What Prince Caspian Teaches Us

I have long said that this film did a phenomenal job with the character Peter Pevensie, and what he represented in the film. Sure his character wasn’t exactly like the book, but he served a different purpose. I would say a greater purpose in the film than he served in the book.

In the book, he was rather flat character without much growth throughout the story. It doesn’t really work to have a character that doesn’t display growth. For that, you might as well get a cardboard cutout with a monotone.

Today, I found an article by a woman that I feel gets it right. I don’t know if she read my review of the film from last May, but I understood the roles of Peter and Caspian, and their positions against one another.

In the movie, the youngest of the three Pevensie children, Lucy, has the most faith in Aslan, the lion, who represents Jesus. Aslan waits for the children to seek him and he does not force himself upon them. Lucy’s oldest brother, Peter, is eager to take control and leads the Narnians into battle against the Telmarines. The battle is doomed to disaster as he does not seek Aslan’s help. The rivalry between Peter and Prince Caspian is indicative of lives which are not relating to God or in “Prince Caspian”, lives that are not seeking the help of Aslan. Many of the brave Narnian creatures are killed and the stress is unbearable. In our lives, do we encounter unnecessary stress and difficulty because we do not seek the help of Jesus? Do we argue and compete with those who should be our allies? These problems are consequences of avoiding Jesus’ help, of forgetting that Jesus is king and He wants to help us.

Finally in “Prince Caspian” the children seek Aslan’s help and suddenly, dramatically, the Narnians are successful in battle. The river powerfully washes many of their enemies off the bridge, somewhat like the Red Sea (in the book of Exodus, in the Bible) parting to let the Israelites flee from Egypt, only to move back over the land in time to engulf the Egyptians who were pursuing them. (Women Respond)

I’m glad that I’m not the only one that took that message from the movie. Perhaps it is something that I was meant to hear. Perhaps it’s something that Sian needed to hear. Perhaps it’s something that you needed to hear. I don’t know, but I do think that was an unintended but incredible testament to the Christianity that is present in the story of Prince Caspian. I think it’s also a testament to the fact that the message gets through regardless of how under-the-table it seemed to be.

But this is only scratching the surface. What sorts of things did you take from Prince Caspian?