And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the notion of heroism and how people often overlook the wrongdoings of those deemed heroic.
This quote by Terry Pratchett reflects on the moral complexities of heroism, suggesting that society tends to overlook the unethical actions of individuals who are celebrated as heroes. Jack's actions, despite their harmful consequences, go unexamined because he is perceived as a hero, highlighting the dangerous precedent that allows for moral absolution in the face of inequity. It serves as a commentary on how narratives are shaped by the roles individuals play, often ignoring the ethical implications of their deeds.
In practice
During a discussion on morality in literature, this quote can illustrate the concept of flawed heroes and the narratives surrounding them.
They've got something they do it with, I think it's called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is. One man ... one vet. ... Everyone has ... the vet. Except for women, of course. And children. And criminals. And slaves. And stupid people. And people of foreign extraction. And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons. And lots of other people. But everyone apart from them. It's a very enlightened civilization.
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.
You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.
People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't look quite like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.
I'm not cruel, sir, I won't shoot you in the guts, but I will make you realize how much you took your toes for granted.
America is a nation with many flaws, but hopes so vast that only the cowardly would refuse to acknowledge them.
Why were you so old when we met? I answered with the truth: Age isn't how old you are but how old you feel.
The nakedness of the indigent world may be clothed from the trimmings of the vain.
We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone.
Night was a very different matter. It was dense, thicker than the very walls, and it was empty, so black, so immense that within it you could brush against appalling things and feel roaming and prowling around a strange, mysterious horror.
Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.
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