Praising the Little Way of Pratchett’s Heroes

As the year comes to an end, I’ve written an appreciation of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, who passed away this year, for Aleteia.  He wrote fiercely moral characters, several of whom were icons of ethics for me.

But the kind of sin that Granny talks about isn’t an indulgence in something harmless, luxurious and secret. And it’s not the world-shaking evil of a monster or a murderer. It’s a seemingly small rejection of creation and the particular place our fellow people have in it. It’s not always choosing hatred; it can be putting aside love for indifference.

But it’s an insidious sort of error that harms me along with the person I’m rejecting. They’ll be hurt by the way I treat them, but I’m wounded by my self-inflicted blindness. I’ve robbed myself of the chance to see the other person as God does, and to love them in his way.

And it’s because Granny (and Pratchett) fight their battles at the scale of soul to soul that the Discworld series could continue so beautifully. There was always another front to the war, always a way people might start thinking of people as things, even after one individual conflict (the legacy of Koom Valley in Thud! or the rediscovery of a dangerous weapon in Men at Arms) had been solved.

Keep reading at Aleteia…