Pig Transformations in Prince Caspian: Truth or Legend?
Posted: Feb 22, 2019 1:48 pm
I think it's interesting that one of the reasons some people dislike the liberation of Beruna at the end of Prince Caspian is that they don't like Aslan turning the obnoxious young students into pigs. The book never actually says he does do this. It just leaves it open as a possibility. Here's the relevant quote.
Lewis clearly says that they might have been turned into pigs but that might just as easily have been myths which sprung up later. If you like the idea of those characters turning into pigs, you can believe it. And if you dislike it, you can dismiss it just as easily. I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this.
Which interpretation do you like? I don't think I have a strong preference myself. On the one hand, I love it when obnoxious children suffer. On the other hand, I love the idea that even with places and events as fantastic as this, storytellers still want to exaggerate.
P.S.
I actually love that section of PC but I'm not actually the normal target audience for the Narnia books though I'm close. As a kid, I was much more interested in fantasies that were whimsical and crazy and humorous than adventure stories. Scenes that focused on military battles, while obviously interesting to the characters who experienced them, all sound the same to me. It's moments like these which keep the stories from being generic.
And it was said afterward (whether truly or not) that those particular little boys were never seen again but that there were a lot of very fine little pigs in that part of the country which had never been there before.
Lewis clearly says that they might have been turned into pigs but that might just as easily have been myths which sprung up later. If you like the idea of those characters turning into pigs, you can believe it. And if you dislike it, you can dismiss it just as easily. I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this.
Which interpretation do you like? I don't think I have a strong preference myself. On the one hand, I love it when obnoxious children suffer. On the other hand, I love the idea that even with places and events as fantastic as this, storytellers still want to exaggerate.
P.S.
I actually love that section of PC but I'm not actually the normal target audience for the Narnia books though I'm close. As a kid, I was much more interested in fantasies that were whimsical and crazy and humorous than adventure stories. Scenes that focused on military battles, while obviously interesting to the characters who experienced them, all sound the same to me. It's moments like these which keep the stories from being generic.