The Horse and His Boy: Deep into the Other World
Every other Narnian novel has some moment of transport between our world and theirs. Here in this novel we are in the middle of the untold time between the children entering Narnia through the Wardrobe and returning home after their long reigns. It begins however far from the kingdom of Narnia itself, with a child (well 2) who has an unfortunate life he decides to run away from.
Do your find yourself drawn to the freedom of Corin? Or maybe not. A wonderful article about the play and joy and earnestness of Corin is this one by Daniel Whyte IV .
By now, if you have been reading along, the appearances of Aslan are not the curiosity they once were. We have learned to see him in his power and mystery, in his appearing in different guises. This story, with main characters who know nothing (besides nasty rumors) of him, may remind us of the ‘otherness’ of devoted, generous, Christian practice to a world that may have never encountered anything but our less Christ like expressions. Does this part of this book connect to what you hear about persons encountering a ‘not like that’ Christian tradition?
What parts of this novel were uncomfortable? Perhaps Aravis’ divine injury? The depiction of the world and culture of the enemy is unmistakably both not one culture, but also strongly seems like the people and buildings of several parts of West and Central Asia. In Lewis’ day this book may not have brought the discomfort this brings now, but that doesn’t dismiss it from the text. Rowan Williams in ‘Lions World’ says it this way:
Some have made great play of the way in which the Calormenes (subliminally ‘coloured men’, as has been suggested?) are described – dark-skinned, cruel, clad in turbans and armed with scimitars, over-sophisticated and elaborate in speech, devotees of an alien and terrifying god. These are quite obviously aspects of what is usually called ‘orientalism’, the Western habit of depicting non-Western civilizations as exotic, decadent and sinister. The Calormenes talk like characters in the ‘Arabian Nights’, with an effect that can be both comic and threatening, and they are clearly the dangerous ‘other’
…the polarity of ‘the West and the rest’ is unavoidable in such a representation …; the shadow of the Crusades is much in evidence. As Goldthwaite notes, when Shasta in The Horse first encounters Narnians, he sees them as somehow ‘nicer’ and more ‘normal’ than the Calormenes (The Horse Ch. 4, p. 231); quite apart from the implausibility of this, it unquestionably sets up a picture of (white) Narnians as intrinsically more attractive, kinder, less formal..
A longer examination of the subject is here, also by David Whyte IV.
Lastly let us bring this reflection of our sins and errors to the waters of baptism. Did you notice the return to baptismal imagery, but one that is both more worldly and one that is more mature, even if the participants are limited in their knowledge of their savior? Do you ever notice artists and authors who may reject association with any religion yet offer stories that echo our way and life? What mystery is that about?