The Silver Chair

The fourth book (in order of publication) in The Chronicles of Narnia is The Silver Chair, which begins with Eustace (who we met in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and a girl named Jill Pole at their school which is called "Experiment House". Jill is being bullied when the story begins and is crying behind the gym. Eustace comes to comfort her and in their conversation she tells him how much he has changed since last term. This conversation helps reinforce the idea that Eustace has been "saved" since turning into a dragon in his last visit to Narnia. Eustace decides to tell Jill about Narnia and asks her to try and go to Narnia with him. She agrees to his request right as the school bullies spot Jill and Eustace and come after them. However, before the bullies could get to the two children, they find themselves in Narnia. Shortly after reaching Narnia, the two children find themselves near a steep cliff and Jill decides to go to the edge of the cliff. When Jill reaches the edge of the cliff, Eustace tries to pull her away from the edge and ends up falling off the cliff himself. Jill then witnesses Aslan saving Eustace by blowing in his direction. Eventually Jill meets Aslan and he gives her specific instructions of what she and Eustace are to do in Narnia.

Aslan tells Jill that she needs to help find Rilian, the lost son of King Caspian (70 Narnian years had passed since Eustace's last visit and Caspian is now an old king) so the prince can take his rightful place on the thrown when his father dies. Aslan tells Jill of four Signs that she must follow in order to find Rilian. In the novel, "Signs" is capitalized which makes them seem holy and very important. Aslan then blows Jill to Narnia and she meets up with Eustace and tells him what they must do.

When the children first get to Narnia they witness King Caspian departing on a ship. This means that Jill and Caspian have not completed the first of Aslan's Signs which was for Eustace to talk to the first person he saw in Narnia who is also his old friend. Although the children realize that they have messed up their first Sign, they continue on, trying to rescue the true Prince. The children embark on this journey with Puddleglum, a frog/dwarf like creature. While on their journey, Jill and Eustace get so wrapped up in Narnia and their adventures that they forget the last three Signs. Distressed to realize they have forgotten them, the party of three decides to go underground by following words on the ground that say "Under Me" which they think must be a clue from Aslan. Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum then find themselves in the Underland and are found my a group of gnomes that take them to their Queen, the Lady of Green Kirtle. The Lady of Green Kirtle had already tricked them once and tried to get them killed by giants so the children and Puddleglum were weary of her. In the novel it is even speculated that this queen is related to the White Witch that was in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

When in the Underland, the children and Puddleglum come across a young man who is bound to a chair by the evil queen because he allegedly becomes dangerous at night. The three adventurers decide to stay and watch the young man at night because they feel that it may be important. As the young man begins to go into a rage he demands to be cut free in the name of Aslan. Jill and Eustace remember that this is the fourth Sign and cut the prisoner free. The prisoner turned out to Rilian, the prince of Narnia who had been captured by the evil queen and enchanted so he had forgotten about Narnia. Rilian kills the evil queen (after she turns into a serpent) and the four return to Narnia. Rilian and King Caspian are reunited right before King Caspian's death.

At the end of the story, Jill and Eustace ask Aslan if they can go home. Right as Aslan is telling them that he is about to bring them home, they see King Caspian's dead body in the stream. Aslan revives King Caspian with his own blood (drawn out with a thorn) and King Caspian not only revives but becomes a young man, like the Caspian in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. Caspian accompanies the two children when they go back to the school, in order to frighten the bullies that had been teasing them. The bullies are frighten, as they have seen not only Caspian with his sword drawn, but Aslan as well. The head of the school (who had earlier been criticized for allowing bullying) also saw Aslan and the broken down wall (which Aslan fixed shortly after) and called the police. When the police arrived to see no lion (Aslan and Caspian had gone back to Narnia) and to see no broken down wall they investigated the school further and the Experiment House became a better place. I found this part very interesting, because in the other Narnia books, Aslan has not interfered with the children's home lives. Additionally, The Experiment House was criticized throughout the story for having alternative methods and not teaching the Bible. Because of this I think there is a very real possibility that this novel not only reflects Lewis' religious ideas but also his ideology about education.

Overall, this novel was not rich with religious content, although Aslan seemed more powerful and omnipresent omniscient in this book than the others. It was clear from the "Signs" that Aslan was able to predict and change the future. His magical abilities were also seen when he "blew" the children into Narnia and when he revitalized Caspian. It also should be noted that in the beginning of the story, when Eustace is fist telling Jill about Aslan he says "They call him Aslan in that place" (pg 35) which reinforces the concept, presented in the last novel, that Aslan exists as Christ or some other godly figure in other worlds.