Pratchett Believes example essay topic

"Small Gods " The World rides through space on the back of a turtle. This is one of the great ancient world myths, found wherever men and turtles were gathered together; the four elephants were an Indo-European sophistication. The idea has been lying in the lumber rooms of legend for centuries. All I had to do was grab it and run away before the alarms went off. Discworld is based on a slew of old myths, which reach their most 'refined' form in Hindu mythology, which in turn of course derived from the original Star Trek episode 'Planet of Wobbly Rocks where the Security Guard Got Shot' (Pratchett, Terry. Equal p 216).

Terry Pratchett is the author of a popular fantasy series that is set in Discworld, a planet that is as flat as a pancake. It sails on forever, a flat, circular world carried on the backs of four elephants supported on the back of A'tu in, the giant space turtle. The turtle doesn't stand on anything, so don't ask. It swims on through the infinite universe (Huck aby n. pay. ). In his book Small Gods, Terry Pratchett succeeds in satirizing most of the world's major religions and a few ancient political policies by expressing his thoughts and feelings through his own brand of humor and witticism.

In the Discworld, there are a numerous amount of gods, powerful and weak. Small Gods takes a look into the realm of Ominia, a vast empire devoted to the Greater Glory of their god Om. The Gods of Discworld have a very unique power source. Their power depends upon having believers; a god with no believers fades into a powerless, wandering spirit or dies. The Great God Om has a powerful church, yet has only one real believer, a novice monk named Brotha. Drained of supportive power, he finds himself trapped in the body of an ordinary tortoise.

Imagine the discomfiture a god might experience if confronted with some of the beliefs taught in his name -- and some of the 'divinely inspired' actions taken by his followers as a result. Om, in his little tortoise shell, also comes to the disconcerting realization that, while his religion is vast and has many zealous worshippers, he has very few actual honest-to-Om believers. One, actually (Knapp n. pay. ). Pratchett shows a struggle between a god and his religion, which no has no room for him. He shows a cynical side like most British humorists in that there may be religions existing whose god died out long ago from lack of belief.

Pratchett shows a cynical side, but always combines it with real warmth. In Small Gods he carries this further than in any other book of his, laughing at religious authoritarianism to show how unnecessary it is, and creating a tribute to the human spirit at its best (McGath n. pay. ). Much like the Egyptian thoughts on death, souls are "reaped" by a manifestation of death and then forced to cross a desert of black sands. At the end of the desert is judgment, "what happens from there is your own business" (Pratchett, Terry.

Annotated n. pay. ). In Egyptian myth, a dead man was judged by Osiris, Thoth, Anubis and forty-two Assessors in the Hall of Judgment in the Underworld. His heart was balanced against the Feather of Truth while he made his Confession. If his heart was heavy (with guilt), then the monster Amit ate the heart.

Pratchett himself does not fear death, much like the main character of Small Gods. Pratchett believes that, in respect to death, having no belief and abundance thereof is generally in the same mind frame. Neither one fear death, for one either believes there is nothing else or are assured of your salvation. An atheist views death with the same amount of fear as a believer (Pratchett, Terry.

Annotated n. pay. ). Atheists are also examined in this book, or rather philosophers are. The Great God Om commands His last believer to take him to the country of Ephebe, which is much like ancient Rome (columns, stairs, and of course masters of modern thinking).

During this segment of the book, Pratchett takes time to poke fun at the fact that in Rome and Greece there were gods aplenty and they often smote a few disbelieves. A constant humorous allusion in the book is the penguin associated with Patina, the Goddess of Wisdom. This refers to Minerva or Pallas Athena, who was the Roman / Greek goddess of wisdom, and whose symbol was an owl. From that point forward, owls have been associated with wisdom.

Perhaps the sculptor in Discworld meant for it to be an owl, but he was just in a hurry so it did not turn out as it should (Pratchett, Terry. An noted n. pay. ). Pratchett's view on how gods feel about atheists is best described in this quote: 'He says gods like to see an atheist around.

Gives them something to aim at (Pratchett, Terry Small 123). ' The philosophers claim to be atheist and yet renounce this belief every time the presence of a god is made known. Pratchett himself is undecided about gods. "I'm in the unenviable position of someone that doesn't believe in a god of any sorts, and thinks that there may be such a thing as an immortal soul. But I think that's probably because of hopeless optimism on my part, I do not know. Not many people come back to tell us.

I think that something survives". He cannot deny that there is a god and yet he cannot prove it (Lawson n. pay. ). A quote from the book shows this more clearly: 'Or, to put it another way the existence of a badly put-together watch proved the existence of a blind watchmaker (Pratchett, Terry Small 85). ' This whole section is parodying the creationist argument that complex creatures such as those that exist in the world could only be the products of deliberate design and hence must have been created by a Supreme Being rather than by a 'blind' process such as evolution. Belief is a very potent force on the Discworld.

Of course it is here. If you run out of a bank very, very, very fast and a policeman shouts to you to stop and you don't, you " re dead. And you " re dead because he believes that you " re a bank robber. Belief can be a strong force, but on Discworld, it really is stronger than it is here (SFBC n. pay. ).

The whole of the book Small Gods is meant to show Pratchett's feelings on organized religion when it becomes too involved in the practice of Religion rather than the practice of worship. When a religion grows in power, Pratchett believes people start worshipping the tangible structure of the church rather than the god and message behind the church. The country of Ominia is an allusion to the Medieval Catholic Church. The Ominians behaved in much the same way as the Holy Roman Empire. The church became interested in the material world. Both began territorial conquests and engaged in the selling of indulgences.

The antagonist of the novel is Brother Vorbis. He is the epitome of authoritarian fanaticism, a born leader in the acquisition of new believers. And Vorbis gets new believers, whether they want to believe or not (McGath n. pay. ). This is best shown in the following quote: "Chain letters,' said the Tyrant. 'The Chain Letter to the Ephesians.

Forget Your Gods. Be Subjugated. Learn to Fear. Do not break the chain -- the last people who did woke up one morning to find fifty thousand armed men on their lawn (Pratchett, Terry Small 149). ' Some religious establishments rob people of their free will to worship.

The Catholic Church did just that during the Inquisition. People were forced into their faith. This quote conveys Pratchett's feelings on that issue: 'Slave is an Ephesian word. In Om we have no word for slave,' said Vorbis. 'So I understand,' said the Tyrant.

'I imagine that fish have no word for water (Pratchett, Terry Small 155). ' Pratchett also raises the question of whether people need gods or gods need people. When Om finds out what has been carried out in His name, he is shocked. The church has been holding "Inquisitions" for some time to increase its piety. They believe a good way to convert believers is to kill and torture a few heretics and heathens as a lesson to all whom oppose Om.

In another quote from the book, Pratchett shows his feelings on the way strays were brought back to the flock: "The figures looked more or less human. And they were engaged in religion. You could tell by the knives (it's not murder if you do it for a god) (Pratchett, Terry Small 179) ". Throughout this novel, Pratchett satirizes organized religion. Humans who are not perfect found the structures that are the base of most religions. They are too easily corrupted.

He does not think faith should be given so readily to an establishment. He believes that people should have faith in ideas, but one runs into trouble when they try to make a religion out of it. Faith in ideas is the key. It is belief in the structure that is the problem. People die for beliefs. Faith is something people should live for and work for, not kill for and die for.

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