Between Reality And Illusion In Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad

The art of storytelling is at the heart of fairy tales. Since the beginning, fairy tales have captivated readers with its magical worlds and enchanted characters. Quintessential to fairy tales are destined happy endings and the clear division between good and evil. The nature of these stories creates distorted perceptions that do not align with reality, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion. This is portrayed in Terry Pratchett’s Witches Abroad, in which Lilith Weatherwax struggles to free herself from the fictitious world she has fabricated. With the use of storytelling, Witches Abroad uncovers the hidden dangers of false appearances to explore the underlying theme of reality versus illusion. At a first glance, Witches Abroad appears to be a classic fairy tale. It has the common elements of a typical fairy tale, such as witches, fairies, and princesses. Therefore, we expect the good to triumph over the bad, and the princess to get her prince. The book also incorporates many

The wolf, for instance, is one of her victims. The classic story of Little Red Riding Hood portrays the wolf as the villain, but he is depicted as a victim in this context. He was forced to go against his simple nature and think like a human for the sake of a story. The wolf is neither fully human or wolf, and there is no way for him to change it. Furthermore, the wolf is destined to die in both scenarios. In the Little Red Riding Hood, he dies because he is evil, and so death seems to be justifiable. However, in this case, the readers learn the true backstory of the wolf. This makes his death even more tragic. It was not because of the wolf’s actions, but his lack of control of his life that cost him his life. This is just one example of Pratchett’s incorporation of very dark undertones throughout the Witches Abroad to get his point across. The use of both dark and humorous tones adds unique perspectives to the