually writes one
every month, which he then has copied several times by an engraver.
His life is changed when he meets new arrivals in the city, a group of
dwarfs, led by Gunilla Goodmountain, who have designed a printing press
capable of printing words and reusing the same letters to print new words.
This invention is not greatly appreciated by the wizards, who think that the
letters have some kind of memory and will get themselves mixed up when the
words try to write themselves. For example, if letters are used to print a guide
to poisons, and then rearranged to do a cookbook, you may have lots of
people with tummy ache. The Guild of Engravers is also extremely
disapproving, not least because it allows the dwarfs to print texts much faster
than the Guild can by engraving.
The dwarfs suggest that William should print his newsletter in greater
quantities and sell it in the streets of Ankh. A group of well-known beggars,
led by a talking dog that no-one actually believe exists, are employed to sell
what has become the Discworld’s first ever newspaper, the Ankh-Morpork
Times.
The newspaper began with simple news, but expands to include
human-interest stories, gossip, and various reports about meetings because
“names sell newspapers”. As the newspaper develops, the writer also meets a
vampire photographer who disintegrates into ash as soon as he takes a
picture, and a battalion of dwarfs and people with interestingly shaped
vegetables.
However, a rival newspaper, this one full of sensationalist and utterly
false news, the more extraordinary the better, is set up by the engravers’
guild, who would have been put out of business by the dwarfs’ printing press.
The lying newspaper is much more successful than the other, a situation that
can be applied to our own society, and that confirms the saying “a lie can run
around the world before the truth has got its boots on”.
When Vetinari, the Patrician and tyrant of Ankh-Morpork, is accused of
having attempted to murder his clerk and to have stolen seventy thousand
dollars, the Watch are at a loss, and it is only with William’s help that the truth
is finally discovered: a massive conspiracy by a group of “concerned” citizens
(i.e. cunning and power thirsty), including Lord de Worde Senior, to remove
Vetinari from power, install a new dictatorship, much worse than Vetinari’s,
and control the presence of non-human species such as dwarfs and trolls in
the city. Mr. Pin and Mr Tulip, two killers, are hired to do the job and use
Charlie, a dumb shopkeeper who is the exact double of Vetinari, to perpetuate
the attack.
Elena Partridge 4

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

A passage I find particularly realistic (insofar as being racist about

imaginary creatures can be realistic) is when Mr Windling expresses his
intolerance: “The city is getting rather crowded, though,” said Mr. Windling, who
had some unspecified clerical job. “Still, at least zombies are human. No offense
meant, of course” (p.98). This phrase of “No offense meant” is also quite typical
of the type of intolerant, cowardly and deviating person Mr. Windling
represents, of very strong opinions but never having the courage to say
everything right out. As William thinks to himself: “maybe it was because they
found it easier to say “no offense meant” than to actually refrain from giving
offense” (p. 98).
All of this surrounding intolerance reminds me strongly of the strong
anti-semitism that flourished at the end of the nineteenth century. A good
example of this is the Dreyfus affair. In England, as the book The Tiger in the
Well by Philip Pullman realistically describes, the people were hostile towards
the Jews because of the spreading rumours that they killed English babies
during religious ceremonies (Beilis trial), and that they took over jobs from
honest English men, whereas in reality most immigrated Jews worked and
lived in terrible conditions. These rumours are also seen in Ankh-Morpork:
“There was one [letter] saying that all these robberies were down to dwarfs who
shouldn’t be allowed into the city to steal the work out of honest humans’ mouths”
(p.106) ; “In the old days the gates were kept shut, not left open to all and sundry.
And people could leave their doors unlocked” (p.202).
Intolerance is one of the reasons for which some people don’t want
Vetinari for Patrician anymore. Indeed, he is absolutely indifferent to the
different races, as long as they don’t cause any problems (“the dwarfs are a
very hard-working and valuable ethnic grouping in the city” (p.41) ) ; a bit like Mrs
Arcanum (whose name means mystery or deep secret), one might say, who
“rated Decency above species” (p.71). It is for this reason that the Mr Windlings
of the Discworld dislike the Patrician: “Vetinari let it go too far. Everyone knows
we need someone who is prepared to be a little more firm” (p.202).
But, thanks to William and Deep Bone a.k.a. Gaspode, the plan to Un-elect
the Patrician fails, and Ankh-Morpork, “similar to central Prague, but with
elements of 18th century London, 19th century Seattle and modern New York
City”, as Pratchett explains, stays a colourful city full of all possible species.

Truthful or sensationalist newspapers, and rumors:

“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Mackleduff, who was one of those large men who were instantly
an expert on anything. “They wouldn’t allow just anyone to write what they like. That
stands to reason.” (p.72)

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

Death and religion:

“Is that the bit where my whole life passes in front of my eyes?” Mr. Tulip said. NO,
THAT WAS THE BIT JUST NOW. “Which bit?” THE BIT, said Death, BETWEEN
YOU BEING BORN AND YOU DYING. (p.290)
Terry Pratchett takes a very literal meaning to death, as well as other
phenomena such as the Lady (luck), Fortune, War, Pestilence, and Famine.
He uses anthropomorphic personifications for these characters. Death, as
dictated by tradition, is a tall skeleton with a black robe and a scythe, who
appears in every Discworld novels and speaks in CAPS. However, Death is
by no means a cruel character; he has developed a fascination for humans,
and even has a granddaughter with whom he is very kind. The afterlife is
represented as a never ending desert roamed by Death, and that can be left
by good people only, to reincarnate under another form.
The deaths of Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip are a symbol of the blind faith of
humans that is sometimes nonsensical. Indeed, both believe that, although
they have killed many people and have committed terrible crimes, they will not
be punished in the afterlife and will be able to come back to Earth in other
lives, as long as they have a potato: “When you die, if you’ve got your potato,
everything will be okay. (…) You’re allowed to come back and have another life (…)
even if you’ve done things that people might think were bad (…), so long as you’re
really –ing sorry about it.” (p.272). The phrase “if you’ve got your potato, you’ll
be alright” is repeated many times, to highlight the ignorance and naiveté of
the two men: who could believe that a simple potato would suffice to pardon
all of someone’s crimes?
When Mr. Tulip dies and meets Death, he understands that the part of
being very sorry is much more important than the part of carrying a potato. His
normal self resurfaces from the deep evil in which it was plunged, and he
decides to “take a – ing good run” (p.312) at being sorry. Death realizes there
is some potential in him, which is why he actually gives him back his potato:
“Mr Tulip’s hand flew to his neck. There was something wizened and hard there, on
the end of the string” (p.289). When Mr. Pin appears, completely crazed and
holding Tulip’s potato, however, Death takes the potato away from him,
because he can see that no good will ever come out of him.
Mr. Pin is thus reincarnated into a potato that will be fried to become
chips (somewhat ironic, really, as he stole Mr. Tulip’s potato and pushed him
in the molten lead so that he could fry); and Mr. Tulip becomes a satisfied
woodworm. Justice is served after all.
In some of Pratchett’s other Discworld novels, the gods play quite an
important role. They are, however, mostly indifferent to humans, or use them
to play games with (like a giant human chessboard). This dystheitic
representation of gods may well be inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

5) Parallels between the Discworld and our world:

- Tabloids: “The news in the Inquirer look more interesting, I have to admit,” said
Goodmountain. “That’s because it doesn’t have any facts in it!” she snapped.
(p.154)
The Ankh-Morpork Enquirer could be considered as an equivalent to the
National Enquirer in its coverage of highly inventive news. Stories such as
that of a woman giving birth to a snake or of a man abducted by aliens seem
Elena Partridge 8

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.

- The Dis-organizer Mk-II: “'Bingely-bingely beep!' The imp gave a nervous

cough. 'Good for you!' it said. 'You have wisely purchased the Dis-organizer Mk
II, the latest in biothaumaturgic design, with a host of useful features and no
resemblance whatsoever to the Mk I which you may have inadvertently destroyed
by stamping on it heavily!' it said, adding, 'This device is provided without warranty of any kind as to
reliability, accuracy, existence or otherwise or fitness for any particular purpose and Bioalchemic Products specifically does not
warrant, guarantee, imply or make any representations as to its merchantability for any particular purpose and furthermore shall
have no liability for or responsibility to you or any other person, entity or deity with respect to any loss or damage whatsoever
caused by this device or object or by any attempts to destroy it by hammering it against a wall or dropping it into a deep well or
any other means whatsoever and moreover asserts that you indicate your acceptance of this agreement or any other agreement that
may he substituted at any time by coming within five miles of the product or observing it through large telescopes or by any other
means because you are such an easily cowed moron who will happily accept arrogant and unilateral conditions on a piece of
The
highly priced garbage that you would not dream of accepting on a bag of dog biscuits and is used solely at your own risk.'
imp took a deep breath. 'May I introduce to you the rest of my wide range of
interesting and amusing sounds, Insert Name Here?'”(p.84)
The Mk-II parodies the various Palm Pilots, Iphones, Blackberries and other
smartphones that come with incomprehensible instructions and warranties
written in very small print. As in all Discworlds novels, these devices are
adapted in a medieval and somewhat magical way, just like Otto’s iconograph
(after all, how often do you see an imp painting a picture when it is hit on the
head with a hammer?). They are represented just like a small child would see
these devices: for instance, small children don’t understand how television
works (and, honestly, most of the rest of the population don’t either). So they
think that there really are small people standing in the box.
Terry Pratchett often uses similar “reductive thinking” in his books.

- The Watergate Scandal:

The whole novel is centred, not only on the invention of the newspaper, but
also on the attempt to remove the Patrician from power. It is possible to find a
few references to the Watergate scandal. The first is the rather symbolic
arrival of the New Firm through… the Water Gate: “Then the two watchmen
trailed through the slush and muck to the Water Gate […]. There was the creak of an
oar, far below” (p.6).
The next reference is the name of the group of “concerned citizens”: “And
now... this meeting of the Committee to Unelect the Patrician is declared closed. And
hasn’t happened.” (p.69). It turns out that the Watergate scandal break-in at the
offices of the Democratic National Committee was eventually traced back to
the Committee to Re-Elect the President.
Lastly, the most obvious allusion to Watergate is the name that Gaspode
chooses when informing William of Wuffles’ whereabouts: “Deep Bone” (p.
205), which bears a curious resemblance to Deep Throat, the pseudonym
given to the infamous Washington Post informant. It is also interesting to
Elena Partridge 9

notice that William de Worde is a serious journalist just like Bob Woodward
(the journalist who uncovered the scandal) was.

- “Woman holding Ferret”

The author of this painting is the notorious genius, Leonardo De Quirm,
responsible for invention the gonne, amongst other things, a terrible weapon
that is banned in Ankh-Morpork (“any city Watch that found one used against them
would see to it that the offender’s feet did not touch the ground, but instead swung
gently as the breeze pushed them around”, page 266). It is quite clear that
Leonardo De Quirm is, in fact, a representation of Leonardo Da Vinci, and that
this painting was in fact inspired by Da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine” (see
below).

Lady with an Ermine, Leonardo Da Vinci

- 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.

- “We are a bodyguard of lies, gentlemen.” (page 18)

This is a reference to Winston Churchill’s famous sentence: “In war-time, truth
is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

- 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)

- “Have you heard of c-commerce?” (p. 32)

Just like the Dis-Organizer, c-commerce is a reference to modern technology
in our world (e-commerce). These types of comparisons are very common in
the Discworld books, especially those taking place in Ankh-Morpork, where
modern inventions are developed (in a realistic way, since the Discworld
civilisation is still at the level of our Middle Age) very quickly.

- “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.

- Alcoholics Anonymous: “Oh? You've signed the pledge?” said Sacharissa.

“At the Meeting Rooms in Abattoirs Lane,” said Otto triumphantly, “where I
attend every veek for our big singsong and tea and a bun and wholesome
conversation on the themes of positive reinforcement keeping off the
whole subject of bodily fluids by stvict instruction. I am no longer any
stupid sucker!” (p.101)
"Taking the pledge" is what one used to do when joining Alcoholics
Anonymous, or any other temperance movement. Otto is now “completely
beetotal” (p.210), a clear link to teetotalism. Vampires are thus compared to
alcoholics, and not at all portryed in a Dracula way: indeed Otto is portrayed
as trying as hard as possible to resist the temptation of the b-vord: “But I vill
be stronk!” he screamed. “I vill not let everyvun down!” (p.170).

- 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.”

- “HALF MAN HALF MOTH?” (p.202)

The urban myth of the "Mothman", a man-sized creature with wings seen by
several people in West Virginia in the second half of the 1960s, was reported
on extensively by the regular newspapers as well as by the Fortean Times, a
magazine devoted to strange phenomena. Terry Pratchett shows in this novel
that there can be rational explanations (well, insofar as the Bursar flying is
something rational) to strange events.

- “Hobson's Livery Stable” (p.203)

These multi-storey stables are the medieval equivalent of our multi-storey car
parks. This becomes especially significant in light of the fact that the original
Watergate Deep Throat used to deliver his information in… a multi-storey car
park.
It also turns out that Thomas Hobson was a real stable manager after whom
the concept of "Hobson's choice" (the appearance of giving someone a
choice, when actually there is but a single option) was named. Indeed, he
would show all his available horses to people wanting to rent one, but in the
Elena Partridge 12

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.

- “A dog has got personality. Personality counts for a lot.” (p.156)

This comes from another Pulp Fiction quote from Jules: “I wouldn't go so far
as to call a dog filthy, but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality.
Personality goes a long way.”

- “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!”

6) Vetinari: an ideal tyrant?

The character of Vetinari is quite a strange one, that appears in most of
the Ankh-Morpork books. Although William first describes him as a “ruthless
despot who doesn’t like printing” (p. 40), this description doesn’t seem to fit
during the rest of the book. Indeed, even the conspirators want to remove
him, not because he is a terrible dictator, but simply to have more power
themselves and to stop so many “lesser races” (p.196) from entering the city;
and as soon as the Patrician is accused of attempted murder, both the Watch
and William try hard to uncover the mystery.
As seen in other books, the Patrician is generally considered to be a
rather good ruler, not because of his fairness or generosity, but because he
managed to make the city prosper. The other factor is that he is much better
than the previous rulers, who were either 1) schizophrenic, 2) bloodthirsty, 3)
utterly mad, like his predecessor Mad Lord Snapcase, or 4) all at once.
One of Vetinari’s first actions as ruler of the city was to legalize Guilds
that had always been active but outlawed, such as the Thieves’ or the
Elena Partridge 13

“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)).

7) My Opinion and conclusion:

Terry Pratchett, along with Douglas Adams, is my favourite comic
fantasy author. I just love the way he manages to make me laugh with all the
clever puns and footnotes that his books are full of. I also really enjoy how he
parodies very serious or current themes such as religion, death, the press,
banks, credulity, and many more. But I think the thing I like the most is that it
is possible to read his books again and again, and every time you will find
something new, be it a pun or a parallel to our world.
To write an essay on this book with no guideline whatsoever, I had to
read it several times and pay more attention to details, and I loved finding all
the references that I have mentioned above. I was also able to understand
quite a few jokes that I had not seen before, such as: “It’s a –ing virginal (…)!
So called because it was an instrument for – ing young ladies!” “My word, was it?”
said one of the chairs. “I thought it was just a sort of early piano!” “Intended to be
played by young ladies,” said Mr. Pin smoothly. (p.65-66)
Elena Partridge 14

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)