Notes on The Wee Free Men

"Wee" (free men)
-tiny, very small cf. "Little People"
-patronizing edge: we see them as cute, helpful, mischievous, not much to fear
-cf. Tricksy Wee - a character of George Macdonald's
-the wee free men are fairies
-suggesting that adult readers have a patronizing view of fairies
-average reader does not have "First Sight" - we have lots of preconceived notions
and assumptions which Pratchett attempts to break down
-more specifically - Pictsies (pixies)
-we assume they are cutesy, Tinkerbell-like
-William Shakespeare to Walt Disney - tradition of viewing fairy as cute, little
things with names like Mustardseed (Midsummer Night's Dream)
-before that fairies were seen differently; generally larger, about human size

(wee) "Free" (men)
-free from the Queen who is like an elf
-"glamour" - a weapon of creating illusion
-steals children, specifically young males
-uses candy to bait Wentworth (anachronism); classic tricking a child with sweets;
illusory promise of happiness, he wants candy, doesn't need it
-Roland: teenage boy, sees a beautiful woman on a horse, laughing (implying catch me
if you can) - the queen is a different kind of sweet; looks good but its all illusion;
like gummy bears will starve a person from malnutrition, she'll starve him emotionally
-cf. in Midsummer Night's Dream
-Mustard Seed, Peachblossom; the fairies do the Queen's bidding; unquestioning servants of the beautiful queen
-the wee free men are rebellious; unlike Wentworth and Roland, they are not fooled by the queen
-"nae quin!"
-they rebel because they don't want to steal from the poor
-they have a kind of code; they take what they need to survive
-when they take a sheep, they often take the old sheep
-the Queen is like a parasite; the wee free men can not be described as such

-draws on allusions to previous fairy stories
-drawing from folklore, fairy tale

"Pictsies"
-playing on the Picts
-associated now with the Scots
-"picture," "depict" - the painted people; they painted themselves, tattooed themselves
-a ferocious group of warriors
-far from being like Tinkerbell, a pixie, flying around with wands and trailing pixie dust
-pictsies are fierce, brave; they're also stereotypically scottish: kilts, red hair, mousepipes, drinking and fighting, stealing
-not offensively stereotypical; he's spoofing
-sometimes we're given the impression that they're not even really stealing; Granny Aching knows, its kind of a quid pro quo
-making us understanding that good and evil are not clear cut; complexities in good

Pratchett wrote "Lords and Ladies" about elves, another brand of fairies
"Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvelous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic, they create fantasy. Elves are glamourous, they create glamour...Elves are terrific, they create terror." - no one said elves are nice.
-originally fairies were not such diminutive creatures, they used to inspire terror

-criticize modern fairy tales that he feels are too simplistic and not encouraging of First Sight

-the jokes/allusions associated with the wee free men are countless
-The Highlander: "there can only be one!" --> "there can only be one thousand!"
-Braveheart: "they can take our lives but they'll never take our freedom!" --> "they can take our lives but they'll never take our trousers!"
-suggests that those are the ones who are stereotyping scottishness
-the bard, a "gonnagle" --> Pratchett having fun of the fact that one of the worse poets ever was a guy named "William McGonnagle" (sp?)

-wants readers to make connections within the work and to other works
-"overflow" - something for everyone if they are reading attentively

-culture of the wee free men
-lots of detail given
-fairies actually did traditionally live in fairy mounds as the pictsies do
-they live in the tomb of a great king
-they show little respect for him as well as for the queen
-quite a bit like insects
-19th century idea that bees, insects, etc function like a composite animal
-fascinating metaphor for the importance of relationships
-importance of family, of human beings as social animals
-they are the ultimate portrayal of a community, where everyone mutually sustains one another
-no suggestion that in all their fighting and drinking, they actually have any feuding
-striking contrast to the way the human beings in Tiffany's world behave
-kelda - their brain and conscience
-a collective source of wisdom
-notice gender issues
-very much feminist
-all the heroes are female
-female intelligence and goodness
-religious belief
-believe they're already dead and in heaven because this world is so wonderful
-they joyously embrace everyday life
-challenges human propensities to want what we don't have
-First Sight; they see clearly
-they don't have any illusions about life, they know there are predators, but they are resolutely
optimistic

-Queen and her followers are the evil characters
-abducts young men
-countless stories about fairies stealing human beings follow two trends
-19th century trend: ie. Yeats "The Stolen Child"
-fairies are beautiful and wonderful; real world is a weeping, terrible place
-going with fairies is a way of escaping tears and sorrow of this world
-older trend: fairies stole children for their own nefarious purposes
-eg. "Ballad of Tamlin" - this idea is used in The Wee Free Men
-parasites who feed on them

at the human level.......

Discworld
-"Disc"
-flat
-the point: it hasn't been so long since we thought so; in fact there are still some holdouts
-his world is a disc that rests on the back of an elephant, who stands on the back of a giant turtle
who is swimming through the vast expanses
-drawing on previous mythologies
-Pratchett is saying "don't be so pompous; that used to be us!"
The Chalk
-closely resembles the feudal systems of Britain
-places like that exist; and societies like that existed
-feudal world of the early fairy tales like "East of the Sun..."
"Home Farm"
-Aching family has lived on and worked the farm for generations, but its not their land
-the Baron can boot them out at a moment's notice
Patriarchy
-Tiffany's relationship with Roland emphasizes this
-the idea is the knight must have rescued the damselle in distress
-Roland is the closest thing to a knight; aristocracy, has fencing lessons
-no one has First Sight
-"You don't own your farm. My father does and I will." says Roland at the end
-political system is stacked against the poor, and stacked against women
"Tiffany"
- the expectations of a person named Tiffany shows that we still have some assumptions
-the name is associated with like a stereotypical American girl
-extreme femininity, concerned with clothes, fashion, dotting "i"s with hearts
-"Theophonia" was the original name; meaning awareness of God; associated with First Sight
-"land under wave"
-the Baron thinks of land as property; for the Aching family, the land is something to be held in
trust
-chalk is made of the bones
-cycle of life idea
-the baron is like the queen equivalent of the real world; egocentric
-Granny Aching is a witch
-again plays with the stereotypes
-"hag" - an ugly, old, crazy lonely woman
-Miss Tick - mystic - Tiffany argues that the name should be Miss Teak for a more successful pun
-first name Perspicacia - Perspicacity means great insight, great wisdom
-has to take defensive measures
-carries a hollow reed (for swimming under water) - reference to how witches were treated
during persecution; the test for a witch was to throw her into a pond
-has learned some Harry Houdini tricks
-has a hat disguised as a normal hat
-"First Sight"
-mystics are usually noted for their second sight (psychic ability, ability to see into the future etc)
-Pratchett wants to show that we take our first sight forgranted and seek second sight; we all have first sight but we rarely use it!
-"Second Thought"
-ability to not jump to conclusions when we interpret what we see
-awareness with consciousness
-ties consciousness with conscience - one can not be a fully moral person when just going along with assumptions

various anachronisms
-eg. no printed books would exist if its a feudal system
-dictionaries were first printed in the 18th centuries
-gummy bears
-he needs references that are familiar to his child readers

Tiffany is very odd
-shaped by Granny Aching
-"Give me a child for seven years and I will have him for life."
-seventh daughter (kinda like the seventh son of a seventh son having second sight)
-goes on quests: becoming a witch, saving her brother, guarding the entire society
-the witch is like a shepherd
-shepherd is a metaphor for a guardian, a caretaker
-ability to shepherd is associated with females in this novel
-she finds out that witches are unsung heroes, without whom the world hardly functions

Granny Aching is venerated after her death
-almost like a deity, people leave offerings at her grave

-some references to wizards, who have a very different status
eg. "you'll have to learn a bit of magic, but you won't find that too hard, because even wizards can learn"
-in terms of real power and magic, only the women and peasants have it and understand it
-upper levels of society are too busy to realize it

Mrs. Snapperly - a scapegoat
-it logically makes no sense, as Tiffany knows
-the women slightly rebel by sneaking her food
-Tiffany wants to become a witch for this reason; she knows it would not have happened if her Granny had been around
-Granny was such a force that even the Baron had to heed her

Tiffany and relationship to grandmother:
-clearly there's the love
-Granny Aching is THE person in Tiffany's life
-few key memories
-bringing the lamb back to life
-slapping the face of the man abusing the donkey
-china shepherdess episode
-an attractive fake thing
-she wishes vainly that her grandmother is still alive or coming back
-thats why she's so annoyed when she finds out that the feegles are stealing the tobacco

-one of the few things Granny ever tells Tiffany is the story of Moby Dick
-idea of being obsessed with whatever the whale represents; you'll chase your obsession and your obsession will always chase you

-self indulgent daydreams = mental equivalent of candy
-daydreams lead to despair; waking up and accepting allows resolute optimism like that of the Wee Free Men

-Pratchett writes for the modern, first-class, child, completely unlike Tiffany's life

SOURCE
Class Lecture on The Wee Free Men. ENG2110: Children's Literature. University of Ottawa, Ontario, CA. 10 Apr 2010.