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8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 05, 2017 2:48 am
by Pattertwigs Pal
1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green?
7. Discuss how this chapter should be adapted. (ex. what do you most want to see, what problems do you see, etc.)

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 05, 2017 12:18 pm
by Grown Up Fairytale
I just now joined the reading group so this is exciting! :)

1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?
Haha! No! Actually, it is yet another thing Jill does that feels super relatable to me. I wonder if Lewis wrote that to acknowledge that most fantasy heroes in her situation would not cry but any real child (or adult for that matter) would. Jill is one of my favorite characters because she is so real and usually says or does what I probably would have said or done in a Narnia book.

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?
Maybe this is shallow of me, but I always thought it was just a dream. B-)

3.
. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?
I thought the horror was that she knew she'd done wrong. She knew that she'd forgotten the signs and that this giant Lion (who she was already afraid of and is now in her nightmares) is probably going to eat her for it. "Oh... yup... he's taking me up in his jaws. I'm going to die." That would seem to me to be the great horror

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?
Atmosphere is important, and the weirder a dream sequence the better. If I'm the director, I'm making this dream sequence terrifying and mind-tripping. Part of what could add to Jill's mistrust of Aslan (which I agree with Glumpuddle is the main theme of The Silver Chair) is her being terrified of him in this dream sequence but then relieved to see that he's not going to eat her but is actually helping her. This could be our opportunity to finally see the "not a tame lion" on the big screen.

However, probably we'll take out all the creepy and dark stuff from the dream and it will be more like Lucy's dreams in the PC and VDT movies. He's going to be sweet, fatherly, and she'll express her guilt over not remembering the signs. He'll tell her to look out the window with him gently. Then he'll say "Don't run from who are." Then she'll wake up or something. Sad day.

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?
I MOSTLY agree with Scrubb. Puddleglum is kind of the moral compass of the lot and he expresses a distrust of the LGK and wants to stay on the path Aslan set for them. However, he was just as relieved to get to Harfang as everyone else at first, right? So while Puddleglum may have seen it was the ruined city, like Lucy in PC, he should have made a lot more effort. So, it's everybody's fault.

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green? :-o
I hadn't even realized this! YES!
Also:
I've always wandered that if the LGK IS somehow one of the same crew as Jadis... she's probably related to her somehow, right? Who else could have become an immortal witch, but maybe Jadis' daughter or something? IDK. It's where my strange imagination goes. However, if that is the case, and we know from LWW that Jadis is half giant, could that have been part of the reason that there is some kind of unity between the giants and LGK? Or could it simply be that they are united simply by their wicked ways? :D


7. Discuss how this chapter should be adapted. (ex. what do you most want to see, what problems do you see, etc.)
I think that it should look pretty much like the book. The two big changes that I can see filmmakers doing is the dream thing I talked about and then making them want to sword fight there way past the giants. This is totally unrealistic which is why Lewis has them realize that they have to smile and fake their way out... but Hollywood tends to throw logic and story or any kind of suspense for a cool action scene.
Hopefully David Magee and Joe Johnston realize that making them try to sword fight their way past these particular giants would be lame for any movie much less this movie. Also, if they tried to sword fight their way out, that would mean they'd basically cut out most of the next chapter which is both horrifying and highly entertaining. Ugh! Please don't cut out the next chapter!

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 05, 2017 6:36 pm
by Anhun
Grown Up Fairytale wrote:He's going to be sweet, fatherly, and she'll express her guilt over not remembering the signs. He'll tell her to look out the window with him gently. Then he'll say "Don't run from who are." Then she'll wake up or something.


*Anhun gives Fairytale a menacing look* Bite.Your.Tongue. %-( . . . or have you forgotten what happened on April 1, 2006?

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 05, 2017 8:43 pm
by The Rose-Tree Dryad
Anhun wrote:
Grown Up Fairytale wrote:He's going to be sweet, fatherly, and she'll express her guilt over not remembering the signs. He'll tell her to look out the window with him gently. Then he'll say "Don't run from who are." Then she'll wake up or something.


*Anhun gives Fairytale a menacing look* Bite.Your.Tongue. %-( . . . or having you forgotten what happened on April 1, 2006?


A little bit of context for those who may not be familiar with the significance of this particular date for Narnian film history.... :| ;))

NarniaWeb posted a number of fake news stories that day as April Fool's jokes, including an especially regrettable one stating that Susan and Caspian would have a romance in the upcoming Prince Caspian film. Understandably, quite a few Narnia fans are still rather scarred from this unpleasant chapter in NarniaWeb's history. ;)

Your "VDT-ified" version of Jill's dream made me laugh (and a little bit horrified), Grown Up Fairytale... welcome to the forum! ;))

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 06, 2017 12:17 am
by waggawerewolf27
Grown Up Fairytale wrote:I just now joined the reading group so this is exciting!


Nice to meet you, too! :)

1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

Grown Up Fairytale wrote:Haha! No! Actually, it is yet another thing Jill does that feels super relatable to me. I wonder if Lewis wrote that to acknowledge that most fantasy heroes in her situation would not cry but any real child (or adult for that matter) would. Jill is one of my favorite characters because she is so real and usually says or does what I probably would have said or done in a Narnia book.


Thank you! :ymapplause: Besides, it all depends on why Jill was crying. Just because it is the third time in the book, doesn't mean she didn't have grounds for her weeping. She cried in Ch.1 because she has been humiliated, downtrodden and demoralised by people who may not be any better than herself, in background or in any other way. In Ch.2, crying was an understandable reaction, there being nothing else she could have done to remedy the situation at the time. At least she could feel sorrow for the situation and remorse for her own part in it.

Whilst this third time, Jill is cold, hungry, tired and wet already from the melted snow. Not the best time to be interviewed by a king and queen and the entire court, even if it isn't a court of law. x_x And, according to C.S.Lewis, it was the best thing Jill could do in the situation. Why, exactly, though? So far in the book, there is no great approval of school aged children crying. :(( :-q

In 1953, when Silver Chair was published, it was a time in UK and elsewhere when boys, in general, were expected to be stoic, brave, and to keep a "stiff upper lip", and were thus admired. And in the sort of environment of Experiment House, the bullies clearly thought of crying as a sign of weakness whether girl or boy. Believe me, in that post-WW2 time, girls were also expected to be just as stoic as were boys, and if I cried I could be slapped to give me something to cry about :( . Even though it was considered ok for me to cry when the Sports teacher ran over and killed the Superintendant's cat, who was my friend, at any rate. :(( =((

Grown Up Fairytale wrote:2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?
Maybe this is shallow of me, but I always thought it was just a dream.


No, dreams can often be just dreams, but some dreams can be a lot more, especially when the dreamer has something on his/her mind. Even animals dream, by the way. It is the brain and the body processing information in a jumbled way, I think, and sometimes dreams can bring enlightenment. And yes, even in the last chapter, Jill has been feeling guilty over her inattention to the signs, and to Aslan's commands to her.

I've never thought about that particular SC dream before, but since there were other toys, including a horribly coloured lamb, that Aslan might have just as easily transformed into, like in VDT, I think possibly Aslan taking the initial form of the toy horse is a hint alluding to other famous non-living horses in literature. (The wooden horse-Eric Williams, the Aeneid-Virgil, and the Iliad-Homer) As the three travellers find out later in this chapter, they are caught in a trap, and must find a way out of it.

3.. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?

Because she hasn't been paying attention to the signs. And now she has been found wanting. And now, having not refreshed her memory about those signs she has missed something she should have paid more attention to. Especially when Aslan takes her to the window, revealing what she should have noticed the day beforehand, and shows her the instruction she is now to take. Of course Jill is horrified, because she has really made a mess of things, and if Aslan decides to eat her, he might have good grounds.

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?

However, probably we'll take out all the creepy and dark stuff from the dream and it will be more like Lucy's dreams in the PC and VDT movies. He's going to be sweet, fatherly, and she'll express her guilt over not remembering the signs. He'll tell her to look out the window with him gently. Then he'll say "Don't run from who you are." Then she'll wake up or something. Sad day
.

:-\ :-o :)) Certainly not this way. :ymsick: Though Grown Up Fairytale's other suggestions were fine. By the way, just how "sweet, fatherly and gentle" are average fathers, even otherwise okay fathers, when annoyed and exasperated with erring children? There was a time when threatening to "tell Dad when he gets home" was a standard way of disciplining children. I don't consider the quote above even a realistic way to depict the dream, to tell the truth. Especially as Jill isn't Lucy. And there isn't much point in suggesting that Jill's running away from Experiment House and the bullies' opinion of her was wrong in some way, when she deserves better.

Besides, Aslan in SC can be a stern lion whom Jill suspected of wanting to eat her, and now she has given that fearsome lion the perfect reason to do so, if he wanted to! If I was adapting the movie, I'd be seeing him growling or opening his mouth like the lion roaring through a circular banner to advertise MGM, was it? Dangerously so. And before he gets to that point and is still the toy horse, I'd take the metamorphosis a little slower, so that there is a picture of Troy's wooden horse, or even a vaulting horse somehow mixed up in it. Just so that people might get the message a little.

Later in the book, we find out that whilst Eustace had a great opportunity in going on the VDT, Jill in that holiday breal had the opportunity to learn to ride a horse.

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?

Jill feels she is to blame because it was she who received the message, and she rightly sees it as her responsibility to do as she was told by Aslan. However, Scrubb, in saying what he did, is right also. Because if he had been more prepared to listen to her from the start, despite his righteous resentment about falling off a cliff, they might have been better off. Besides, he could have made it his business to be more helpful by learning the signs, himself, instead of leaving it all to Jill. And when they were crossing the terrain which got them to Harfang, Scrubb was just as eager to get out of the bad weather as was Pole. I think Eustace Scrubb was merely showing how much he had learned in VDT by saying what he did. Therefore I agree with him, and respect him more for taking the blame, too, and exonerating Puddleglum.

Puddleglum, at least, had obviously learned something from Jill's previous attempts to recite what the signs were about, when he was pointing out that the landscape they were traversing needed a second look. And if he was outvoted, despite his voiced misgivings, I don't think he had any option but to go with Eustace and Jill. Those travellers needed to stick together.

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green?

Of course it is. Think of the queen's clothing this way, that what she wears says something about what she represents, including who she, as well as her court, wants to be allied to, and not what some random Giantish gossip/celebrity magazine says she should wear. Some members of this board belong to countries which do have a ruling King or Queen as their head of state, and in the case of HM Queen Elizabeth II and her family, when on a state visit, their clothing, as a courtesy to hosts, is often in the visited country's national colours, or otherwise reflects the visited country's cultural beliefs. Obviously this Giantish Queen is in cahoots with LOTGK, and is therefore not to be trusted. Let Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum beware!

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 06, 2017 7:28 pm
by Pattertwigs Pal
First off, welcome to the forum Grown Up Fairtale! Please don't let people scare you off from posting your thoughts. :) We all want to see SC be a good movie and many are a bit gun shy after the last movie. ;)) Unfortunately, I could see them softening the dream as you described. I definitely want it to be more like your first option. The dream needs to be a nightmare.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2017 2:02 am
by waggawerewolf27
@ Pattertwig's Pal: And there was me thinking that the most we had to fear was the old BBC TV Silver Chair's casting confusion between LOTGK and Jadis the White Witch! Yes they might belong to the same crew, as said by the owls in Chapter 4, but only in the sense that they are all megalomaniac control-freaks though with different ideas about how to get where they want. But I can see what you mean about how the movie could be messed up, when even a moderately nightmarish dream sequence has to be toned down to be more palatable to film-makers.

7. Discuss how this chapter should be adapted. (ex. what do you most want to see, what problems do you see, etc.)

Grown up Fairytale wrote:I think that it should look pretty much like the book. The two big changes that I can see filmmakers doing is the dream thing I talked about and then making them want to sword fight there way past the giants. This is totally unrealistic which is why Lewis has them realize that they have to smile and fake their way out... but Hollywood tends to throw logic and story or any kind of suspense for a cool action scene.


Unfortunately you are right, and any sort of break out would be a shame and would ruin the film entirely. [-( Besides, not only do the travellers have to smile innocently O:-) and fake their way out of Harfang, it would be a terrible breach of hospitality if Puddleglum, Eustace and Jill even tried any sort of aggressive sword fight. Puddleglum is merely embarrassing, not a violent drunk. The whisky might have been more alcoholic than Puddleglum could handle, but that isn't a good reason to start a fight. And, so far in the book, Harfang hospitality is impeccable.

The bath Jill enjoyed was a pure joy, as were the lovely, large towels, and the clothes she was given to wear. "Cock-a-leekie soup, roast turkey and a steamed pudding" sounds delicious food, and hardly anything to complain about after her long journey. It does sound a bit odd that human-size furniture and tableware were provided, as well as clothes nearly the right size, and Jill does suspect these things were kept for that Lady she met along the way. The colour of the clothes Jill wears isn't mentioned at this stage to clinch Jill's suspicions. The bed was comfortable to sleep in...

It isn't until Jill has that dream that the full realisation of just how close Harfang is to the Ruined City of the Giants that we can really start suspecting the Lady of the Green Kirtle's ever so wonderful advice to go to Harfang as well as her truthfulness. But then in the morning, after a lovely breakfast of porridge, the three travellers were locked in. Was it accidentally? Or on purpose? And that is when Puddleglum, Eustace and Jill have to start acting like harmless tourists wanting to see the sights. Or absolute babies, just having fun. And this is what I want to see in the movie.

We will miss all this sort of thing if they aren't shown in the movie, and also some of the nicer bits of the Narnian world. Even if it is getting clearer by the minute that a conspiracy is afoot.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2017 11:40 am
by Grown Up Fairytale
First, THANK YOU everybody (The Rose-Tree Dryad, Anhun, waggawerewolf27, Pattertwigs Pal etc.) for welcoming me to the forum! Glad to be here! This is such a great discussion.

waggawerewolf27 wrote: By the way, just how "sweet, fatherly and gentle" are average fathers, even otherwise okay fathers, when annoyed and exasperated with erring children? There was a time when threatening to "tell Dad when he gets home" was a standard way of disciplining children.


While I in no way want my original theory of how the filmmakers will tame the dream down to happen... I do want to just say that there are many fathers in this world that are sweet and gentle. Gentle just means strength under control. For THIS particular dream though, it NEEDS to be kind of scary and Aslan NEEDS to not be tame. This dream is important because it shakes Jill out of apathy.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 07, 2017 4:18 pm
by starsdaughter
It's good to be back again! Wow, it might have been 10 or 15 years since I've done much with a reading group on Narniaweb . . . I remember participating in The Horse and His Boy, yeah, about that long ago! But I'm excited to be back, because The Silver Chair is my favorite and I've been thoroughly enjoying The Resurrected Podcast. :) Plus, last minute I wasn't able to participate in my local book club's SC discussion (and I had already made the posset and comfits to go along as our snack)! :) Yay for second chances!

1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

I like Lewis' aside to the reader here. It shows that he wants Jill to be admired by the reader as well as behaving like an actual human. And no, I don't lose interest. I personally I have been out backpacking in snowy weather and it's miserable, even with good gear and fairly good food. So I feel really sorry for Jill here and think she does have good reason for crying.

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?

I've thought that this was a fairly logical dream sequence, in that Jill sees the wooden animal before she goes to bed, as a negative reaction to it, goes to sleep, and in her dream she's troubled as the wooden-animal-turned-real challenges her to remember the signs.

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?

I recently rewatched the BBC scene of this and was disappointed to remember that those filmmakers portrayed Aslan as being angry in this scene as Jill pleads and promises to try to do better. The "great horror" that comes over Jill as she realizes that she has forgotten the signs is simply the realization that she is standing before the Lion and has disobeyed and failed and that "falling short" is enough to cause anyone great horror. Jill realizes she is in need of great mercy from Aslan, since she cannot fulfill the mission she was given due to her own lack of repeating the Lion's lesson. However, I don't think she is, to borrow a line from Eustace in VODT: "afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of It, if you know what I mean."

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?

I'm not a fan of scary dream sequences, since I dream vividly myself . . . and scary scenes in films give me bad dreams. :) Perhaps emphasize the horrible realization of failture of her mission, maybe panic (like a stress dream about forgetting to pack clothes for a trip) but not fear of Aslan himself, as if he was threatening to eat her as a punishment for forgetting the signs. Jill does need to be awakened from her one-track desire for comfort that has driven her since she met the Lady and reached Harfang, but perhaps less dialogue and more just Aslan's expression and presence can accomplish this.

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?

They are all at fault in different ways and it's a step in the right direction for them to own up to their share of the blame. Jill oversteps here in claiming that it is all her fault, since she also mentions "I've spoilt everything ever since you brought me here" (which isn't strictly true either since Scrubb didn't bring her. Aslan called her. And what he called her to do, he would enable her to accomplish.)

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green?

I think I've always seen it as regular hunt garb . . . although I never thought it could be The Evil Green. :)

7. Discuss how this chapter should be adapted. (ex. what do you most want to see, what problems do you see, etc.)

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jun 12, 2017 5:35 pm
by waggawerewolf27
Welcome back then, starsdaughter. :) It is nice to meet you also. I didn't join until 2009, so I haven't met you beforehand. :D

starsdaughter wrote:I've thought that this was a fairly logical dream sequence, in that Jill sees the wooden animal before she goes to bed, as a negative reaction to it, goes to sleep, and in her dream she's troubled as the wooden-animal-turned-real challenges her to remember the signs.


Yes, that may well be the case. But there were other toys that could have reminded her of the signs in that chapter. Why the horse in particular?

Look at what else was there for a dream Aslan to morph from? On page 94 (my ed) of SC they include a huge doll, a drum about the size of a gasometer which could sound a good wake-up call, to be sure, and a woolly lamb, though it wouldn't have been the first time in Narnia that Aslan changed from a lamb. And then there was the "wooden horse on wheels, about the size of an elephant." A reminder of the proverbial "elephant in the room". ;)

If ever there was a warning about trickery and issues ignored, as well as forgotten signs and lessons, that horse on wheels had to be it. I've been to Troy, the actual Troy, as it happens. Or what is left of it after more than three millenia. The original horse had to be on wheels so that it could be shifted into the long ago ruined city. The horse constructed for the filming of Troy now stands proudly in the bit of park, alongside the souvenir shops and the entrance to where the archaeological ruins are preserved. And then a poorly made horse on wheels might also sufficiently resemble another horse, a vaulting horse, such as the one used by captured British servicemen in Eric William's The wooden horse. Though that particular vaulting horse was carried by poles slotted into the sides, like the Queen's litter, rather than moved on wheels.

And to get on track with their quest, Puddleglum, Eustace and Jill will need to be just as tricky as both Greeks and escaping British prisoners of war.

Grown Up Fairytale wrote:While I in no way want my original theory of how the filmmakers will tame the dream down to happen... I do want to just say that there are many fathers in this world that are sweet and gentle. Gentle just means strength under control. For THIS particular dream though, it NEEDS to be kind of scary and Aslan NEEDS to not be tame. This dream is important because it shakes Jill out of apathy
.

Quite so. And I agree about the dream being important to shake Jill out of her apathy. Your original theory of how the dream should be would be better. But does your definition of "Gentle" just meaning "strength under control", really apply to the Harfang Giants?

starsdaughter wrote:Perhaps emphasize the horrible realization of failture of her mission, maybe panic (like a stress dream about forgetting to pack clothes for a trip) but not fear of Aslan himself, as if he was threatening to eat her as a punishment for forgetting the signs.


Good points about Aslan. :ymapplause: Well, not too weirdly scary a dream, then. More like those others, all stress and strain, like having to give a speech to a panel of important judges whilst dressed in nothing more than one's underwear. Or sitting for an examination, though totally unprepared for it. :D. By now the alarm factor should be ratcheting up anyway, despite Harfang's nice comfortable hotel-like windows which they first saw.

SC Trivia for this thread: In 2012, during the London Paralympics, one of the four Trafalgar Square lions around Nelson's Column were moved temporarily and its place was taken by a rocking horse.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Jul 05, 2017 11:31 am
by Ryadian
1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?
Not particularly, no. All things considered, I'd be surprised if she didn't start crying.

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?
Perhaps she just thought it was the wooden horse, because that made the most sense in her mind since that was already a giant object in the room. Perhaps her mind, for lack of a better word, resisted believing it was Aslan for as long as she could, until she could deny it no longer. Or, perhaps Aslan intentionally chose to look like the wooden horse because the shock of seeing it move, then having it turn into him in stages, would really get her attention.

After reading others' posts:

waggawerewolf27 wrote:I've never thought about that particular SC dream before, but since there were other toys, including a horribly coloured lamb, that Aslan might have just as easily transformed into, like in VDT, I think possibly Aslan taking the initial form of the toy horse is a hint alluding to other famous non-living horses in literature. (The wooden horse-Eric Williams, the Aeneid-Virgil, and the Iliad-Homer) As the three travellers find out later in this chapter, they are caught in a trap, and must find a way out of it.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about why he chose the horse, specifically. I'd never even thought of a Trojan Hourse reference! (I'm not familiar with the other literary references you mentioned. :ymblushing: )

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?
I think Jill really wants to find Rilian, and I think she wants to prove herself on this quest. She's suddenly face-to-face with just how badly she's messed up, however, when she can't repeat the signs that Aslan very specifically told her to always remember.

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?
I really want the movie to make sure that this scene is terrifying for Jill - I don't want them to pull any punches when she realizes her mistake. Though, I'm not really sure how they'll pull off Jill basically forgetting about it until they look out the window - this is one thing that I felt was very jarring in the FotF audio drama, I don't think they pulled it off well at all.

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?
As far as I'm concerned, the children are "more" guilty (whether or not guilt is so quantifiable is whole 'nother discussion ;) ) because they ignored Puddleglum. I can forgive them for not realizing where they were, though of course if either of them had been thinking about what they were looking for they'd had a much easier time, but since they completely ignored him, that blame falls squarely on them. I do agree with Puddleglum that he could have done more to stop them, but I don't agree with him that he was "worse" for it - at the harshest, I'd say he's equally guilty.

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green?I don't think so. They're hunting, and if their climate is still green when it's not snowing, then green is just camouflage. Green has been a significant color, of course, but given that the book calls no attention to it and there's a pragmatic reason for it, I think in this case, it's just a coincidence.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Dec 21, 2017 8:29 am
by Meltintalle
1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

No. It's a fair enough reaction to the situation, and makes her a more believable character than if she were stoic all the time.

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?

Because there was a wooden horse in the room, and it's a very dream-like thing to see something and look again and see it as something else. It's the surrealness that sells the dream as more than just a convenient plot device.

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?

I think it's a combination of the knowledge that she failed the task he set her and a fear of the consequences.

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?

If I were doing it, it'd be a dark blue color palette, with a bit of rim light on the characters for definition, and the background would be fluid and slightly shifty. Almost real, but not quite, would be the effect I was going for.

I really like starsdaughter's thoughts on the tone of the scene. :)

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?

Since Jill was the one entrusted with the signs, there is a point to her claim (and good for her for owning up to her mistakes!). Puddleglum is right that he could have stopped the children, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty. As a reader, I'm not sure how I'd assign the blame, but I do appreciate that they're not denying they were at fault. It's a good example of handling a situation where you've all messed up.

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green? It could hint that the Lady of the Green Kirtle was also out 'hunting'...

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Dec 26, 2017 7:39 pm
by Movie Aristotle
1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

No, I do not. The stress of being in the cold can wear on your emotions.

Edit:

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?


I don’t find either of these items as particularly odd. In dreams sometimes one thing turns into another and matters of little importance take on great weight. Things aren’t always what they seem and everything is muddled. In this case, the rocking chair is probably the item in the room most like Aslan, so it turns into Aslan in the dream.

The signs are something Jill hasn't given much importance lately, but the severity of the dream brings her to the realization of how dreadfully important it is to remember the signs, and how terrible it is to forget them. She alone was entrusted with the signs, the only way to know how to find the lost prince. If she failed, then the mission would be a failure. That is an awesome responsibility.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: Mar 10, 2018 8:43 am
by narnia fan 7
Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?

Not at all. If I'm being honest, I'd probably start to do the same in her situation.

How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?

I'd like for it to be clear from the start that it IS a dream. I'm not really a fan of the dream fake out in movies. Also I think it would be nice if they could translate some of the weirdness of the dream like the bit with the rocking horse. Though they'd have to be careful not to make it too wired.

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: May 08, 2018 12:59 pm
by Valiant_Nymph
1. Do you lose interest in Jill because she began to cry?
No, it make me relate more to Jill, because I probably would have done the same thing.

2. In Jill’s dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?
I think he didn't want to be too obvious, in order to stretch Jill's ability to trust.

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the sign to Aslan in the dream, a “great horror” comes over her. What is so horrible?
I always thought it was because she realized how she had strayed from them.

4. How should the dream sequence be adapted for the movie?
I'm not very good at picturing these things for film, but they could play it like the dream sequence in 'Prince Caspian'

5. Who is to blame for their missing the ruinous city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn’t to blame?
I think Jill carries the most blame. I suppose Puddleglum could have pushed harder against the children's objections, but at least he tried.

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants chose to dress in green?
I thought it was in relation to her being a serpent (I always thought green is associated with snakes and dragons, but maybe that is just me?)

Re: 8 – The House of Harfang

PostPosted: May 14, 2020 10:18 am
by TheLukeskywalker2
1. Do you lose interest in Jill becasue she starts to cry?

No, as it's completely understandable, considering what she is going through.

2. In Jill dream, why does Aslan take the form of a wooden horse for a moment?

It might just be as simple as the wooden horse is the one that has wheels, so taking that form would be more natural for Jill than one of the other animals.

3. When Jill is unable to repeat the signs to Aslan in the dream, a great horror comes over her. What is so horrible?  

Aslan had told her that it would be a lot harder to remember the signs. She had ignored his advice to repeat them to herself shortly after heading north, and by this point, she couldn't remember any of them. It was horrifying to her that she had forgotten the four signs that were to guide their entire journey. 

4.. How should this dream, be adapted for movie?

I think that we should see Jill go to sleep and then have a couple of moments with the room completely dark, before turning over to the pile of giants toys where we see the horse starting to move. Then the dream proceeds as it does in the book with Jill forgetting the signs and Aslan showing Jill the lettering. 

5. Who is to blame for them missing the ruined city? Do you agree with Jill that it is she? Do you agree with Puddleglum that it is he? Do you think Scrubb is right and Puddleglum is the only one who isn't to blame?

I personally agree with Eustace on this one. Puddleglum was about to mention that he thought something was wrong during their discussion after exploring the trenches. If Jill had taken that moment to think about the signs and could remember correctly, or if the three of them could figure out the sign together, they would never be in the trouble that they are currently in (see next chapter). 

6. Is it significant that the queen of the giants choose to dress in green?

I personally believe that it cannot be a coincidence. Maybe the queen wears green because LotGK wears green and they send guests for their festivals. This would explain what keeps happening to the explorers that went out but never returned. Especially if they weren't as wise as Puddleglum and told LotGK what their goal was, after all,
anyone that tries to find Rillian must meet with the LotGK
if they have any hope of succeeding in their goal. 

7. Adaption

I think, similar to last chapter, there is so much in these three chapter (Strange Trenchs, Harfang, and Worth Knowing) that rely on the other stuff in the chapters that if they deviate too much, they will have to do a lot of work in order to make the story coherent if they mess it up.