Journey to the Utter East

well like Lucy said
its becuase we actually have things inside them
like thoughts
so when say to post thoughts
you are just asking the girls to do so



Ahh, Kim, what a useful revelation to me of my own inferiority, from the young lady who has furiously denied ever engaging in categorical male-bashing. Now I know I must apologize for all those times I thought I was sending Russian-language lessons to you, when of course as an empty-headed male I was really sending blank e-mails.

Oh, and before you bother saying, "Well, what about that wisecrack about girls and maps?" I reply in advance that it is only addressing ONE area of mental ability, NOT saying that girls have NO intelligence. Men on the average simply DO have more grasp of relationships of distance and position in space. Women today are NEVER slow to trumpet those areas in which THEIR brains tend to outperform the men; so the reverse is also legitimate.

Hopefully, Kim, a woman will come along who can take over tutoring you in Russian; then you'll be satisfied that you're hearing from the only gender which has thoughts.

 
Last edited:
I just finished reading this book last night, and it is definitely one of my faves. It was one of the very few books that actually kept me reading late at night, wondering what would happen next. I can't WAIT until the movie comes out! :D *starts countdown*
 
I just finished reading this book last night, and it is definitely one of my faves. It was one of the very few books that actually kept me reading late at night, wondering what would happen next. I can't WAIT until the movie comes out! :D *starts countdown*

I agree.
That reminds me, I should start up the 'Official VotDT Countdown' again.
 
I started re-reading it last night. I'm up to chapter 4. I'll be writing a review as we have to write 6 in English. I have no favourite part but it is my favourite of all 7 books.
 
Just read VotDT again. It's my second favourite after LWW. And Reepicheep plays a big role in it :D
I just hope they'll keep the film fairly close to the book! PC was a bit far from the book, in my opinion. And no, I don't mean the Susan/Caspian crush. That didn't bother me.
Fingers crossed for VotDT!! ;)
 
Was the movie Prince Caspian that far off from the book? I have to admit :eek: that I haven't even seen that movie yet. I just saw the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! I was always so into the books, and books about the books that explain all the symbolism, allegories, etc. that I just figured the movies wouldn't measure up. But then I watched LWW - Wow! I loved it! So am wanting to see Prince Caspian now but I keep hearing that it's distorted from the book. Hmmm...Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the one I really want to see but are the Penvensie kids a lot older in the later movies, even outside of Narnia? I don't want the movie to ruin the magic. Also, does anyone know about the switch from Disney to Fox? Is that a good move? I'm more of a book person. Help me understand this movie situation, please... :)
 
Was the movie Prince Caspian that far off from the book? I have to admit :eek: that I haven't even seen that movie yet. I just saw the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! I was always so into the books, and books about the books that explain all the symbolism, allegories, etc. that I just figured the movies wouldn't measure up. But then I watched LWW - Wow! I loved it! So am wanting to see Prince Caspian now but I keep hearing that it's distorted from the book. Hmmm...Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the one I really want to see but are the Penvensie kids a lot older in the later movies, even outside of Narnia? I don't want the movie to ruin the magic. Also, does anyone know about the switch from Disney to Fox? Is that a good move? I'm more of a book person. Help me understand this movie situation, please... :)

Hi, ILoveAslan. Welcome to the Forum. :)

Yes, LWW is great. The "Prince Caspian" film is good as well. There are some changes from the book. Personally I liked the film better, when I saw it the second or third time. I think it's absolutely worthwhile seeing!! And Reepicheep is great. :D So go ahead.

The Pevensies are a bit older in PC than I suppose they're meant to be in the book. But I'm ok with that.

I don't know about the switch to Fox, don't know much about Fox. Perhaps somebody else knows more. I'm just happy that "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is being made.
Sail on, Dawn Treader!
 
That's always providing they make the movie so it sticks to the book!

Amen to that. I have an intense dislike of book-based movies that attempt to re-create the book in screen form but widely depart from it. There are a very few exceptions - movies that are better than the book (The Princess Bride and Mary Poppins come to mind), but for the most part movies tend to have odd ideas about what should be done with books when translating them to the screen. I think it has something to do with the movie culture that directors are a part of - for instance, they can't think of an epic like The Lord of the Rings without an overly in-your-face mushy love theme; hence they put one in. Gack.

I agree.
That reminds me, I should start up the 'Official VotDT Countdown' again.

That's quite a while to count down.

Was the movie Prince Caspian that far off from the book? I have to admit :eek: that I haven't even seen that movie yet. I just saw the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! I was always so into the books, and books about the books that explain all the symbolism, allegories, etc. that I just figured the movies wouldn't measure up. But then I watched LWW - Wow! I loved it! So am wanting to see Prince Caspian now but I keep hearing that it's distorted from the book. Hmmm...Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the one I really want to see but are the Penvensie kids a lot older in the later movies, even outside of Narnia? I don't want the movie to ruin the magic. Also, does anyone know about the switch from Disney to Fox? Is that a good move? I'm more of a book person. Help me understand this movie situation, please... :)

WARNING: A certain amount of spoilers exist below. Not much, but enough to give you a general idea of how the movie is compared to the book and why I think that the movie is not a true transcription of book to movie. If you don't mind the movie being slightly spoiled, go ahead and read. You have been warned! :)

It's simple. If you really love the book, don't watch the movie with any ideas that it will be a simple translation of the book. In its own right, without affiliation to the book, it is a fairly good screenplay. When, however, you compare it to what Mr. Lewis wrote, it has really lost the spirit of his work. The book presents the Pevensies sort of as heroes returned from the distant past to right wrongs, etc, and then leave. In fact, this is illustrated by one of Peter's lines from the book, "I haven't come to take your place, you know, but to put you in it." The movie, however, seems to take this line and disregard it entirely, creating what is essentially a power-struggle between Caspian and Peter, and also adding a little bit of sibling-rivalry between Peter and Edmund. In a standalone movie, this would be fine - every plot needs conflict, and these peripheral internal conflicts can spice things up. However, taking Prince Caspian the movie as what it is, in my opinion it really warps the spirit of the book. Mind, that's just my opinion - you might want to watch the movie and form your own opinion.
 
I've been thinking about the vignettes in Dawn Treader, because that's really what the story is - a series of vignettes stitched together by the common theme of the eastward journey. I've been pondering them with an eye to what lessons can be learned from each one, and what character traits were exhibited.

Take a small example: the encounter with the Sea Serpent. Though the entire incident takes only a brief period and is described across six short pages, the attack of the Serpent was a serious danger to the voyage, which could have ended right there with all hands lost. But what do the responses of the participants tell us?

One thing that Eustace displayed was courage. He, who'd never really fought before, stepped up to the side of a huge monster and attacked it for the sake of people who just a short while before he had despised as brutes. Granted, this was after the "dragon incident", during which he did a lot of maturing, and it didn't have much objective effect, but it still showed a lot of character.

But I think the real display of character was by Reepicheep, who displayed prudence - as well as no small amount of intelligence. One would think from a superficial analysis of character that Reep would be the most likely one to start fighting - and Lewis even mentions that the others were startled when he ordered them not to fight. But he was right: fighting was not the appropriate response to the threat, pushing was.

This is a superb display of prudence and maturity. Regardless of Reep's personal predilection for martial activity, his overriding concern was to evaluate the threat and determine the best course of action. He set aside what he probably would prefer to do - which might include dying gallantly while battling the hideous brute - in order to do what was necessary. Of course, the task of pushing against the flank of a slimy, stinky sea monster suited neither his strength nor his dignity as a knight, but he plunged right in because it was what needed doing.

That's the heart of prudence: determining what is required and attending to it. Setting aside your preferences and your dignity and doing what is necessary for the good of those around you. So while Eustace did an admirable job for a beginner, it was Reepicheep's maturity and prudence that actually saved the day.
 
It's always interesting, in fiction or in real life, to see people forced to operate outside their usual specialties--as in stories where some tough macho-man type suddenly has to take care of a small child.
 
It's always interesting, in fiction or in real life, to see people forced to operate outside their usual specialties--as in stories where some tough macho-man type suddenly has to take care of a small child.

You mean like the picture from the Oklahoma City bombing of the fire fighter holding the child? Yes, I must agree to that as well. I guess it stands to reason that in both the real world and fictional world it is usualy in such extreme circumstacnes when we truly see what strengths we really have.
 
Sacramental Water

Boy, do I feel like a stranger! Between buying and renovating a new house, and moving, and the holidays (and moving during the holidays), and a hard drive failure, and work, I feel like I've been an absentee member. But I hope to rectify that during days to come, though life is still mighty hectic. I think I'll start by making some posts about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

I ended up going through
Dawn Treader just recently, primarily because I picked up Caspian and found myself swept into the saga once more. (Also, I have a beautiful collectors-edition paperback of Treader with all the Baynes illustrations which I can't resist reading at every opportunity.) But this time I read it more slowly, and tried to notice things that I usually just blow past, or take for granted as part of the story I've read so many times. I noticed a few things this round, and wanted to open a discussion on one of them.

One of the difficulties of considering the Voyage of the Dawn Treader is that it doesn't have a compelling central narrative like the other books. You don't have a mission to rescue a lost prince, or a dangerous flight from slavery to freedom, or a struggle to liberate a land from a tyrannical witch. You just have a bunch of people sailing east, to whom various thing happen along the way. Personally, I think Dawn Treader to be one of the most mature of the Chronicles, the work in which Lewis truly "turned the corner" from children's stories to serious mythological fiction, so I think there's a lot of significance in every one of the vignettes. However, some of the most significant meaning can be found not in the "action" - i.e. the events which happen - but in the circumstance in which the voyagers find themselves. These are the backdrop of the story, the canvas on which it is painted. Too often I've been guilty of simply reading about these circumstances, thinking "that's nice", and taking for granted that that's just what happened next. I haven't pondered the significance of the circumstance, and what it might mean.

Here's an example: the sweet water. Sailing east from Ramandu's Island, the voyagers get to a point where the water isn't salt any more, but "sweet" - i.e. not bitter. Reepicheep is naturally excited by this because it confirms the dryad's rhyme: that they are approaching the easternmost end of the world.

But to me, the most significant thing about the water isn't that it's potable, but the effect it has upon those who drink it. In Narnia, where one can truly sail "to the sunrise", the heavenly attributes such as light are actually more powerful as one draws near them. That power seems to somehow convey itself into the Narnian world. Consider this exchange:

The King took the bucket in both hands, raised it to his lips, sipped, and then drank deeply and raised his head. His face was changed. Not only his eyes but everything about him seemed to be brighter.
"Yes," he said, "it is sweet. That's real water, that. I'm not sure that it isn't going to kill me. But it is the death I would have chosen - if I'd known about it till now."
"What do you mean?" asked Edmund.
"It - it's more like light than anything else," said Caspian.
"That is what it is," said Reepicheep. "Drinkable light. We must be very near the end of the world now."​

Lewis goes out of his way to elaborate on how drinking the water affects the crew. Here's a summary:
  • They stop needing to eat common food
  • They can bear the much greater intensity of the light
  • They became bright themselves
  • The older ones became a bit younger, or at least lost some of their "old age"
  • They were filled with joy and excitement, but it was a "quiet" joy - they talked less

It seems to me that the sweet water of the eastern Narnian seas was sacramental. It wasn't just water without salt, it was water infused with light. Furthermore, it had the power to convey that light to those who drank it. They became more and more like what they consumed. I noticed another interesting parallel with lembas in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - the more the travellers depended upon them and them alone, the more sustaining they were. Likewise with the sweet water: it not only sustained those who drank it, but displaced common food. (In fact, imagine the disappointment that the sailors must have had sailing back westward when then passed back into the common water and had to once again eat ship's rations!)

This is precisely how the Christian Church has classically understood sacraments, particularly the Eucharist. As we feed upon Christ, eating His Body and drinking His Blood, we become more like Him. We come into union with Him, even as the Narnians came more into union with the light as they drank the water which conveyed it.

Did anyone else notice this? I wish I could say I'd noticed it sooner - I've lived my whole life knowing about the sweet waters but have only just recently put together the significance. I think it interesting that Lewis' imaginative vision saw this aspect of the Narnian world. There are other examples of this sacramental outlook, even within Dawn Treader, but this is the one that really jumped out at me. Any thoughts?
 
Anti-sacramental water

While we're on the topic of water, there's another interesting vignette which shows water in a much darker role - an anti-sacrament, if you will. This is pool of Deathwater.

Deathwater has the distinction of being the only place in the Chronicles explicitly identified as being under a curse. Of course, the discovery is accidental, and the manifestations are not accompanied by explicit dark magic and dire portends, but the dark truth ultimately comes to light.

The first thing to notice is that the water lies. It seems to promise what water always does: refreshment, cleansing, life. But what it delivers is deadly transition. Living tissue is suddenly and fatally transformed into dead metal. No incantations, no setting of the will to evil - just an accidental encounter ("anyone's tail", as Reepicheep puts it) is sufficient to kill - as Lord Restimar discovered.

The fact that the dead metal is gold is incidental - and, I believe, part of the curse. If the water turned things into lead, or granite, there would be no mistaking the deadly trap that the pool represented. But the fact that the dead metal was shiny and valuable bedazzled those who encounter it. Notice how quickly the horror of Restimar's fate was eclipsed by the greed that surfaced when the nature of the transition was discovered.

But I don't think the curse just applied to the deadly transition. I think there was also something about the island which exacerbated the latent greed found in the human heart. Notice how uncharacteristic the responses of Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy are, and how swiftly the change occurs. The kings almost draw swords upon one another within the span of a few heartbeats, and even Lucy speaks with uncharacteristic sharpness. Only Aslan's sudden and silent appearance breaks the spell, leaving behind confusion.

I speculate that part of the curse of Deathwater Island is the heightening of the will to dominate, to subject others to your will. The deathly gold is part of the allure, promising the means to bring about that subjection, but I'd guess that's a secondary thing. Notice that the "blessing" Aslan brought that time was confusion - the native intellect of the humans was clouded and blurred. This blunted the will to dominate, depriving it of a critical faculty and thus crippling the spell.

I don't know if non-humans would be subject to the same effect. It is interesting to note that it was Reepicheep who swiftly identified that the island was cursed, and he seemed less affected by both the greed and the confusion. I don't know, though - he says very little through the whole affair, and nothing at the height of the spell's effect.

Thus the waters of Deathwater seem to me to be "anti-sacramental", even as the sweet waters of the Utter East are sacramental. The pool bears death, though in a (literally) gilded disguise. How did this come about? We're never told (hmm - I wonder if a story is in order here...) But it's another example of how water in the story carries a significant meaning - even if it is a dark one.
 
Prince and I are going to be carrying forward a unique series of studies on VODT which ought to appeal to everyone who loves Narnia.

It is my feeling that the different trials and adventures they faced on their journey helped the crew deal with issues that prevented them from being worthy to reach Aslan's Country. How they dealt with greed, anger, fear, superstition and contention in different chapters, as well as their thinking more of the mission as a holy quest rather than a jolly lark as they proceeded is going to be the subject of a number of threads I'll create in the coming days.

I would think Reepicheep would deserve a whole thread of his own, seeing how he alone of all native Narnians went over the wall of water and literally touched the face of God.

Perhaps Eustace, as the other most dramatic example of change, deserves his own thread.

To help you read along with me ... and I will re-read with you ... I'll post chapter "big ideas" in their order in the book.

Now on to the Utter East!
 
This thread has been among the most brilliant I have read. The "vignettes" spoken of by PrinceOfTheWest are reminiscent of the picaresque style of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in which Huck travels down river, learning more and more about himself with each new adventure. That is one of the greatest works of American literature written, and I hadn't made the connection to it until I read some of the posts here. The last post by EveningStar promised more threads, anyone know which forum they might be in? Thanks
 
Back
Top