Browsing by Author "Eskin, Carmen"

Sir Terence David John Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author and humourist, best known for his satirical, comedic, fantasy series Discworld — a book series consisting of 41 novels based within a fantasy world of the same name. In this thesis, I will examine the concept of death, dying and the afterlife as portrayed by Pratchett through his characterisation of personified death, whilst also examining the element of time, specifically the meaning of lifetime. The primary material for this thesis are five of the Discworld novels: Mort (1987), Reaper Man (1992), Soul Music (1994), Hogfather (1996) and Thief of Time (2001), collectively referred to as the Death novels. By conducting a close reading of each of the Death novels, I claim that Pratchett offers his own outlook on the concepts of death, dying and the afterlife through his character Death, and provides a unique perspective on the concept of time, specifically lifetime, within the five narratives. I argue that, through textually interwoven observations concluded by Death primarily, Pratchett conveys ideologies on the human condition and comments on certain societal dysfunctions pertaining to elements of Western society (e.g. Western history, religion, politics, culture and literature), in order to convey the idea that humans primarily waste lifetime when, in fact, it should be spent. The analysis of Death’s characterisation, including how Pratchett subtly and humorously criticises the entire human race through Death’s perception, is conducted with the use of intertextual, mimetic, archetypal and psychoanalytic literary criticism. In addition, I examine the physical quantity that is time — specifically how lifetime is measured, manipulated, stored and spent in the Discworld. Examining how the concepts of death, dying, the afterlife, and personified death are portrayed in real-world history, specifically religion, mythology, folklore and modern fiction will lay the groundwork for the analysis of Pratchett’s portrayal of these same concepts, as significant parallels can be drawn between both our real world and Pratchett’s fictional one. Through this study I demonstrate how Pratchett both guides his readers to reflect on how lifetime is spent in the real world, and attempts to soften our perceptions of death, dying and the afterlife, making the concept of death more palatable through his humorous character portrayal and narrative themes.