Prince Caspian

In my last post I said I would be addressing The Magician's Nephew next, I was incorrect as that novel was actually the 6th Narnia book published. Instead I will be addressing the second published Narnia novel, Prince Caspian. In this novel, Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan have been out of Narnia for about a year, after reigning as king and queens in Narnia for "years and years" (no time had passed in the real world). While on the train to school in England, the children feel a strange tugging sensation that they are sure is magical. The children hold hands and are pulled out of the train into a strange land. They soon realize that this land is Narnia, but hundreds of years in Narnian time seems to have passed since they left. The children end up rescuing a dwarf who tells them what has been happening in Narnia since they children left. The dwarf tells them about Prince Caspian and in this story it is mentioned that Prince Caspian (who was a child at the time) tells his aunt and uncle about Aslan, who he had heard about in stories of old Narnia. His uncle, the king responds by stating that he has not heard of Asland and brushes Prince Caspian's story off as nonsense. This is the first mention of Aslan-the former savior of Narnia-in this novel. This, as well as the mention that in this Narnia there are no longer fawns and talking animals, suggests that things have changed dramatically in Narnia. Later, we find out that Narnia had been conquered by Caspian The First, Prince Caspian's ancestor and that Prince Caspian is not a native Narnian but instead a Telmarine (from the land of Telmar, a land that the reader has not yet heard of). It is also clear that at this point in the story of Prince Caspian, "Old Narnia" is a history being kept secret from the prince. It is revealed that Old Narnia, the land that the children had lived in, was conquered and the non human creatures were killed and no longer (for the most part) live in New Narnia. It is also stated that when Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter ruled Narnia it was a "golden age". This all suggests that some amount of purity, or even religion, has been lost from Narnia.

It also begins to be clear that Prince Caspian and many of the citizens of New Narnia would like the golden ages to return. Prince Caspian is trained by his tutor, who is secretly half dwarf, to fight and defend himself. Prince Caspian's tutor then tells him that he must flee as the king has had another son and will surely kill Prince Caspian. Prince Caspian flees with Susan's magic horn and eventually finds talking animals-or Old Narnians who he teams up with in order to fight the king and restore Old Narnia. During this part of the story, the characters bring up Aslan repeatedly, although it is not clear if Aslan is still alive or in a position to save them. Certain phrases are used by the animals that make it clear that Aslan does play a godly or religious role for Old Narnians. One example of this is when a character said " 'By the Lion,' he swore. 'it's a mouse..." (pg 84). There is also talk about "believing in Aslan" the way one would believe in God. However, an actual religion doesn't seem to be that established as rituals or other religious beliefs are not discussed.

While the dwarf is telling the story of Prince Caspian it is revealed that the children were called into Narnia by Prince Caspian and his allies by using Susan's magical horn, a tool given to Susan by Father Christmas in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. After hearing this, the children decide to side with Prince Caspian and try to restore the Narnia that they once ruled. As the children prepare to join Prince Caspian,

Lucy sees Aslan from afar and tells her siblings that they must go to him although the children and the dwarf vote and decide not to go to Aslan as it would require much more effort. Eventually, the children realize that they should have listen to Lucy to begin with because the route they chose turned out to be very dangerous. This is interesting because Lucy, the youngest child, always seems to have a nack for spotting the good and the magical. Lucy was the sibling who led the others to Narnia in the prior novel, even though her siblings thought she was full of nonsense. This makes the reader think that Lucy is able to sense magic and goodness in ways that others can't, she also seems to have more faith in Aslan and magic than the others. Lewis may have done this as a way to make a statement about youth and purity although so far it as been isolated, for the most part, to Lucy (who is also named after Lewis' god daughter). Lucy is also the first to reunite with Aslan and when she does, he tells her to gather her siblings and follow him. He also says that her siblings will not be able to immediately see Aslan which makes it hard for the youngest sibling to convince her brothers and sister to follow her. This situation also implies that not everyone can see Aslan and perhaps an element of faith is needed in order to see him. Eventually the children are all able to see Aslan and fight with him against the New Narnians, who they defeat. Aslan creates a door to the New Narnian's original world. At this point in the story, Peter and Susan inform Lucy and Edmund that Aslan has said that the older two siblings will no longer be able to return to Narnia because of their age. This also reinforces the idea that Lewis is pairing purity and faith with youthfulness. The children then return to the train in England, as if no time had passed at all.

Overall, this novel has less religious themes than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. There does not seem to be any allegorical elements in this story as there were in the prior book. However, according to The Collected Letters of C.S Lewis it is apparent that Prince Caspian is a story of renewal of "true religion after corruption". After reading Lewis' statement about that theme, I can definitely see how it fits into the story, although it definitely isn't blatant and I am skeptical that a child (the designated audience) would be able to see this as a religious story.