Character Clues

Character Analysis

Type of Being

It is clearly important to know your creatures when you set foot in Narnia. Some of it is straightforward fantasy stuff: dwarves, talking owls, Marsh-wiggles, giants, and semi-divine lions. Standard fantasy fare, really. And along these lines, type of creature clues us into where creatures come from, be it within Narnia or without. Eustace and Jill, for instance, are humans from our world, so they struggle to sort this strange world out while the characters who are true Narnians already know how things work.

Pro tip: Some creatures can change form—or, at least, one creature in particular, the Queen of Underland. She's a witch, and her ability to take on different appearances lets us know that she's tricky and not to be trusted. After all, her goal in life is basically world domination.

Physical Appearances

We've all been told not to judge a book by its cover, especially when it comes to ugly books, but we tend to be a little less cautious when faced with prettiness—but the saying still totally applies. Oops.

This ability to get distracted by beauty is clearly the case with both Rilian and our young adventurers when they meet with the Lady of the Green Kirtle for the first time. Rilian is clearly enchanted by her beauty (and her magic), while the children are utterly blown away by her fine clothing and excellent diction:

The other was a lady on a white horse, a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give it a lump of sugar at once. But the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green, was lovelier still. (6.87)

We might not blame the children for being in a rush to approve of such a sight, but Puddleglum sees right through the show and understands the need for caution. Which is good, because though she's a sight, this lady is also super evil.

Lewis also fiddles with our expectations (and the expectations of the characters) when he creates the weird and grotesque Earthmen. They have snouts, horns, whiskers, and just about every genetic variation you can imagine, and they also make a variety of sounds, some of which are animalistic and alarming. Because of their unfavorable appearance, Jill, Eustace, Puddleglum, and Rilian believe these creatures are in cahoots with the witch queen. It isn't until they corner Golg that they learn the truth about Earthmen: They are enslaved, and probably pretty nice despite their tusks.

The paradox of beautiful things being potentially evil extends to less tangible things, like desires. Jill and Eustace believe that sleeping on the hard ground and living outside in the snow is an evil that needs to be remedied by the hot baths, soft beds, and good dinners of Harfang… but in fact, these "good things" are only provided to them at their great peril. It turns out that the travelers are far better off in the least appealing of locations—as Puddleglum says, at least they're on the right track when they're suffering.