Customer Reviews

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (Book 3 in the Chronicles of Narnia)

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) is a children's fantasy novel, the third in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Here, Edmund and Lucy, along with their insufferable cousin Eustace, are pulled into Narnia to aid Caspian in his search for seven missing Narnian lords.

There isn't much of an overarching plot here as there are in Lewis's prior novels; it's much more episodic, as the Dawn Treader sails to one island after another, and to one adventure after another. And this is why the novel works so well: Lewis has given himself complete narrative freedom to do whatever he wants, and he uses the full measure of his wondrous imagination. The unexpected is here in a way unlike the previous stories, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has throughout it the full and free spirit of fantasy adventure.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a more charming read than either of Lewis's previous books in the series, and the primary reason is that Lewis, as narrator, has gotten himself rather more playfully involved, making humorous observations here and witty comments there, in a way reminiscent of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Lewis's characters' dialogue is also sharp and clever, certainly more so than in previous books. My general impression is that with this book, Lewis really got a handle on his Narnian storytelling.

As is usual for him, Lewis has a number of moral themes at work here: most obviously, he addresses greed on a number of occasions - greed for wealth, for status, and for beauty. Through Eustace, Lewis extols the virtues of being well-mannered and considerate of others, but he also attacks the notion that "modern values" are inherently superior.

Christian themes are not as prominent here as in some other works (except, of course, Christian virtue), but they can be found in some depth in Reepicheep's quest for Aslan's Country - his quest, as it were, for afterlife and the Kingdom of God. And this is an area of the story where Lewis excels. He does a fine job of balancing childish wonderment and mature gravity in his characters as they approach the end of the world, and Lewis's fleeting glimpses of what might lie beyond fire the spirit and the imagination.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is an outstanding adventure novel; it might be my favorite book in the series.

It may start like the film - or rather the two films - made after this book, but the films part from the book when Eustace becomes a dragon.

It is the story of a long sea voyage looking for seven Narnian Lords who had been sent away by Caspian's usurping uncle.

First the two elder Pevensie brother and sister, Peter and Susan, have to be gotten out of the way since they were announced as not taking part in the next mission by Aslan himself. Simple. They go to the USA with their parents for the summer during which the father has a lecturing tour to perform in universities. The two younger brother and sister, Edmund and Lucy, are trapped for the summer at some uncle and aunt's, and they have to bear their local cousin, Eustace.

The three of them are swallowed into a maritime picture in some bedroom and they find themselves in the end aboard Caspian's ship on his self-assigned mission: looking for the seven Lords who went North towards the end of the world.

We could follow the story and just consider the fate of the seven Lords. But that you can read, discover and appreciate all by yourselves. We could concentrate on the change in Eustace who from being a self-conceited nuisance becomes a courageous and even adventurous being, though he still is a human being somewhere rather than a talking beast.

We could also insist on the importance of magic in these adventures, black magic, but also good magic. What's surprising about this aspect of the novel is that C.S. Lewis does not try to make us suspend our disbelief. He presents that magic as what it is, an extraordinary way to perform something that can be a punishment of some sort against someone who does not respect a simple rule, even if it is a bad rule, but rules have to be abided by. But it may also be a way to perform something good or that leads to a good ending.

It is where we find the models at work behind the novel. The first model ids the Odyssey and several allusions are made to it. . But there is another model, the Voyage of Mael Duinn, an Irish traditional tale that C.S. Lewis could not ignore in his days, due to his Irish roots and his academic specialization, but here the model is extremely black and C.S. Lewis makes it all the more full of light, though some darkness can prevail here and there.

That's where Lewis' children's literature is best. It does not try to teach children good and evil. It aims at making children experience good and evil and situations in which the choice is most obvious and he leads the children into making the good choice, or identifying with those who make the good choice, always based on the temptation for evil and pro and con arguments for good. And when the good choice is made there is always a reward, just the same as if the evil choice were made there would be a punishment.

This novel ends on a sad note because Aslan announces Edmund and Lucy won't come again. They have become too old. And he refuses to commit himself about Eustace, which corresponds to a "maybe" or maybe even a "probably" for his coming.

That sense of aging is ever present in C.S. Lewis' novels. Caspian for instance marries after this adventure and becomes the grand father of many generations of kings and queens. This sense of aging based on the distantiation the author introduces now and then and regularly in the text with references to our world with "you" and "we" and "I" and even things like the lions of Trafalgar Square, is most of the time what is missing most in children's literature. C.S. Lewis seems to be an exception. His children heroes are grown-ups in the becoming. But Aslan will always be alive for them, including in their adult world though Aslan does not tell his name in this adult world of ours.

This book then crosses an important stage since afterwards the four original children will no longer be able to visit Narnia and also because it closes the illegitimacy introduced in Narnia by Caspian's uncle by bringing back the seven Lords, in a way or another. Then we can wonder what else could happen in the next volume? Have we reached the end? Of course not since there are two more novels to come. But for the readers it is a farewell, at least for the older readers who are intended to join the adult world like the fours original children of the saga. Growing up again. The natural turn over of the audience of children's books is here embedded in the book itself. And we can wonder why the two films change the ending of this story.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU