Chronicles of Narnia--Two

Lewis, C. S., The Horse and His Boy

This picture captures the main ingredients:
Shasta and Aravis, the two talking horses,
and, over all, Aslan

          I enjoyed The Horse and His Boy greatly. It ranged over a large territory and involved enslaved people seeking freedom in Narnia. This book is a hero journey, with Shasta, an escaping slave, seeking his freedom, his heritage, and (unbeknownst to him) his destiny. Shasta faces trials of wit, courage, strength, and faith. His faith he finds through the lion-god Aslan, who he finds out was watching over him throughout his journey.

          Eventually, Shasta and his friends, Aravis (who is running from an enforced marriage to a tyrant) and the two talking horses, Bree and Hwin, find a way to save Narnia from invasion. Queens Lucy and Susan and King Edmund from LWW reappear in minor roles. This is the only book in the Chronicles in which the main character is not a human from outside Narnia.

Rabadash, often cited as a
example of racism in Narnia 

          Aslan is the underpinning of this book and its main tie to LWW. His presence both saves and menaces; his justice is absolute. Even to his enemies, he provides a way out. Rabadash, the invader, is turned into an ass (very funny and apt), but Aslan tells him how to change back. He must publicly pray at a certain temple. Then, he will stay a man unless he goes more than a few miles from the temple. In the wrap-up of the book, he has turned into Rabadash the Benevolent and rules over a time of peace in his land.

          That’s the Aslan way. Aslan is sort of like a warm, soft pillow, but one which will strike out against evil—a pillow with a sharp dagger. He often shows characters how to see the best things in themselves. Wonderful.

          I liked this one. The Narnia magic is working on me. And, I did find the first book, The Magician’s Nephew, so I can go back and catch that one. Interesting. The Narnia books are true fantasy, mythological Christianity, beautifully done, engaging, compelling. I was going to take them on my vacation to Houston next week, but I think I’ll be done with them on this long July 4^th weekend. Fun way to spend a long weekend.

Sidebar: Racism and Sexism in the Chronicles

          The Horse and His Boy is often cited as an example of Lewis’s bias toward light-skinned people and against Semitic (Arab) people.  For an interesting treatment of this topic, go to the website Narniaweb.com at http://www.narniaweb.com/resources-links/are-the-chronicles-of-narnia-sexist-and-racist/.

Here's a sultry version of the White Witch,
who is sort of a frosty version of
Galadriel

This writer rightfully points out that prejudice and sexism are almost entirely confined to bad, non-role-model characters and that the focus on a handful of negative images is ridiculous in light of the almost overwhelming number of positive images.

          I do question that true evil in a supernatural sense, as in the “Anti-Aslan,” is represented by women. But gee, it’s a 50/50 chance…if you flipped a male/female coin to decide the gender of the next evil character, you could get all women as evil just by chance! And, as the article points out, this book even features interracial marriage without an eye-blink or comment.

          Lewis's characters—good and bad, male and female, dark and light—are lively and interesting and certainly engaging. Whatever else these books are, they are darned good writing and darned good reading. In my reading in children’s literature for this project, the Chronicles of Narnia are paragons of fair representation.

Lewis, C. S., The Magician’s Nephew

          This is the first book, chronologically, and I had not read it before. In this book, the kingdom of Narnia is founded by Aslan as a sort of Garden of Eden--it is Lewis's creation story (complete with apple). Unwittingly, a human boy and girl bring an evil goddess from a dead world into Narnia, imperiling its future. The children use rings that have also come from an ancient world to move among worlds. The gold rings take you out, usually to a magic woods. The woods has numerous ponds, each opening to a different world. The green rings return you to the woods.

          My heart was touched by this book. The boy Digory’s mother is dying. He wants to steal fruit from Narnia to heal his mother. In the end, his good values and sense rule him and he gives the fruit to Aslan to found a tree that will protect Narnia from the evil. He gives up his mother’s life. Aslan grieves Digory’s mother too, with big, shining god-lion tears. And, he freely gives Digory an apple, which does indeed heal his mom. How I wish I had had this apple when my own mother was ill.

An evil queen from before the world was
born careens through Edwardian London
on a Hansom cab--a great image

          Polly, the girl, is a trooper as a sidekick, but this is really Digory’s story. Other characters include the evil queen, who will become the White Witch of LWW. She is wonderfully portrayed as a sort of evil-in-grandeur, and as coming from an earlier world (not the redeemed world). In the best scene, she comes tearing up the street standing on top of and driving a hansom cab. The cabbie and his horse (as well as the cabbie’s wife) end up in Narnia.

          Aslan gives the horse the gift of speech and wings and it is he who transports Digory and Polly to the hill of the magic apple tree. The evil queen serves as snake, trying to tempt Digory to take the apple for himself instead of for Aslan. The cabbie and his wife become the first queen and king of Narnia, vowing to rule with kindness.

          Digory lives with his uncle, Andrew Kitterling, a self-serving old man who dabbles in magic. It is Kitterling who acquired the rings but never fully understands them. (Maybe they come from Middle Earth?) He is put through several humiliations that are quite funny. Good comic relief for this book.

          A most beautiful sequence brings forth Narnia as a place. It starts, as in Genesis, as a void. Then Aslan’s voice sounds in the void and stars come, and sun, and water, and landforms, and plants, and animals, and then some animals are given the power of speech. I guess the cabbie and his wife become Adam and Eve, sort of. Narnia forms out of the song of the lion. It is quite ecstatic and I would love to see it animated. The rendering at the right does not do it justice.

          Digory becomes the old professor in LWW. He built the wardrobe from the wood of the apple tree that grew from the core of his mother’s apple. The wood of the wardrobe has Narnia in it. So, there are no loose ends in this series. Adding this book to my repertoire completes my knowledge and increases my appreciation of these beautiful books.