Mark Reads ‘Making Money’: Chapter 7, Part II

In the second half of the seventh chapter of Making Money, Adora Belle makes some progress, and Mr. Bent makes a mistake. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld. 

OH NO. Oh no!!! I can’t figure out what’s going on with the golden golems; I don’t know what information Professor Flead is going to come back with; and I don’t know WHO THE HELL MR. BENT ACTUALLY IS. 

Time for me to discuss. 

Postmortem Communications

So, Professor Flead is pretty gross, and Pratchett writes him both as a lecherous old man (the letch/lych wordplay is GREAT) and as someone who has lust for the world of the Umnian golems. It is the only thing that gets him to stop hitting on Adora, after all. And while I feel like Pratchett wrote Flead this way just for the wordplay joke, there are two big things I picked up from this scene. First of all, I really do love how you can feel the pure joy emitting from both Flead and Adora Belle as they talk about this subject. Here are two people who have approached the concept of golems from an anthropological and intellectual standpoint (Flead) and from a liberation standpoint (Adora Belle). Which isn’t to say there’s not crossover, either. Like, I don’t Flead is interested in golem liberation, but Adora is clearly interested in the history of golems, their thought processes, their society, etc. Anyway, the point being: reading this was a delight, and it made me even more excited to see the golems succeed in making it to Ankh-Morpork. I mean, yes, that’s also going to be a disaster because:

“But we think they are… unusual golems.”

“Golden, probably,” said Flead, the words leaving a thoughtful silence in their wake. 

Then Adora Belle said: “Oh.”

Moist shut his eyes; on the inside of the lids, the gold reserves of Ankh-Morpork walked up and down, gleaming.

Still: that chaos is most likely going to result in something very, veryinteresting, and I want to know what it is. 

The other big thing: Adora Belle calling out Moist about flirting. SHE IS 100% RIGHT. He flirts with people all the time!!! It’s literally part of so many of his cons, but until her, he never thought of what he did as flirting. So, of course it’s hypocritical of him to try to come for Adora Belle for flirting with Professor Flead. He’s the literal only source of the information she needs, so why shouldn’t she make that situation easier on both parties? It’s insecurity that’s cropping up here, or at least that’s my reading of the situation. Moist feels insecure about his relationship with Adora Belle, and I’m guessing he felt threatened in that scene, even though he didn’t have to be.

The Mistake

There are two things here that I took away, both of which I commented on during the video reading. There’s an inherent comedic absurdity in this scenario because… well, mathematical mistakes are so COMMON. Yes, it’s important in the banking industry that these mistakes NOT happen, but is it the end of the world? Well, that’s the joke. Or at least partially a joke. Mr. Bent is such a perfectionist that the staff around him goes to unreal lengths to insulate Mr. Bent until they no longer can because… the unthinkable happens. 

But at the same time, I can’t ignore the more toxic element at work here. Have any of y’all had a boss who creates an environment around them where criticism is impossible? Where the potential for a slightest mistake can compel people to feel such terror that the break out into hysterics when a mistake is discovered? Hell, I’ve experienced this outside of a work scenario, and off the top of my head, I can think of two close relationships I’ve had where this atmosphere existed. And it’s truly frightening!!! You know something is wrong or has been done wrong, but you cannot bring yourself to even mention it because you’re afraid of the terrible reaction you’ll get. THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY DYNAMIC FOR ANYTHING. A work environment, a romantic relationship, a friendship, none of the above. But then this got me thinking: what if this is how Mr. Bent changes? What if this is the moment where he begins to realize that this whole thing of his is unsustainable? Because I don’t see him winning out and Moist giving up the bank without changing it. So… does Mr. Bent change, or does something worse happen?

Cribbins

So, we’ve now got absolute confirmation that Cribbins’s goal is to basically get as much money and favor out of Moist for as long as he can, or at least long enough to secure a massive payout. He’s thinking of his future, and he knows that Moist is probably the quickest and surest route to some sense of security. But how the hell is he going to use Berenice’s god-of-the-month club to achieve this? What about this club could get him closer to Moist? Or maybe it’s a different kind of strategic positioning? He seemed pleased that Berenice wasn’t using her married name, so…. something about that? 

Clamp

This is a weird subplot, no? Not the fact that Clamp exists or that Moist has recruited him to use for making money, but the whole thing with Igor replacing his brain with a turnip. It’s one of those things that I’m hesitant to say much about because I could get the context I’m missing in the next chapter. THIS HAS HAPPENED SO MANY TIMES AT THIS POINT. But there is this:

“That is an interesting and philosophical point,” he said, once again looking at Clamp’s happy yet somewhat unfocused expression. “But it seems to me that all those nasty little details were what made him, well, him.” 

Yes! And the evidence is there in Clamp’s drawings, though part of me wants to see the “nursery school” version of the bills. PUT GOOGLY EYES ON THEM. Anyway: I assume Igor fetching the wires means that they’re fixing him, yes? If that’s the case, how is Clamp going to feel about what was done to him? Or his new name? Or what he’s being asked to do?

Mrs. Cake’s

WE’RE GONNA FIND OUT THE TRUTH NOW, AREN’T WE. NOOOOOOOO, THIS CHAPTER ENDING IS SO UNFAIR, WHY DO I READ BOOKS LIKE THIS!!!!

https://youtu.be/MsgJ8_iaL8Q

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