thinking about night watch again and about how john keel is a ghost for the entirety of the novel. his name is the only name visible on the graves in the present. six illegible graver markers and one which reads john keel. we know he died in the past before we know anything else about him. and we know he was important - not just to vimes but to the mixed group of people who gather at the grave to remember him.
and by the time we (vimes) realise we are there in the past, keel is already gone. hes dead, and now vimes is wearing his name as he navigates through what should have been keel's final days. and john keel haunts the narrative continuously, from before we even see his gravestone to the very end, and not just bc vimes is now keel. almost every decision vimes makes has keel's spectre hanging over it - what did keel do? how did keel think in this moment? keels influence on vimes was so huge and the impact of his death so great that u cannot separate keel from the story.
even if hes never actually in it
reblogging bc im reading night watch again but also like
we never meet john keel!! everything we know about him is from other ppls (and mostly vimes') pov!!!!! he is dead the entire time he is resting in peace he has no idea what is happening but his name and his memory drives the events forward!!!!! he is dead he is dead he is dead and we never know who he really was!!!!!! hes just a memory hes just a ghost he is never there in the story his only physical appearance is as a corpse!!!!!!
