#sharpes rifles
so i said there were 3 orwell references in this diorama that i cld spot
the first & namesake is on the two tins of tea :
pls note that i cannot make out the first name of the tea importers firm & have not yet been able to determine if its a real historic brand or not , google turning up no matches for an “and appleby” line from the 19th c on the steampunk / reenactment / collectibles fronts (x)
however the look of them is very authentic , the art style and colors are exactly in line w actual historic advertising & marketing materials from circa 1890 - 1910
& the symbolism of the adapted heraldry of great britain is quite in keeping w a brand aspiring to be awarded the honor of a royal appointment – or tryin to make casual shoppers think they already had one , hah !
but while to the vast majority of viewers this will symbolize at first & likely also 2nd glance ALICE IN WONDERLAND & THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS bc tea –> parties (x) + lion & unicorn “were fighting for the crown” (x) = lewis carroll by default
there is something else , an obscure but super important essay by orwell from 1941
ie in the height of the blitz , during the battle of britain , but before the US had been bombed by the axis
after he & his wife had got back from the debacle of the spanish civil war
& it is called THE LION & THE UNICORN(x)
& begins w bombs falling from airplanes
& is a discussion of britain as a society & a culture & a govt as well as a changing one faced w a choice of directions imposed by war ( agn )
& in it , in the course of talking abt british culture , the “the nice cup of tea” - a subject so dear to his heart he wrote a whole other essay after the war on the right way to make tea (x) called just that -
& also the english love of flowers
all of which we see above in the CRIMSON PEAK display along w a chatelaine , a ring of keys - the key bein a symbol that features significantly in guillermo del toros previous films , both DEVILS BACKBONE & PANS LABYRINTH in literal / traditional fashion , & in more arcane modes in the HELLBOY films & CRONOS –& in BLADE 2 as in PACIFIC RIM more futuristic ones , but a key is a key if it be a puzzle-piece of metal or wood or a carefully guarded number sequence , or the DNA sequence of a member of the royal blood
–the key also oc simultaneously a longtime symbol of christianity , used heraldically esp by the church of rome , being associated w st peter the gatekeeper of heaven & equally of hekate the guardian of the crossroads of life & death , used in one of the most famous rites of that goddess long before christianity–
–one of the keys appears to have a skull finial altho the photo is not as high res as i wld like–
the moss-green doily under the tea service keys & morning paper bein significant @ least for its color as well as its floral symbols
but then there is the paper itself & upon closest examination i see that it does not say that LADY BEATRICE ALEXANDRA SHARPE ( ! ! ! ) was the victim , but that someone connected tp her by an “of” was slain in their bath
so the plot thickens
bc there is a ton of stuffs goin on uncovered via this orwell link
& mainly it hotwires directly to discworld
bc tell me if this does not speak muchly of ankh-morpork as described in those books ??
But here it is worth noting a minor English trait which is extremely well marked though not often commented on, and that is a love of flowers. This is one of the first things that one notices when one reaches England from abroad, especially if one is coming from southern Europe. Does it not contradict the English indifference to the arts? Not really, because it is found in people who have no aesthetic feelings whatever. What it does link up with, however, is another English characteristic which is so much a part of us that we barely notice it, and that is the addiction to hobbies and spare-time occupations, the privateness of English life. We are a nation of flower-lovers, but also a nation of stamp-collectors, pigeon-fanciers, amateur carpenters, coupon-snippers, darts-players, crossword-puzzle fans. All the culture that is most truly native centres round things which even when they are communal are not official - the pub, the football match, the back garden, the fireside and the ‘nice cup of tea’. The liberty of the individual is still believed in, almost as in the nineteenth century. But this has nothing to do with economic liberty, the right to exploit others for profit. It is the liberty to have a home of your own, to do what you like in your spare time, to choose your own amusements instead of having them chosen for you from above. The most hateful of all names in an English ear is Nosey Parker. It is obvious, of course, that even this purely private liberty is a lost cause. Like all other modern people, the English are in process of being numbered, labelled, conscripted, ‘co-ordinated’. But the pull of their impulses is in the other direction, and the kind of regimentation that can be imposed on them will be modified in consequence. No party rallies, no Youth Movements, no coloured shirts, no Jew-baiting or ‘spontaneous’ demonstrations. No Gestapo either, in all probability.
But in all societies the common people must live to some extent against the existing order. The genuinely popular culture of England is something that goes on beneath the surface, unofficially and more or less frowned on by the authorities. One thing one notices if one looks directly at the common people, especially in the big towns, is that they are not puritanical. They are inveterate gamblers, drink as much beer as their wages will permit, are devoted to bawdy jokes, and use probably the foulest language in the world. They have to satisfy these tastes in the face of astonishing, hypocritical laws (licensing laws, lottery acts, etc. etc.) which are designed to interfere with everybody but in practice allow everything to happen. Also, the common people are without definite religious belief, and have been so for centuries. The Anglican Church never had a real hold on them, it was simply a preserve of the landed gentry, and the Nonconformist sects only influenced minorities. And yet they have retained a deep tinge of Christian feeling, while almost forgetting the name of Christ. The power-worship which is the new religion of Europe, and which has infected the English intelligentsia, has never touched the common people.
beyond that but also bc that there is a great deal in this essay which is politically & socially relevant despite the changed times – esp the bit abt bein simultaneously exhorted to save for the war effort WHILE simultaneously exhorted to shop shop shop in the name of patriotism
something anyone who was a conscious adult i n 2002 will remember bein revolted by , or even just an alert teen of which there were many
even if there is a good deal i wld disagree w from my distant & hindsighted perspective , like for one i think orwell –yes , old george orwell himself ! ! is far more sentimental abt england & his countrymen than sir terry , esp when it comes to matters of war & empire & militarism
that ankh-morporkians happily ranting against “johnny klatchian” & “the cheese-eaters of quirm” are more true to the spirit of john bull & that eric blair is FAR too soft on the raj harsh on it tho he was in the light of his own experience in burma (x) & i think george monbiot cld have taught him a few things (x) or put them in better perspective @ least (x) –& i do wonder if there isnt also some cryptic connection w luc besson makin his last big movie abt a burmese protestor
bc here is the kicker
i have been goin thru all the watch books now w a close reading & a watchful eye for symbols & references that i might have missed or thought just a joke before
& MONSTROUS REGIMENT is not the first SHARPES RIFLES fanfic pratchett did altho it is more obv
& the earlier SHARPE fanfic / fixfic is also his LES MIS fanfic / fixfic
but also a very grim BATMAN fic –grimmer than anything alan moore or frank miller dared dream up – is NIGHT WATCH indeed
bc carcer is an evil vimes doppelganger & thus the joker to vimes noir batman who operates on the very broken jagged edge of the law in this one , seeking out the dangerous answer WHAT IS THE LAW ?? IS ‘ORDER’ FOUND IN OBEYING ORDERS – OR IN FOLLOWING THE ESSENCE OF THAT LAWFULNESS??
but it was also a dark & prescient take on the current reality of the War on Some Nouns WHICH IS STILL GOING ON
& CARCER IS A VERSION OF SGT OBEDIAH HAKESWILL played w vicious aplomb by the late great pete postlethwaite AKA THE NEMESIS OF SHARPE WHO JOINED UP FOR THE LOOTING
& if there is any doubt that sam vimes is richard sharpe HE EVEN MAKES A NAME JOKE ON IT TO LORD RUST ! ! !
however in the course of all this collision of memes pratchett did something else huge
bc he took the timelords , that most english of inventions in entertainment , & turned them into the MI-5 of the bondverse , that other oh so english of entertainments
& made them both as unenglish as cld be TIMEBENDERS AHEAD OF TIME & also lightly made them part of UNCLE bc entrance thru a clothes shop here in their 3rd outing
its a huge subversion & of both universes , bc the bondverse is all abt “ENGLAND PREVAILS” defending the neoraj of the angloamerican pax thru strength
& the timelords are all abt the status quo in the name of benevolent handsoffery but rly to protect their privilege until it all goes blooey - except for the erratic champion-but-also-tourist the doctor
& in pratchetts hands the order of the history monks is defending reality from exactly the sort of authority figures that orwell criticized in his praise of toads & hares (x)
I think that by retaining one’s childhood love of such things as trees, fishes, butterflies and - to return to my first instance - toads, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable, and that by preaching the doctrine that nothing is to be admired except steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except in hatred and leader worship.(…) The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it.
but it was in FIFTH ELEPHANT that del toro found the key for makin the lost daughter & the unsaved child & the unwanted orphan ALL THE SAME SOLAR WOLF-CHAMPION FIGHTING THE ELDER GODS GENERATION AFTER GENERATION
& it is hella grim in its lead for the alchemy
bc there is a girl & a shoe in that tale as well but her story didnt have a happy ending
& also i know how it too is a bondverse fic by retconnection now
not just bc NIGHT WATCH made sam vimes into james that time round
but bc of yes PACIFIC RIM
oh & there are also evil & unredeemed versions of hermann & newt in NIGHT WATCH
even as discworlds hakeswill is defeated in it
bc this is not the SHARPE fanfic w the folksongs in it – no hagman & harris except on the barricades as the multitude ( see how they rise up … )
& as there are good ( or good-ish ) versions of them in UNSEEN ACADEMICALS
but that will have to go in another post bc rl stuff calls
but yes the great game they are playing has a point , the story isnt idle diversion @ least on the side of team resistance
& THE CAKE WAS ALWAYS A LIE – & orwells essay goes into that in quite some detail for its brevity
