Christian Themes in the Silver Chair

[narnian1]

While there are many, I'd like to talk about one in specific- regarding Puddleglum.

The Marsh-Wiggle was for the most part pessimistic throughout the book, he showed bravery and valor in several points of the story but his best moment comes in Underland.

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all of those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones....I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia."

I chose this statement because in today's world, as in others, many like to make fools of christians saying we're just wasting our time, saying that there is no God and there's nothing after this world.

I love how Puddleglum over comes his pessimistic mind and confirms that exist or not he will follow Aslan and be a true narnian, and that I think should characterize all christians, (not the pessimistic of Puddleglum but his firm belief in Aslan, in our case God).

[aslansothername]

I agree that Puddleglum's firm belief in Aslan is a great example to all of us on how we should be towards Christ. Another Christian aspect I see in The Silver Chair, is that when the Lady is trying to put everyone in a trance like mode, is it Puddleglum (because of him firmly holding onto his believes) that stops the madness and is able to destroy the Lady. Also the Prince being set free from his captivator is another great parallel to us being set free by Christ.

[Pattertwigs Pal]

I love how Puddleglum over comes his pessimistic mind and confirms that exist or not he will follow Aslan and be a true narnian, and that I think should characterize all christians, (not the pessimistic of Puddleglum but his firm belief in Aslan, in our case God).

I love that part where Puddleglum talks about being a true Narnian. We should have firm belief in God despite what others say. However, I don’t think Puddleglum overcomes his pessimistic mind. Throughout the book, he is pessimistic but at the same time rarely wavers (he and the children did go to Harfang despite the fact that he thought they should stop) from following Aslan. As part of the speech you quoted he also says, “Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.” That is very much the pessimistic Puddleglum coming through. Although he is very pessimistic, he is optimistic in the one really important way: he knows that following Aslan and his signs is important (I was going to say that he knew if they followed all the signs everything would work out, but then I found the quote when they unbind the prince.) “Don’t you mind,” said Puddleglum. “There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant king caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this.”

“I think we do know,” said Puddleglum.
“Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do untie him?” said Scrubb.
“I don’t know about that,” said Puddleplum. “You see, Aslan didn’t tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he’s up, I shouldn’t wonder. But that doesn’t let us off following the Sign.”

Also, the Silver Chair is a great example that even though we make mistakes God can still make things work out.

[perspicacity]

I don't think this really is Christian, though. Puddleglum is essentially saying that even if there is no God he'd rather believe the comforting lie than the harsh truth. You'd be hard pressed to find a less Christian message in the Chroncles.

[narnian1]

I don't think this really is Christian, though. Puddleglum is essentially saying that even if there is no God he'd rather believe the comforting lie than the harsh truth. You'd be hard pressed to find a less Christian message in the Chroncles.

This is a note of faith, Puddleglum knows in his heart that Aslan and Narnia exist. Though she tells him otherwise, he refuses to believe her lies.

Christians are to do the same,
we should stand by our faith and conviction that there is a God,
and not this distant cosmic God, but a personal God in which we find hope.
Though the world tells us otherwise, though the intellectuals refuse to acknowledge him, though the world separates itself more and more from him.
We need to stand firm, and not be moved from our beliefs.

That is a very christian conviction he showed there.
It seems simple really, but it actually carries alot more than meets the eye.

[daughter of the King]

But isn't faith simple? We are to believe like a little child. Puddleglum here is showing the simplicity of his faith. He believes in Aslan, so he's going to follow him. And no witch by any means is going to take him off that path.

[TheGeneral]

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all of those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones....I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia."

That's my favorite quote from the whole series, hence my sig
There's something about it, so simple yet so powerful

[Peepiceeka]

I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia."[/i]

That quote has a lot of relevance to our world in how some Christians view Christianity. There were a lot of those kinds of people in C.S. Lewis' time because of all the wars and such. Puddleglum is one of the characters that possibly is meant to represent that kind of typical Christian who is willing to believe, but unsure if what they believe in is actually real. The way PG deals with his pessimisticness is one of the ways Lewis thought those people should go about addressing those issues.

[Lillyput90]

I think the message of the Silver Chair is quite firm in it's Christianity. I believe it refers to our time rather than people in times gone by. The way Aslan gives Jill signs to follow and even though she gets it wrong, He shows her how to get back on track. I love the way he says that his signs may not make much sense in Narnia but that if you follow them you can't go wrong. I also love how Jill trys and fails. She attempts to convince herself that it really doesn't matter that she forgot the signs when really she is kicking herself. Even in the final instance of freeing Rilian they try to find a way out of following the signs and in the end they win the inner battle and submit to Aslan. And when they have submitted to Aslan, things start to look up.

[waggawerewolf27]

Yes, perseverance and diligence are good themes in Silver Chair. Although they made a mess of three of the signs the travellers didn't abandon their quest, and they got back on track, eventually.

One major Christian theme throughout the Narnia series is listening to fears. Susan listens to fears in PC, as Aslan says. How much of her eventual abandonment of Narnia is due to the fear of not being accepted as part of her own crowd, not getting invitations etc?

In VDT listening to fears is a major theme when Caspian and his crew are trying to escape the Dark Island, where dreams are nightmares. Lucy, herself, is tempted by the Magician's book because of her fears of not being pretty enough, and not being liked at school.

And in Silver Chair, 'listening to fears' is a theme again and again. Jill suffers from claustrophobia, whilst Eustace has acrophobia. And there is a very real fear of what might happen if the travellers untie Rilian from his chair after all the lies the Witch had been pushing about him. Is fear a bad thing?

[jesusiskingofkings]

In Jude verse 3 he writes; "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

We like PuddleGlumm are to always contend for the faith, and that’s what we see Glummy doing. He knows that somehow or other Aslan is real and even if the Witch is right, the fake Narnia is far better to live in than the real underworld. And of course we know that Heaven is far more real than this earth will ever be.

I also like Glummy's faith in Aslans word here. He tells Jill that even if we die for keeping his word, that it doesn’t not matter; we must obey him even if it means we die for it. And of course if we (Christians) only had that same faith, my life I know for sure would be much better. Even in the face of death, we must obey the word of God. It’s like Daniel in the Lions den here. All Daniel had to do was bow to King Darius and he would live, and yet Daniel still chooses to do Gods will and pray to God instead of Darius. Puddle glumm is doing the same thing when he unties Rilian, even though Rilian might kill him, he still obeys Aslans commands over the possessed Rilian commands. And we as Christians no matter where we are in this world will one time or another have to face that same choice, do follow God or man? It’s hard, i know but the reward is eternal and that makes it easier to obey God over man.


To Narnia and the North!!!!!!!

[Lady Galadriel]

I don't think this really is Christian, though. Puddleglum is essentially saying that even if there is no God he'd rather believe the comforting lie than the harsh truth. You'd be hard pressed to find a less Christian message in the Chroncles.

I'd like to put a larger quote in just to make sure we don't take anything out of context.

"All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

I think you may be looking at this in the wrong way. This is definitely a note of strong faith. As narnian1 said, Puddleglum is showing he will believe no matter what, even if it is true. We run into the same thing in our world today when people say Christians believe a myth. But Puddleglum knows it is not; he is supposing and drawing on his suppositions

Besides, Don't Forget this is after he breaks the enchantment. As stated:

And three things happened at once.
First, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less. For though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of burnt Marsh-wiggle, which is not at all an enchanting smell. This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
Secondly, the Witch, in a loud, terrible voice, utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, "What are you doing? Dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and I'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins."
Thirdly, the pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.

Puddleglum is no longer under the enchantment when he says what he does. He never was in the first place, only partially, because it was never completed. He is not admitting that Aslan does not exist, he is saying what he would do if Aslan didn't exist!

[Pattertwigs Pal]

Great write up about the part in the book,Lady Galadriel. I think the important part about what Puddleglum says is that in the end it is all he could say to the witch. They tried to use logic and explain the world to her (the lamp like the sun, Aslan like a cat), but she always had an answer and a way to shoot down their story. We can try to convince people that Christianity is true and present reasons why it is, but in the end we have no solid proof. People who don’t believe that Christianity is the one true religion are going to come up with answer like the witch did to try to knock down whatever Christians say. In the end the most we can say is “Well, I believe this is true, but even if you are right my religion is not true I’m better off believing in Jesus and following the Bible than (nothing / your religion beliefs).

And in Silver Chair, 'listening to fears' is a theme again and again. Jill suffers from claustrophobia, whilst Eustace has acrophobia. And there is a very real fear of what might happen if the travellers untie Rilian from his chair after all the lies the Witch had been pushing about him. Is fear a bad thing?

I don’t think fear in itself is a bad thing. It is how we deal with fear that is good or bad. Fear can be good when it gives one the extra strength one needs to accomplish something. For example, when Aslan is chasing Bree and Hwin, their fear gives them the strength they need to get the hermit in time so Shasta can get to King Lune in time. Eustace doesn’t let his fear stop him from trying to help Jill, Jill makes it through the tunnels, and they untie Rilian in the end. Contrast that with Susan whose fear in PC makes her stop trusting in Aslan and makes her a pain to be with. In SC, the characters were tempted many times to listen to their fears, but in the end they make the right decision to listen to Aslan instead.

[Aravis Narnia]

I like how Aslan reminds Jill of the signs, even though she forgot them due to her own carelessness. Shows how A Certain Someone will always give support and back up the person- even if the person is less than perfect.

[RoseRed]

absolutely excellently said patterwigs pal, that's exactly what I think
it's such a powerful message, respect and tolerance for people who use logic to tell believers they're wrong, whilst at the same time holding firm, it a faith-driven, alive way, it's a very powerful message, one of the reasons why SC is my fav book, and certainly one of the very best quotes ever hugs for C.S.Lewis ^_^

[Liberty Hoffman]

SC has the theme of following Aslan throughout the book. Jill has to learn the signs, but when she gets distracted, she forgets and it gets them in trouble! just like us! we have the Bible to show us the way, but if we foret what it says or don't follow it, then we get in trouble.