650 pages
later, as a I read the last line which ushers one towards a sequel, as if the 650
pages weren’t enough, I realise that the word ‘he’ has a new countenance, a new
personality, is the replacement of a new name and surprisingly not the one who
is nailed to the cross. ‘he’ is everywhere, his ubiquitous influence can hardly
be ignored, he was the cardinal’s man, he is the king’s man, he
is loathed, he is worshipped, he takes care of things, but he cannot be taken
care of or so it seems, one better listen to him for the king does, he writes
laws, he changes them on command, he makes wrongs look right and rights wrong,
he’s a wise man but not a saint, he’s a saint but not god, yet he’s a god to
the ones that belong to him; he was merely a lawyer, and now he’s (willingly or
unwillingly) the most respected man in the king’s court; he is Thomas Cromwell,
and he’s indispensable. It's almost as if he chooses not to be king. He’s
the Dark Knight – It’s not who he is underneath; it’s what he does that
defines him’.
How
eccentric can men in power be, how obdurate can the comfort and weight of their
thrones make them, and at that a throne gifted and not won, by just being born.
In Henry VII’s court, it’s not who should listen to God but who should God
listen to and abide by – the pope or the king? For God’s words are not to be and
remain His, they’ll be altered to suit one or many. In the kingdom of the young
despot, laws are made or abolished based not on what is right but on what the
king thinks is right – and the two run parallel, never destined to converge.
Whether you live or are allowed not to depends entirely on which ‘right’ you
are with. So, marrying the dead elder brother’s wife isn’t wrong, consummating
the marriage to produce a daughter isn’t wrong, however, when even after eighteen
years, a male heir cannot be resulted, annulling the marriage declaring that
nothing ever happened and all of it was wrong in the first place is nothing but
fair. Huh! – you say? Is it logic you try to find like I did, like the many
others would have? But have we forgotten that logic in the hands of Power is
just clay; it’s moulded and remoulded as needed. So, the king desires a law to
which the Pope disagrees, to show that his marriage never existed, so that he
can marry the manipulative sorceress Anne Boleyn, who’s been twisting him around her little
finger, whose father has been using her to gain position in the court, whose sister
he’s been sleeping with – for a king has wants. He doesn’t care that the new
law will turn his daughter into a bastard and his queen into a mistress;
anything for a heir, anything for the legacy to continue. Selfish, stupid,
both?
It isn’t
surprising then that these are the kind of people who attacked and reigned most
of the world at a time – ruthlessness has its rewards. And what do the citizens
think about such a king? How does it matter? Not in the entire book or the
reign of the king, does one seriously come across a concern for the citizens –
the subjects. What he decides for himself is for their benefit, is the right thing, isn’t it? What
the people and his courtiers think about the king, the now rejected queen or
the about to be queen is immaterial, what matters is those who agree with him
and those who have the ability to make others agree. The king has Thomas Cromwell, and Cromwell has everyone.
And God has
been given a role too. What’s heresy, what’s sacrilege and what’s not has been
decided. He is not to be accessible to everyone; only the chosen few are to
have access to him, to be able to read his books, to be able to interpret his
language. And so, when his book, is tried to be made available in the common
man’s language, the perpetrators are tortured to death. And what creative ideas
are thought of for the public executions, for setting an example. Throughout
history, man has always made God so dangerous – manipulating and killing freely
in his name.
Veritably
650 pages of this absurd historical fiction weren’t enough. All the characters in the book are real even though
Mantel has presented her version of Thomas Cromwell and how he might have been
and would have done. Her witty style of writing reminded me of Oscar Wilde. Mantel
seems to have a soft corner for Cromwell, seems to adore and respect him. She
thinks he manipulates but for the greater good, for people to understand that
they need to survive and holding on to their values won’t allow them to
survive; they need to relent to break their values or their bones would be
broken. She somehow accepts shamelessly that he’s spineless, without morals
when it comes to that but that is what has worked for him, got him recognition
and has gained a safety cushion for him and his family. Mantel’s sarcasm is
evident and entertaining, her presentation of facts and history is lucid yet
cunning, her characters have a story to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing
and am looking forward to reading the sequel.
My rating –
5/5
Picture copyrights:
Book cover - https://www.amazon.in/Wolf-Hall-Shortlisted-Golden-Booker/dp/0007230206
Hilary Mantel - https://www.npr.org/2022/09/23/1124682328/hilary-mantel-author-wolf-hall-dies
