Great historical shifts happen on ordinary days while the actors hear only penny whistles
Evidence
If you describe a battle, you must ask yourself, at what point did it become possible to say that this side had won, and this side lost? Posterity gives out the prizesâsees who won the battle and who won the war. When you are situated in history, as we all are, you donât hear the great drumroll of fate, but penny whistles and the banging of dustbin lids. Every great shift in human history happens on just another dayâa Tuesday in July, as it may be, the sun coming out after Mondayâs rain, the Paris streets filling up again, but a dozen things to delay you as you try to get across the river and, when you get there, the world-shaking event is over. â Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life inâŠ, 875
Categorization
- SEED: The âpenny whistles and banging of dustbin lidsâ image is a powerful anti-heroic framing for any historical scene.
- XREF: Connects to the Revolutionary Paris novel she discusses, and the character who turned up late to the Bastille.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim â Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life inâŠ, 875