52 Books in 52 Weeks - Books 2 & 3: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Price Caspian

I chose to review these two together, because I believe that anyone who is reading this blog (all 3 of you :-)) has already read these books, and has probably seen both of the movies. So, I will simply mention a few of my favorite moments from these two books.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

My favorite quote from this book is the conversation between the children and Mr & Ms Beaver when they first learn about Aslan.

"Is-is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the Great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

The story of Edmund's bewitching by the evil Queen, and his subsequent betrayal of his brother and sisters (especially his malicious undermining of Lucy when the two of them return after his first trip into Narnia) is one of the most poignant story lines in this book.

Prince Caspian

In this story, after the children have returned to Narnia, have met the dwarf Trumpkin, and are traveling to meet Caspian, one of the more interesting moments occurs when Lucy sees Aslan & no one else does.

They are in a wood that they do not recognize, on the edge of a gorge that is between them and their destination. They have to decide whether to go up or down to find a way across the gorge, and they choose to go down. Lucy sees Aslan higher up on the gorge & knows that he wants them to go up. No one else sees him & they do not believe her. The group takes a vote, and all vote to go down, except Edmund. He sides with Lucy because, "When we first discovered Narnia, it was Lucy who discovered it first & none of us would believe her. I was the worst of the lot.... yet she was right." They go down & eventually encounter scouts from King Miraz' army & have to retreat back up the gorge. That night, Lucy wakes up in the middle of the night & encounters Aslan. He tells her that they must go up, and start right away. She must wake the rest of the tired group & tell them to follow Aslan up, although, as the Lion tells her, she is the only one who will be able to see him at first. After a struggle getting them to wake up & convincing them to follow her, eventually, one by one, they begin to be able to see Aslan.

This story is a great illustration of how we are often required to act on faith, before we can see. The order in which the others begin to be able to see Aslan is related to their willingness to believe Lucy, or perhaps a reflection of their individual level of faith in Aslan.

It is also about doing what we know is right, even when no one else supports it. Lucy is told by Aslan that she should have followed him when she first saw him, even if no one else had come with her. That would have taken a tremendous amount of faith and strength from her, as she was the youngest of the group, and had the least authority. It took a lot of strength for her to go wake them up & tell them to follow her, as she followed Aslan.

Sojourner