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Authors: Linda Washington
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Along?
Can we all get along?
âRodney King
The principal aim of the tapestry, obviously, was to cover the walls of a given room completely, and to provide a homogeneous decoration which related to both the walls and the furniture. 54
T his is a chapter about a tapestry, but not like the Unicorn Tapestries, one of the most famous sets of tapestries in the world, dating back to 1500. Weâre talking about the tapestry of humanity. (Already, youâre probably thinking, Iâve heard the tapestry analogy before. Cliché. But bear with us.)
A tapestry is designed to cover a wall. A human tapestry covers a world. In our world, the human tapestry consists of people of various races. You know them. We donât have to list them. If you saw the video for âWe Are the Worldâ ages ago, attended a meeting at
the UN, or looked at Carrieâs pets, youâd see colors as varied as the threads of a medieval tapestry. (Well, Carrieâs pets are only somewhat varied color-wise. Two have a mostly black and white color scheme. Sassie, the orange tabby, is in the minority. But the other two do not discriminate.)
The people and species of creatures of Discworld form a unique tapestry with threads from throughout literature. In chapter 1 , we discussed how various myths informed Pratchettâs choice of people or beings to populate his series. But how do those people and beings fit together? What are the warp and weft of their relationships?
In a tapestry, the various threads work together to show the whole picture. In the Discworld tapestry, the âthreadsâ often try their best to pull out the other threads. Itâs the same in our world. Letâs face itâwe donât always get along. Hatred and prejudice wear a very human face. You can probably easily think of books and movies that deal with the reality of tense racial situations. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird , A Time to Kill, To Sir with Love, The Defiant Ones (the Tony Curtis/Sidney Poitier movie from 1958) , West Side Story, Guess Whoâs Coming to Dinner (old and new) , Amazing Grace, Amistad, The Interpreter. Some of these tensions are played out in wars that stain the human tapestry.
With such an explosive situation, maybe thatâs why many sci-fi and fantasy writers use alien races or even differing types of robots or androids in their stories as a metaphor for race relations. Think of the Vulcans and Romulans in the first Star Trek series. Think of the Daleks and Cybermen in the most recent Doctor Who series on BBC One. (Well, the Daleks and Cybermen hate everyone but themselves. And theyâre not all robot, either. Cybermen have human brains and the Daleks are bad-tempered small aliens in armored suits. No wonder prejudicial thoughts occur.)
Although there are no âaliensâ per se in Discworld, Pratchett shows race relations among humans and between humans and other species. Letâs look at the human factor first.
DISC-CLAIMER:
Plot spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.
PATTERN I: THE HUMAN FACTOR
We have met the enemy and he is us.
âWalt Kelly, 55 creator of Pogo comic strip
Klatch vs. Ankh-Morpork
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
âMartin Luther King
In Jingo, a mysterious island rich in treasures (or so the rumor goes) is a hotbed of contention between the people of Klatch and of Ankh-Morpork. Pratchett weaves the threat of war in with moments of slapstick. But more than that, we see the attitudes of the people of Ankh-Morpork and of Klatch toward each other, especially when Vimes is asked to explain a derogatory remark leveled at a visiting prince from Klatch. And even Vimes has to explore his attitude toward 71-hour Ahmed, the clove-eating cultural attaché and bodyguard. (But then, Vimes never pretends to be PC.)
The island
Can we all get along?
âRodney King
The principal aim of the tapestry, obviously, was to cover the walls of a given room completely, and to provide a homogeneous decoration which related to both the walls and the furniture. 54
T his is a chapter about a tapestry, but not like the Unicorn Tapestries, one of the most famous sets of tapestries in the world, dating back to 1500. Weâre talking about the tapestry of humanity. (Already, youâre probably thinking, Iâve heard the tapestry analogy before. Cliché. But bear with us.)
A tapestry is designed to cover a wall. A human tapestry covers a world. In our world, the human tapestry consists of people of various races. You know them. We donât have to list them. If you saw the video for âWe Are the Worldâ ages ago, attended a meeting at
the UN, or looked at Carrieâs pets, youâd see colors as varied as the threads of a medieval tapestry. (Well, Carrieâs pets are only somewhat varied color-wise. Two have a mostly black and white color scheme. Sassie, the orange tabby, is in the minority. But the other two do not discriminate.)
The people and species of creatures of Discworld form a unique tapestry with threads from throughout literature. In chapter 1 , we discussed how various myths informed Pratchettâs choice of people or beings to populate his series. But how do those people and beings fit together? What are the warp and weft of their relationships?
In a tapestry, the various threads work together to show the whole picture. In the Discworld tapestry, the âthreadsâ often try their best to pull out the other threads. Itâs the same in our world. Letâs face itâwe donât always get along. Hatred and prejudice wear a very human face. You can probably easily think of books and movies that deal with the reality of tense racial situations. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird , A Time to Kill, To Sir with Love, The Defiant Ones (the Tony Curtis/Sidney Poitier movie from 1958) , West Side Story, Guess Whoâs Coming to Dinner (old and new) , Amazing Grace, Amistad, The Interpreter. Some of these tensions are played out in wars that stain the human tapestry.
With such an explosive situation, maybe thatâs why many sci-fi and fantasy writers use alien races or even differing types of robots or androids in their stories as a metaphor for race relations. Think of the Vulcans and Romulans in the first Star Trek series. Think of the Daleks and Cybermen in the most recent Doctor Who series on BBC One. (Well, the Daleks and Cybermen hate everyone but themselves. And theyâre not all robot, either. Cybermen have human brains and the Daleks are bad-tempered small aliens in armored suits. No wonder prejudicial thoughts occur.)
Although there are no âaliensâ per se in Discworld, Pratchett shows race relations among humans and between humans and other species. Letâs look at the human factor first.
DISC-CLAIMER:
Plot spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.
PATTERN I: THE HUMAN FACTOR
We have met the enemy and he is us.
âWalt Kelly, 55 creator of Pogo comic strip
Klatch vs. Ankh-Morpork
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
âMartin Luther King
In Jingo, a mysterious island rich in treasures (or so the rumor goes) is a hotbed of contention between the people of Klatch and of Ankh-Morpork. Pratchett weaves the threat of war in with moments of slapstick. But more than that, we see the attitudes of the people of Ankh-Morpork and of Klatch toward each other, especially when Vimes is asked to explain a derogatory remark leveled at a visiting prince from Klatch. And even Vimes has to explore his attitude toward 71-hour Ahmed, the clove-eating cultural attaché and bodyguard. (But then, Vimes never pretends to be PC.)
The island
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