With the last blow, everything was destroyed, and he had won it all.
It took me a week to finish The final cut and see the end of Urquhart. Regardless of the merits of Urquhart’s political stance, he was a true warrior who never gave in and never gave in. No matter how bad the situation is, he can come up with a brilliant strategy.
During Urquhart’s time in office, having played an important role in securing the Prime Minister’s re-election campaign in the first place, he expected to serve in the cabinet himself. His loyalty was not rewarded, however, and the Prime Minister continued to serve him as chief whip. So he secretly vowed to replace the betraying prime minister and destroy all his opponents. He took advantage of his access to cabinet secrets and party secrets to manipulate one official after another, and used Mattie Stalling, a would-be front-line political reporter from the Daily Record, to get her into the press. Mattie falls in love with Urquhart, but eventually discovers his plot. At the end of the novel, when the two confront each other on a rooftop, Urquhart throws her off the rooftop after a loud neighing, his decision clear and quick. Between power and lust, the choice is one of ease, of fearsome coolness, of admirable wisdom. In Urquhart’s mind he must have never really loved Mattie to be so cruel.
In the second book, Urquhart becomes president, but never sees the king as a constitutional monarchy. At their first meeting, both sides clearly underestimated the strength of the other. Urquhart and the King’s rivalry began. The king was due to make a speech calling attention to inequality and injustice in the country, but this affected Urquhart’s election. He altered presidential speeches and threatened a royal grant, which the king leaked to the press. Meanwhile, the opposition attacked Urquhart in the House of Commons on the grounds of defending the monarchy. Finally, Urquhart gave in to the pressure and made peace with the king. Neither side would back down, and they parted on bad terms. After his defeat in the first round, Urquhart quickly identified the king’s weakness. He weakened the monarchy by targeting people close to the king. First, he spread the news to the media that Mikrov, the king’s press officer, was gay, but Mikrov resigned at the critical moment to protect the king. Urquhart’s plan fell through. After inciting the media to hype Princess Charlotte’s private life, see the king is about to fall apart, do not want the king to take the initiative to abdicate, Urquhart’s calculation again failed. Mr Urquhart backed down at the last minute when the media tycoon got hold of the scandal over his affair with Ms Motima, using a female pollster.
“Play With the King” ends abruptly, and “The final cut” begins with Francis Urquhart’s popularity at its peak after defeating the previous prime minister and the King of England. He is about to become the longest-serving prime minister in British history. What happens between the two books, and how Urquhart defeats the king, leaves the reader with no end of imagination.
In “The final cut,” Urquhart faces more tests. As he got older, calls for his retirement grew louder inside and outside the government, and several forces began to circle the “ousting” of Urquhart. Cyprus, a British colony that had been fighting for independence by armed means, was being manipulated by politicians into signing a peace deal with Greece, which had a long-running border dispute. Urquhart wanted to make this happen, to add to his international reputation. To his surprise, the affair threatened to expose the biggest scandal of his life, and he would be despised and immortalized. Once a young officer, he set fire to two children who were affiliated with a local guerrilla group during the Cyprus war against the British, despite the dissuasion of his subordinates. It haunted Urquhart for a long time.
At this time, he is no longer young, in the encounter with a variety of doubts, censure, he will hesitate, will be distressed, will doubt whether he really did a lot of wrong. But Urquhart was still the original Urquhart, even if his brow wrinkled and his skin sagged. The disappointment and self-doubt was only a momentary thought. After that momentary thought, he thought of fighting back, of trying his best to win everything. He tracked down the brother of the two young boys, decided not to run again, and left behind a series of letters with enough content to hit every opponent. At a small party on the eve of Mepix’s inauguration, Urquhart stood on stage and delivered his final speech. He saw the brother of the two little boys and prodded him with words. He was eventually shot to death by the man. At the moment of collapse, Urquhart subconsciously held Motima in his arms to protect his beloved Motima. In a final moment of counterattack, he said to Mortima: “After so many years of difficult moments, you are the only one I can rely on, the only one I can touch in the dark, I know you will be there, if you feel my silence hurts you, it is my fault, not yours, I beg your forgiveness, Mortima, you must know that I love you, you are the only woman I will always love.”
When it was believed that Urquhart had been assassinated to protect his wife, he not only avoided infamy, but also gained public respect and admiration. The public found out that the assassin’s daughter was related to Mepix, and felt that his death was even more unjust. He used his death to unite his party, which had been close to fragging, and returned it to victory. He won the final victory. In his ring, none of his opponents had the slightest struggle to fight back.
At the last moment, Urquhart says to Mortima, “All destroyed”, which is poignant. As a politician, he was ruthless and gave no way back to his opponents. He doesn’t trust others and disguises himself to deceive others. And his death deceived everyone except Mortima. He loved Mortima. She was his only warmth, a light in his darkness, enough to carry him to the end and win it all.
Urquhart, in death, had won all that was left behind, and was admired by his people.
