Feet of Clay
Terry Pratchett
No kings, no slaves
Feet of Clay is the nineteenth novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and the third in the City Watch subseries. It is, I think, the best Discworld novel I have yet read.
What is special about Feet of Clay, and indeed about the City Watch series throughout (as far as I've read, which so far is only three of the eight novels) is that in these novels Pratchett seems to have something to say. Often Discworld novels appear written just to be funny. I don't scorn that -- I love a book that entertains me and makes me laugh, and no one is better at that than Sir Terry. Feet of Clay is funny! But it is more.
What I take to be the central message of the City Watch series is expressed in this thought of Commander Samuel Vimes
It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written: ‘Kings. What a good idea.’ Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees.
Now, the views of a character in a novel need not be the views of the author himself. I cannot therefore say that Pratchett himself views the human tendency to subjugate self as a major design flaw. (I would not be surprised if he does, but I do not know.) But at the very least, the City Watch series forcefully makes that argument.
It has been loudly hinted that one member of the City Watch, Captain Carrot, is a lineal descendant of the kings of Anhk-Morpork, and that, if the city still chose its ruler by heredity, he would be king. Commander Vimes is the descendant of a historical figure nicknamed "Old Stoneface" who killed the last king. If you were going to be ruled by a king, you would want him to be like Carrot. Carrot is charismatic, frighteningly competent at everything he undertakes, kind, and just. Vimes, too, seems to have inherited his ancestor's character, specifically disdain for hereditary authority. It is interesting, therefore, that Vimes and Carrot get along and understand each other splendidly. Clearly this good understanding is predicated on Carrot not being a ruler of Ankh-Morpork.
At first I thought that, by stipulating such a large role of heredity in character, Pratchett was undermining his argument. It has, after all, been one of the key arguments presented in favor of monarchy that the son (historically this logic has rarely been applied to daughters) of a good ruler is likely also to be a good ruler. Historical fact, however, contradicts it. Any number of good(ish) kings have been succeeded by sons who turned out to be appallingly bad in every way. But then I realized that, in fact, the stipulation only makes Sir Terry's argument stronger. He in effect says, "Even if we pretend that the son of a good king is likely to make a good king, autocracy is still a terrible idea.”
A new side to this issue presents itself in Feet of Clay. The title refers to Golems, who are slave automata fabricated from clay. Autocracy is not the only ill that results from the tendency to bend at the knee. Slavery is another. This argument against slavery is presented in the person of another character, the golem Dorfl.
My favorite character, however, is not one of those I name above. Rather, it is the Lord Havelock Veterinari, the chief executive of Ankh-Morpok. You are not supposed to like Veterinari. He is carefully designed to be unlikeable, almost despicable, in fact. But there are shades to Veterinari. It is true that he is arrogant, and that his approach to his job is marked by extreme moral flexibility. But he sees it as his job to make Ankh-Morpork work, for some value of "work" that comes close to the utilitarian ideal of the greatest good for the greatest number. He lives a live of privilege and power. But not of luxury. His life is simple and he works very hard. Just as Carrot is the ideal king and Vimes the ideal citizen, Veterinari is the ideal politician. Politicians are coded as bad in our time, but Veterinari is the best of this necessary evil.
I don't usually like preachy fiction, but Feet of Clay is the exception.