TQSiT Chapter 6, Tools of the Trade

[rthstewart]

Well, it's up, FINALLY!!  Tools of the Trade, 9,700 words, and a full two months since the last update.  Ugh.  I promise I won't start anything new.  Really.  Well, except maybe this retelling of Horse and His Boy. and inserting the Trickster into the pantheon of Calormene gods. 

So fun links
The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck from which Agnes reads
The Astrologer that British Intelligence really regretted hiring
A little bit about Saint Agnes, patron saint of young girls, virgins and rape victims
A little bit about the Trickster, Anansi, and Aunt Nancy

Insofar as De Wohl is concerned, this is an example of the sort of time compression that I use in the story.  He was actually most active in the U.S. through December 1941.  I'm bumping up their use of him about 6 months cause how can you possible leave out astrologers and Rat and Crow rumormongering in Narnia story?  Right?

In fact, the beginning of this chapter harkens back to Chapter of TSG, Part 1, in which Ed and Su are starting to figure some of this out. 

Susan shrugged. “It is possible. Also, at first I was very confused by the prospect that England might be spying on her allies, until I considered that we did precisely the same thing. Archenland was our friend and the Lone Islands were part of our kingdom. Yet, we had agents among our allies, as well as among our enemies so that they might direct policy in our favor at need. I would assume Churchill does the same.

There was another possibility as well. “Rats and Crows were also very useful for spreading rumors we wished to circulate in foreign courts. I could see some applicability of a strategy like that in America, as well.

They had learned just how effective that rumormongering had been from Aravis. The runaway Tarkheena had overheard the Tisroc repeat back, nearly verbatim, the rumor they had planted in his Court. The Narnian monarchs, young though they were, had killed the old enchantress and her never-ending winter with aid of strong magic and were supported by a demon of hideous aspect and irresistible maleficence who appeared in the shape of a Lion. A widely circulated report that any attack upon Narnia was truly a dark and doubtful enterprise would, he and Susan had hoped, give their would-be enemies pause. The ploy had, very nearly, succeeded completely. Edmund had later used the Rats and Crows to assure that those who would war with Narnia knew of Rabadash’s transformation. There were fates worse than that of an ass and, it was rumored, the wrath and sorcery of the free Northern land would surely be unleashed upon Her enemies in even more terrible ways if Narnia’s peace was disturbed again.
 

I wish I could say that I knew I was going to do what I just did here when I wrote that way back 6 months ago or whever I posted it.  Nope. 

As for the lengthy note at the end, yes, I'd like to know what you think.  These things are an uncomfortable part of US history; to paint it as normal or ignore it would seem dishonest.  Yet, maybe fan fic shouldn't go there at all.  My solution was to show things that today would be denounced as stereotypical, yet align them with the positive connotation of Narnia.  I do not align Narnia with the frivolity and class-based Washington society in which Susan is also moving.  

So, thoughts?  Fire away!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, Ruth. :)

You posted that you would like a response to your usage of the word "Negro" in the latest chapter of your story. And while I cannot offer anything historically-based or anything of the like, I would still like to offer my opinion, if that's all right.

First off, I am not American, so I cannot say that there was a very big effect on me when you used it in the story. I did notice it though, but only when you brought it up in your author's note did I really stop to think about its implications.

Because I can't relate profusely to this, I'll try and explain my point of view from my own personal experience. :) For starters, I am a Filipino, so you may or may not know our history. I'll get to the more important part of it though, as I don't want to bore you. :P We were a free people until the Spanish colonized us for over 300 years. Suddenly, their rules and their opinion on what is "civilized" and "right" and all that jazz was imposed on my ancestors. We weren't even called "Filipinos" back then, as being part of the Filipino population was only reserved for Spaniards who lived in the Philippines. Instead, we were called "indios", which was back then very derogatory as it implied that we were... let's just say dirty, uncivilized, couldn't take care of ourselves, inferior to the Spaniards, and etc.

To cut to the chase, I guess I can relate how I feel about the word "Negro" being used here to how the word "Indio" can be hurtful if we Filipinos were called that again. The term is now only used and mentioned in history books, as far as I know. But anyhows, I see your use of the word as appropriate for the time period you're writing about. It's a sensitive issue, yes (although I can't say I know for sure how sensitive the issue still is over there), but trying to sugar-coat it with another word wouldn't be useful. It, for me, would be equivalent to not stating in our Filipino history books that we were indeed called indios back then, if that makes sense.

Also, personally, the usage of the term added to the description of the era you're writing about. And, pardon my bluntness, but I would prefer what you did because it's timely to what I've seen some authors do, such as making Peter and Edmund utter words like "Yo", "F*ck", "Cool", and etc. :P

Hope this wasn't too boring for you. :| Others have stated their opinions more fluently than I, but I would like to support those who have stated the same thing as me anyway. :) Thank you for reading!

- Lhanae

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing that Lhanae. Yo? Cool? Hmmm, a bit modern, yes? Now the F-word, well, that's sort of interesting, because it's been around a long time and I've seen it in things from that period in some books I've read. Still, no need to put that particular import into Narnia.

With the term Negro, it was actually a common, accepted term, used even by those of that race themselves, both then and even today. I think Ana had pointed some institutions that still use the term. "Indio" sounds to be a very offensive term that was offensive even at the time. Did the Filipinos themselves ever use it, I wonder? If you see this post, I'd would be interested in that.

And to that point, if there were some sort of fiction of that time, how would you feel about using the term at all? Is it one that is better relegated to the dumpster for good, something that is so offensive, it simply should not be used, ever? Or does trotting it out occasionally in appropriate contexts important to remind the present to not repeat the past? Very interesting questions and thank you again for sharing.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, it is! Those words really jarred me from enjoying the story, actually. And really? =O How very interesting! I knew that the F-word has been around for some time, but I guess I never stopped to think if it was present already during the 1940's. Although, despite that, for some reason I don't find it... appropriate for Narnia fanfiction, I guess? That could just be a personal thing though.

And that's interesting! =O I'm afraid I can't answer your question though if they actually used the word at the time though, sorry. I would guess that they didn't though, because I haven't encountered anything suggesting it. All I know is that the Spaniards did use it a lot to collectively identify the natives of the country before they came along.

And actually, the term WAS used at the time for fiction. An educated man of the time (meaning an Indio who was rich enough to be sent to Spain for "proper" schooling) and also our national hero today, Jose Rizal, wrote two books on the oppression of the Spaniards to the Filipinos (the natives, or the indios, are who I'm referring to now) in order to show them and somehow jolt them into realizing that after 300 years of oppression, isn't it time they realized that simply accepting all this abuse is wrong?

In those two books, I am quite sure I remember him writing dialogues for the Spaniards where they referred to the natives as Indios, although I'm afraid I can't pinpoint exactly how it was used and all. But it WAS used, which I guess is the main point in our discussion. :)

In present time though, I doubt the ordinary citizen here would get offended by the word Indio. So it wouldn't hurt to use it still, although it does connote a time when we were oppressed and all. Of course, the Spaniards nowadays don't refer to us as that anymore, so it's sort of forgotten unless you either read those two books of Rizal or have to study history.

I hope I answered your questions well enough. I'm sorry I can't provide anything more substantial and supported by evidence though. :( But I hope I explained myself well enough. :)