In the sixth part of Reaper Man, Bill Door settles into life; Windle Poons seeks out a support group; and the wizards discover exactly what’s happening on the Discworld. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.Â
Bill Door
There’s something both comforting and utterly depressing about Death coming to find out what life really is like.
Pratchett certainly doesn’t avoid making a lot of jokes about Death’s behavior as Bill Door, but there’s still the threat of Death’s expiring life hanging over this entire segment of his story. Death’s literal interpretation of life might make him a strange housemate, but we learn that he’s also extremely efficient. Part of that efficiency comes from a genuine desire that Death has to be human, at least as much as he can. He works on the farm because that’s what humans do. Of course, he’s not human, and his appearance and speed are constant reminders of how different he is.
“But why one blade of grass at a time?”
Bill Door regarded the neat row of stalks for some while.
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY?
“You can do lots in one go, you know.”
NO. NO. ONE BLADE AT A TIME. ONE TIME, ONE BLADE.
“You won’t cut many that way,” said Miss FLitworth.
EVERY LAST ONE, MISS FLITWORTH.
“Yes?”
TRUST ME ON THIS.
So, obviously this is hilarious because clearly, Death wouldn’t know any other way. He’s always taken one soul at a time, and he damn well is going to approach everything else in his life in the same way. Miss Flitworth finds Death bizarre, but she ends up developing a sort of affinity for him. How could you not? In his own way, he’s charming. Take the scene in the town tavern, for example. Yes, Death is absolutely an outsider. He has to constantly adapt his behavior in order to fit in, but he still manages to do it. So it was kind of wistful to me to see Miss Flitworth exhibit a momentary affection for Bill Door:
Miss Flitworth was holding a lantern, and had a shawl around her shoulders.
“It’s got cinnamon on it. My Ralph always liked cinnamon.” She sighed.
Bill Door was aware of undertones and overtones in the same way that an astronaut is aware of weather patterns below him; they’re all visible, all there, all laid out for study and all totally divorced from actual experience.
And it’s that very experience that Death lacks anyway. Yet he’s still able to see a loneliness within Miss Flitworth. Is his presence a respite from that? I don’t know yet, but it’s a very human experience. Isn’t that exactly what Death is looking for?
Windle Poons
If there truly is no antidote or solution to the undead’s predicament, then I can see a dire need for something like the Fresh Start Club. While Pratchett gently pokes fun at support group terminology, I don’t think he’s making fun of Poons for seeking this place out. Poons needs some sort of support in order to deal with what life means to him now, you know? So I’m very eager to get a chance inside this club. I WANT TO MEET OTHER UNDEAD PEOPLE.
The Rite of AshKente
I was surprised that the wizards had not thought of this before; I was also surprised at how quickly Pratchett had these characters learn the truth of their problem. We’re just a third of the way through the book and they know that Death has retired. What are they going to do with that information???
Mess things up, of course. First of all, they all treat Mrs. Cake rudely, despite that she shows that she’s able to predict the future. (How trippy was that conversation that was technically backwards and chronological?) She most likely knew exactly what the wizards needed to do, but they’re extremely dismissive of her. On top of that, they react to the news of Death’s retirement poorly:
“Hang on, though,” said the Bursar, who had managed to catch up with events. “Why should that worry us? We don’t have anything to fear from the dead, do we? After all, they’re just people who are dead. They’re just ordinary people. People like us.
The wizards thought about this. They looked at one another. They started to shout, all at once.
No one remembered the bit about suitable candidates.
So, I predict a lot of fighting and scheming, most of which will end terribly. I also think that the final bit in this section – about the power of belief – is a hint of what’s to come. If the world will naturally begin to believe in Death in various forms, each specific to various communities, does that mean we’ll get a new Human Death? Or is this all just going to get hopelessly complicated?
The original text contains use of the word “mad.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZyAJgKIylg
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