Prince Caspian
Title: Prince Caspian Author: C.S. Lewis
Series: Chronicles of Narnia #2
Genre: Classic, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 236
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:
Also in this series: The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Last Battle
My Thoughts
I really loved PRINCE CASPIAN. I loved that all the Pevensies are back in Narnia. I think it was interesting to see Narnia in ruin and that the story took place years after the Pevensie children ruled as kings and queens in Cair Paravel.
I also loved the new characters, except Nikabrik. I wanted to strangle him, especially when Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin happened upon the council in Aslan’s How. It frustrated me so much that they waited as long as they did to go into the meeting. My favorite new character was Reepicheep. I adored him.
I thought the ending of this book was just as abrupt as the one in THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, but for some reason it didn’t bother me as much. Maybe, it was because I thought the last line was funny whereas the other is more serious.
‘Bother!’ said Edmund. ‘I’ve left my new torch in Narnia.’
2022 Reread
As with THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, a couple things regarding the allegory stood out to me more during this read. I thought it was interesting that Lucy, the youngest, sees and believes Aslan has returned first. This reminded me of how pure a child’s faith is compared to an adult. Children believe so easily and so strongly (e.g., Santa Claus, Easter Bunny) whereas adults are much more skeptical and cynical. When I was a child, I believed wholeheartedly in the tenets of my own faith. Now, as an adult, I have to work at it much harder. Lewis captures my own journey with faith and religion perfectly in the chapter “The Return of the Lion.”
The other thing I noticed about the allegory this time was the timeframe of Narnia and Aslan’s return. In the Christian faith, most believe that Christ will come again to deliver the faithful when the world has fallen into sin, ruin, war, and chaos. When the Pevensies return to Narnia in PRINCE CASPIAN, it has been thousands of years and Narnia is in ruins and war. As the children and Trumpkin head to Caspian and his army, Aslan returns to help the Narnians who believe in Old Narnia.
The parts of the series that don’t make any sense to me start to crop up in this story. At the end, Aslan tells Peter and Susan they’re too old to return to Narnia. If Aslan is Christ, or as Lewis said in COMPANION TO NARNIA: REVISED EDITION:
Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts, I thought He [Christ] would become a Talking Beast there, as He became a man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; (b) Christ is called “The Lion of Judah” in the Bible; (c) I’d been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work.
Then why would Peter and Susan outgrow being in Aslan’s presence? Add this to THE LAST BATTLE when Susan isn’t allowed into Aslan’s country because she likes nylons, lipstick, and invitations. You can see how much Lewis’ choice here bothers me. I am trying to keep an open mind as I read through the series a second time, but it’s hard in these instances because they bother me a lot.
My rating stayed the same after this reread.