PRACTICAL PEOPLE IN NARNIA 21 August 2008
Posted by Renette in 1 The Magician's Nephew, 3 The Horse and His Boy, 4 Prince Caspian, 5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, Talking Beasts.2 comments
In The Chronicles of Narnia, a total of seven people were described as being practical, and three of them were called practical in a rather negative way.
JADIS
The children were now afraid that Jadis would have something to say to them about what had happened in the wood. As it turned out, however, she never mentioned it either then or afterwards. I think (and Digory thinks too) that her mind was of a sort which cannot remember that quiet place at all, and however often you took her there and however long you left her there, she would still know nothing about it. Now that she was left alone with the children, she took no notice of either of them. And that was like her too. In Charn she had taken no notice of Polly (till the very end) because Digory was the one she wanted to make use of. Now that she had Uncle Andrew, she took no notice of Digory. I expect most witches are like that. They are not interested in things or people unless they can use them; they are terribly practical. So there was silence in the room for a minute or two. But you could tell by the way Jadis tapped her foot on the floor that she was growing impatient. – from Chapter 6, “The Beginning of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles,” The Magician’s Nephew
From this quote about Jadis, being practical means only paying attention to someone if you wanted to use the person in one way or another. Jadis didn’t pay attention to Polly because she was using Digory. Later on, she didn’t pay attention to Digory either because she was using Uncle Andrew. She didn’t waste her time in noticing or paying attention to people who didn’t suit her purposes.
UNCLE ANDREW
We must now go back a bit and explain what the whole scene had looked like from Uncle Andrew’s point of view. It had not made at all the same impression on him as on the Cabby and the children. For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.
Ever since the animals had first appeared, Uncle Andrew had been shrinking further and further back into the thicket. He watched them very hard of course; but he wasn’t really interested in seeing what they were doing, only in seeing whether they were going to make a rush at him. Like the Witch, he was dreadfully practical. He simply didn’t notice that Aslan was choosing one pair out of every kind of beasts. All he saw, or thought he saw, was a lot of dangerous wild animals walking vaguely about. And he kept on wondering why the other animals didn’t run away from the big Lion. – from Chapter 9, “The Founding of Narnia,” The Magician’s Nephew
From this quote about Uncle Andrew, being practical means only paying attention to something that involves yourself and nothing more. Uncle Andrew missed the point of the entire creation (or “founding”) of Narnia simply because he was only concerned that that the animals wouldn’t attack him. He didn’t waste his time in noticing or paying attention to things that didn’t concern him directly.
ARSHEESH
Sometimes if Arsheesh was there Shasta would say, “O my Father, what is there beyond that hill?” And then if the fisherman was in a bad temper he would box Shasta’s ears and tell him to attend to his work. Or if he was in a peaceable mood he would say, “O my son, do not allow your mind to be distracted by idle questions. For one of the poets has said, `Application to business is the root of prosperity, but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering the ship of folly towards the rock of indigence’.”
Shasta thought that beyond the hill there must be some delightful secret which his father wished to hide from him. In reality, however, the fisherman talked like this because he didn’t know what lay to the North. Neither did he care. He had a very practical mind. – from Chapter 1, “How Shasta Set Out on His Travels,” The Horse and His Boy
From this quote about Arsheesh, being practical means only paying attention to something that you already know about. He never concerned himself with the lands beyond, like the free North. He didn’t waste his time in noticing or paying attention to things that he wasn’t familar with.
Being practical isn’t all that bad though. In fact, there were four others who were mentioned as being practical, but not in the way that Jadis, Uncle Andrew and Arsheesh were.
DUFFLE AND THE STAG
Presently, however, two more practical people arrived in the little wood. One was a Red Dwarf whose name appeared to be Duffle. The other was a stag, a beautiful lordly creature with wide liquid eyes, dappled flanks and legs so thin and graceful that they looked as if you could break them with two fingers.
“Lion alive!” roared the Dwarf as soon as he had heard the news. “And if that’s so, why are we all standing still, chattering? Enemies at Anvard! News must be sent to Cair Paravel at once. The army must be called out. Narnia must go to the aid of King Lune.”
“Ah!” said the Hedgehog. “But you won’t find the High King at the Cair. He’s away to the North trouncing those giants. And talking of giants, neighbours, that puts me in mind -”
“Who’ll take our message?” interrupted the Dwarf. “Anyone here got more speed than me?”
“I’ve got speed,” said the Stag. “What’s my message? How many Calormenes?”
“Two hundred: under Prince Rabadash. And -” But the Stag was already away – all four legs off the ground at once, and in a moment its white stern had disappeared among the remoter trees. - from Chapter 12, “Shasta in Narnia,” The Horse and His Boy
From this quote, being practical means doing what must be done. Upon learning of the coming army of Prince Rabadash, the other creatures didn’t exactly jump into action, but dawdled around chatting about it. Only Duffle, who took control of the situation, and the stag, who rushed to inform the High King, did their part in averting the danger.
SUSAN
“That’s the trouble of it,” said Trumpkin, “when most of the beasts have gone enemy and gone dumb, but there are still some of the other kind left. You never know, and you daren’t wait to see.” …
Lucy shuddered and nodded. When they had sat down she said: “Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su.”
“What’s that?”
“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day, in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?”
”We’ve got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia,” said the practical Susan, “without imagining things like that.” – from Chapter 9, “What Lucy Saw,” Prince Caspian
From this quote, being practical means focusing on the problem on hand. Susan didn’t want to worry about ”imaginary” things – she only wanted to deal with those that are ”here and now.” Perhaps that became her problem later on – when she got back to England, she only wanted to deal with the “here and now” and convinced herself that Narnia was only imaginary.
EUSTACE
“Why is it called Aslan’s table?” asked Lucy presently.
“It is set here by his bidding,” said the girl, “for those who come so far. Some call this island the World’s End, for though you can sail further, this is the beginning of the end.”
“But how does the food keep?” asked the practical Eustace.
“It is eaten, and renewed every day,” said the girl. “This you will see.” – from Chapter 13, “The Three Sleepers,” The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
From this quote, being practical means asking questions about things that don’t seem to add up logically. Eustace never lost this trait until The Last Battle, which adds charm to his character.
There is a positive and a negative side to being practical. As long as we make sure we’re not like Jadis, Uncle Andrew or Arsheesh, then being practical should be okay.
THE LAMB IN THE LAST BATTLE 16 August 2008
Posted by Renette in 7 The Last Battle, By Terb's Friends, Talking Beasts.add a comment
In The Last Battle, there is an important scene in Chapter 3 where the animals were gathered at the stable. They have just heard the frightening news from Shift (the Ape) who told them that “Aslan” had sold all the Talking Beasts of Narnia to slavery. Of course, if you know the entire story, the pretend “Aslan” was actually a stupid donkey named Puzzle dressed up in lion’s skin, but it was effective in cowing the animals to obedience.
“And now here’s another thing,” the Ape went on, fitting a fresh nut into its cheek, “I hear some of the horses are saying, Let’s hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we can, and then we’ll be free again. Well, you can get that idea out of your heads at once. And not only the Horses either. Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future. Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen – The Tisroc, as our dark faced friends the Calormenes call him. All you Horses and Bulls and Donkeys are to be sent down into Calormen to work for your living – pulling and carrying the way horses and such-like do in other countries. And all you digging animals like Moles and Rabbits and Dwarfs are going down to work in The Tisroc’s mines. And -”
“No, no, no,” howled the Beasts. “It can’t be true. Aslan would never sell us into slavery to the King of Calormen.”
“None of that! Hold your noise!” said the Ape with a snarl. “Who said anything about slavery? You won’t be slaves. You’ll be paid – very good wages too. That is to say, your pay will be paid into Aslan’s treasury and he will use it all for everybody’s good.” Then he glanced, and almost winked, at the chief Calormene. The Calormene bowed and replied, in the pompous Calormene way:
“Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan, The Tisroc (may he-live-forever) is wholly of one mind with your lordship in this judicious plan.”
“There! You see!” said the Ape. “It’s all arranged. And all for your own good. We’ll be able, with the money you earn, to make Narnia a country worth living in. There’ll be oranges and bananas pouring in – and roads and big cities and schools and offices and whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels and prisons – Oh, everything.”
“But we don’t want all those things,” said an old Bear. “We want to be free. And we want to hear Aslan speak himself.”
“Now don’t you start arguing,” said the Ape, “for it’s a thing I won’t stand. I’m a Man: you’re only a fat, stupid old Bear. What do you know about freedom? You think freedom means doing what you like. Well, you’re wrong. That isn’t true freedom. True freedom means doing what I tell you.”
“H-n-n-h,” grunted the Bear and scratched its head; it found this sort of thing hard to understand.
“Please, please,” said the high voice of a woolly lamb, who was so young that everyone was surprised he dared to speak at all.
“What is it now?” said the Ape. “Be quick.”
“Please,” said the Lamb, “I can’t understand. What have we to do with the Calormenes? We belong to Aslan. They belong to Tash. They have a god called Tash. They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture. They kill Men on his altar. I don’t believe there’s any such person as Tash. But if there was, how could Aslan be friends with him?”
All the animals cocked their heads sideways and all their bright eyes flashed towards the Ape. They knew it was the best question anyone had asked yet.
The Ape jumped up and spat at the Lamb.
Knowing that Aslan had appeared once before in The Chronicles of Narnia as a lamb (towards the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), it is quite possible that this Lamb was also Aslan in another form. Siberian Christmas, a friend I met from The Lion’s Call forum, wrote a very beautiful poem about the Lamb which I’m posting here with her permission:
The Lamb Who Spoke the Truth
by Siberian Christmas
Where did you go, you precious?
What happened to you?
Did they hurt you?
When you spoke, oh! I felt your words touch us!
I lie here, dreaming in my bed
Of your innocence,
Of your courage,
And the truth that with valiant words you said.
Where did you come from, darling?
Did Aslan send you here?
Did he whisper his words to you?
Maybe I’ll know in the morning…
Lamb, little Lamb, I know now.
I dreamt of you.
I saw you.
You were laid out as a Lion on Aslan’s How.
CLASSIC BULGY BEAR MOMENTS 18 June 2008
Posted by Renette in 4 Prince Caspian, Talking Beasts.2 comments
For me, the BULGY BEAR is without a doubt the funniest character in Prince Caspian. Of course, I’m talking of the book Bulgy Bear and not the movie Bulgy Bear, who I think had only one line in the entire film, which was a husky “For Aslan!” For some reason, I couldn’t help giggling when he said that.
Anyway, since his character was underdeveloped in the movie, I’m putting here some classic bulgy bear moments from the book:
On a fine summer morning when the dew lay on the grass he set off with the badger and the two dwarfs, up through the forest to a high saddle in the mountains and down on to their sunny southern slopes where one looked across the green wolds of Archenland. “We will go first to the three bulgy bears,” said Trumpkin.
They came in a glade to an old hollow oak tree covered with moss, and Trufflehunter tapped with his paw three times on the trunk and there was no answer. Then he tapped again and a woolly sort of voice from inside said, “Go away. It’s not time to get up yet.” But when he tapped the third time there was a noise like a small earthquake from inside and a sort of door opened and out came three brown bears, very bulgy indeed and blinking their little eyes. And when everything had been explained to them (which took a long time because they were so sleepy) they said, just as Trufflehunter had said, that a son of Adam ought to be king of Narnia and all kissed Caspian – very wet, snuffly kisses they were – and offered him some honey. Caspian did not really want honey, without bread, at that time in the morning, but he thought it polite to accept. It took him a long time afterwards to get unsticky.
Here we find out that the bulgy bears have a “woolly sort of voice”, are “very bulgy indeed,” and gives “wet, snuffly kisses.” Aren’t they adorable? The next scene happened during the feast and council on Dancing Lawn where all the old Narnians gathered to meet with Prince Caspian. The creatures were debating how to go about the council, and the chapter starts by saying: “The bulgy bears were very anxious to have the feast first and leave the council till afterwards: perhaps till tomorrow.”
“Is there time for this foolery?” asked Nikabrik. “What are our plans? Battle or flight?”
“Battle if need be,” said Trumpkin. “But we are hardly ready for it yet, and this is no very defensible place.”
“I don’t like the idea of running away,” said Caspian.
“Hear him! Hear him!” said the bulgy bears. “Whatever we do, don’t let’s have any running. Especially not before supper; and not too soon after it neither.”
The last scene was when they were discussing the duel of Peter and Miraz, and choosing who the three marshals should be.
Peter was just explaining to Caspian that he could not be one, because his right to the throne was what they were fighting about, when suddenly a thick, sleepy voice said, “Your majesty, please.”
Peter turned and there stood the eldest of the bulgy bears. “If you please, your majesty,” he said, “I’m a bear, I am.”
“To be sure, so you are, and a good bear too, I don’t doubt,” said Peter.
“Yes,” said the bear. “But it was always a right of the bears to supply one marshal of the lists.”
“Don’t let him,” whispered Trumpkin to Peter. “He’s a good creature, but he’ll shame us all. He’ll go to sleep and he will suck his paws. In front of the enemy too.”
“I can’t help that,” said Peter. “Because he’s quite right. The bears had that privilege. I can’t imagine how it has been remembered all these years, when so many other things have been forgotten.”
“Please, your Majesty,” said the bear.
“It is your right,” said Peter. “And you shall be one of the marshals. But you must remember not to suck your paws.”
“Of course not,” said the bear in a very shocked voice.
“Why, you’re doing it this minute!” bellowed Trumpkin.
The bear whipped his paw out of his mouth and pretended he hadn’t heard.
Well what can I say? You’ve got to love the bulgy bears, even when they’re sucking their paws!
THE FAITH OF TRUFFLEHUNTER 8 June 2008
Posted by Renette in 4 Prince Caspian, Talking Beasts.3 comments
Prince Caspian introduced us to an unforgettable character, that of Trufflehunter the Badger. Though he did not get a lot of screen time in the movie, and his character was a bit underdeveloped, Trufflehunter is actually a model of unwavering faith in God (or in Aslan) regardless of how dark things may appear to be.
It has been 1300 years in Narnia when the Pevensies returned, although only one year has passed in England. In those 1300 years, the Narnians were invaded by the vicious Telmarines, who killed most of them and forced the few survivors to live in hiding. Not once in those 1300 years was there a sign or sighting of Aslan, causing some of the Narnians to begin thinking that the Lion has abandoned them. Some even began to doubt His existence altogether.
Not so with Trufflehunter. Hebrews 11:1 (New Living Translation) defines faith as the “confidence that what we hope for will actually happen.” This is what Trufflehunter showed all the way through. He believed that someday, Aslan will come and help the Narnians and set things right again. He was confident that this will happen sooner or later, in Aslan’s time and not theirs.
When Nikabrik voiced doubts about Aslan, he replied, “Don’t you go talking about things you don’t understand, Nikabrik. You dwarfs are as forgetful and changeable as the humans themselves. I’m a beast, I am, and a badger what’s more. We don’t change. We hold on.”
When it comes to having faith, it seems that there are two types of people, as Trufflehunter differentiated: those who are “forgetful and changeable” and those who “hold on.” I think it’s just the way people are wired – it’s easier for some to have great faith and to believe in God even when things go wrong, while some of us have a more difficult time with it. No matter the type of personality though, nothing excuses us from having faith. Puddleglum was the most pessimistic, most fatalistic creature there ever was, and he had faith.
The key, I think, is to strengthen whatever faith we may have. One way to do this is to keep on remembering the good things God has done. Glenstorm the centaur said something quite meaningful to Trufflehunter: “I watch the skies, badger, for it is mine to watch as it is yours to remember.” The phrases “it is mine to watch” and “it is yours to remember” give the impression of duty, or perhaps even purpose in life – that centaurs were meant to watch the skies (and in so doing, be able to wisely advise the Narnian leaders about wars and such) while badgers were meant to remember what happened in the past (and in so doing, be able to strengthen the faith of other Narnians).
Perhaps the reason why Trufflehunter had such an unshakeable faith in Aslan is because it was his duty – or at least, he felt that it was his duty – to remember the history of Narnia – how Aslan created their world, how he breathed life into the stars and the trees, how he chose some animals to be Talking Beasts, how Aslan defeated the White Witch in the Battle of Beruna, and how he crowned the four ancient kings and queens in Cair Paravel.
Trufflehunter was of course proven right when Aslan finally came to defeat the Telmarine armies and to crown Caspian the Tenth as king of Narnia, which brought peace to the land. His faith was rewarded when we see him again in The Last Battle among those who made it to Aslan’s country. A great compliment was also given to him by the High King Peter, who put his arm around Trufflehunter when they first met and said, “Best of badgers. You never doubted us all through.” To which, in all humility, he replied, “No credit to me, your Majesty. I’m a beast and we don’t change. I’m a Badger, what’s more, and we hold on.”
