Inktober 52 2026 - Week 31 - Simple
“Colon thought Carrot was simple. Carrot often struck people as simple. And he was. Where people went wrong was thinking that simple meant the same thing as stupid.” ― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
Carrot; named after his shape and not so much his bright orange hair. A lad with simple views of the world' everyone is a 'decent chap' deep down. Which would seem naive; but his method of copperin' worked well no matter where he went.
“Some people have inspired whole countries to great deeds because of the power of their vision. And so could he. Not because he dreams about marching hordes, or world domination, or an empire of a thousand years. Just because he thinks that everyone’s really decent underneath and would get along just fine if only they made the effort, and he believes that so strongly it burns like a flame which is bigger than he is. He’s got a dream, and we’re all part of it, so that it shapes the world around him. And the weird thing is that no one wants to disappoint him. It’d be like kicking the biggest puppy in the universe. It’s a kind of magic.” ― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
And as the books went on; you felt Carrot was still simple... but like a razors edge is simple. There was definitely a sharpness to carrot that just swam below the surface in later books. Not an evil thing but a sense that if he had to draw his sword, he will, regardless of the circumstances. Personal wasn't the same as important after all.
“Something Vimes had learned as a young guard drifted up from memory. If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.”
― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
