i really love monstrous regiment. of course there is much to be said on the story's handling of gender, and indeed much has already been said on the topic. but one thing i don't see discussed much is something i picked up on my second read.
the dichotomy between Jackrum and Blouse.
on the first read through, the book was largely a comedy to me. the snark and absurdity, and of course i was too taken with Maladict's hypnotic insouciance to be paying as much attention to the themes of the book as i should have. but on the second read, the book became much more serious, and the themes of war and politics made themselves known. i also came to understand Jackrum and Blouse much better.
jackrum is not just a jolly old soldier keeping his lad's secrets and having a bit of a laugh on the side. he is a hard man, and ruthless. by real word standards, a war criminal (maybe by discworld standards too. i do not know if the disc has a geneva convention to violate.)
and Blouse is not just a clueless schoolboy in a uniform. a bit naive, and inexperienced certainly, but genuinely intelligent, and most crucially, open minded.
jackrum represents the past; tradition, the way it's always been done. he held in his mind the key to progress, but did not use it. preferring to stick to the game he knew, than to attempt to change things for the better. an authoritarian in an authoritarian institution.
Blouse on the other hand, was a force of change. he studied history, sure, and had a respect for the great generals, but he undertook those studies with a mind to innovation. he was consistently thinking outside the box and coming up with strategies that utilized the resources at his disposal (that he knew of) to their best potential rather than fall back on standard army procedure.
indeed it was this that created the most friction between him and jackrum. he refused to play by the rules, and jackrum seriously considered killing him for it. and if he had? the regiment would not have fared nearly so well, and at the end, no one would have been there to insist that they be treated as soldiers, it was Blouse that stood by them as a stalwart ally. so that when jackrum finally arrived on the scene, change was already in motion, and he had no choice but to see his lads through it safe. had their positions been reversed, jackrum would have tried to smooth things over and keep everyone in the closet.
but if jackrum hadn't been there, they wouldn't have survived at all. it was his experience and cunning that saw them through to the end, and his reputation that forced Blouse and the regiment to be taken seriously.
so it's not so simple as jackrum = bad and blouse = good. you cannot have the future without the past, and what are past battles for, if not to secure the future. jackrum lost sight of that for a while, but his little lads reminded him. so on the foundation he laid, Blouse and his soldiers brought a new day to Boragravia, as glorious as a great big fish.
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