{"id":4461,"date":"2018-02-19T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4461"},"modified":"2018-02-18T17:33:17","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T01:33:17","slug":"mark-reads-night-watch-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/02\/mark-reads-night-watch-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Night Watch’: Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth part of Night Watch<\/i>, Vimes does his best to blend in. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For police brutality and corruption<\/b>.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little hard to grasp exactly what it is that Vimes is supposed to do aside from finding Carcer and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, what then<\/i>? Does he kill him, eliminating him from this time, and then he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be zapped back home? I suspect this is not nearly that simple, given that Carcer murdered John Keel before<\/i> Keel had originally mentored a young Sam Vimes.<\/p>\n

Thus, we get the long scene that comprises this part of Night Watch<\/i>, in which Vimes inserts himself strategically into the Treacle Mine Road Watch House\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 to guide himself. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A LOT, and I honestly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect this kind of an interaction this early into the book. Yet I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m impressed that Pratchett devotes so much time to showing us what this world is like so far into the past. It would have been easy to just say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worse,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and focus more on the story. But how<\/i> is it worse? Why is it so vital that John Keel play a similar role as he was supposed to?<\/p>\n

Well, we see why Lawn exists, first of all. Which is not to suggest that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need for a doctor like him in the present time! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that his need shifts<\/i> later, especially once the Guilds pop up in Ankh-Morpork. Without the protection and support of the guilds, many people\u00e2\u20ac\u201despecially sex workers\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually see a doctor like others do. And that role still exists in our<\/i> world, though in different contexts based on where you are or what period of history you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at. This is not grittiness for the sake of it; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a portrait of a world where those on the margins have to devise their own support networks.<\/p>\n

Why do people have to do that? Our glimpse into the inner workings of the Night Watch, the Day Watch, and the Unmentionables provides part of that answer. This is a brutal<\/i> system, one where watch men STEAL OATS FROM STARVING HORSES just to get an extra meal or some more money. That part was striking to me: it was like these men felt they deserved<\/i> these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153perks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unnerving parallel to a behavior we see across the world when it comes to law enforcement or agents of the state. They believe their work\u00e2\u20ac\u201dno matter if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually<\/i> helpful or not\u00e2\u20ac\u201dearns them special treatment, so much so that they often believe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re above the very laws that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re enforcing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a new<\/i> trope, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a deeply disturbing one.<\/p>\n

And then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Samuel Vimes, pretending to be one John Keel, who revisits his past and actively remembers how disorganized, corrupt, and messy<\/i> the Night Watch used to be. Prisoners are dropped off at Cable Street for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153questioning,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and they simply \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disappear\u00e2\u20ac\u009d after they get there. That \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disappearance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d usually means that watch men are bribed by those who can afford to be let go, which enables a cycle lacking in accountability. And why would the watch men stop them? Every time they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re arrested, it means that they can bribe a few dollars out of them, which means more meals. More drinks. More comfort in a job that already doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay very well.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a specific reason Vimes cares about this as much as he does: he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to find Carcer. But in trying to achieve this goal, he re-organizes the Night Watch. Suggests others for promotion, hoping the extra responsibility will get them to improve themselves. AND THEN HE GOES ON A WALK. WITH HIMSELF<\/i>. And this book is already strange as hell and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s barely<\/i> a hundred pages in, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh my god, THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE TALKING. And Vimes is giving Younger Vimes advice and guidance??? Which he will probably later realize was from<\/i> himself? Or is his memory going to twist it back into the original<\/i> John Keel? Either way, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that what Vimes tells his younger self is, more or less, the same kind of lessons he got from Keel about how this job isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about bribes, exploitation, or corruption. And by gods, he gets Younger Vimes to open up about the unfairness he witnesses. In this case, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the meeting at the university that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s further evidence that the Night Watch isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doing anything genuinely helpful. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re glorified, paid bullies.<\/p>\n

So how will Vimes change that?<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/jMuKAXejcpk?a<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"