"Further Up and Further In!"

The Last Battle is the final book in CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. As I mentioned here, it involves the end of the Narnia that everyone has known, as they get to know the new and grander Narnia. Jill and Eustace were in Aslan's Country, as it is also called, in The Silver Chair (the penultimate book in chronological order), and at that time, Aslan had told them next time they came it would be to stay.

In The Last Battle, the Friends of Narnia have watched everything go down (quite literally) in the old Narnia through a door, and at Aslan's command, Peter locked it. After that, Aslan told them to "Come further up! Come further in!" They all began running faster than they knew they could.

This painting is inspired by their joyous run (and swim) through the new Narnia, as they came to Caldron Pool, jumped in, and much to everyone's surprise, found themselves swimming up the waterfall!

"Further Up and Further In!"
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on canvas
2012

If one could run without getting tired, I don't think one would often want to do anything else. But there might be special reasons for stopping, and it was a special reason which made Eustace presently shout:

"I say! Steady! Look what we're coming to!"

And well he might. For now they saw before them Caldron Pool and beyond the Pool the high unclimbable cliffs and, pouring down the cliffs, thousands of tons of water every second, flashing like diamonds in some places and dark, glassy green in others, the Great Waterfall; and already the thunder of it was in their ears.

"Don't stop! Further up and further in," called Farsight, tilting his flight a little upward.

"It's all very well for him," said Eustace, but Jewel also cried out:

"Don't stop. Further up and further in! Take it in your stride."

His voice could only just be heard above the roar of the water but next moment everyone saw that he had plunged into the Pool. And helter-skelter behind him, with splash after splash, all the others did the same. The water was not bitingly cold as all of them (and especially Puzzle) expected, but of a delicious foamy coolness. They all found they were swimming straight for the Waterfall itself.

"This is absolutely crazy," said Eustace to Edmund.

"I know. And yet --" said Edmund.

"Isn't it wonderful?" said Lucy. "Have you noticed one can't feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it."

"By Jove, neither one can," said Eustace after he had tried.

Jewel reached the foot of the waterfall first, but Tirian was only just behind him. Jill was last, so she could see the whole thing better than the others. She saw something white moving steadily up the face of the Waterfall. That white thing was the Unicorn. You couldn't tell whether he was swimming or climbing, but he moved on, higher and higher. The point of his horn divided the water just above his head, and it cascaded out in two rainbow-colored streams all round his shoulders. Just behind him came King Tirian. He moved his legs and arms as if he were swimming, but he moved straight upward: as if one could swim up the wall of a house.

What looked funniest was the Dogs. During the gallop they had not been at all out of breath, but now, as they swarmed and wriggled upwards, there was plenty of spluttering and sneezing among them; that was because they would keep on barking, and every time they barked they got their mouths and noses full of water. But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully, she was going up the Waterfall herself. It was the sort of thing that would have been quite impossible in our world. Even if you hadn't drowned, you would have been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight of water against the countless jags of rock. But in that world you could do it. You went on, up and up, with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of colored stones flashing through it, till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself--and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but later it was only gloriously exciting. And then at last one came to the lovely, smooth green curve in which the water poured over the top and found that one was on the level river above the Waterfall. The current was racing away behind you, but you were such a wonderful swimmer that you could make headway against it. Soon they were all on the bank, dripping but happy.

I based the waterfall on a picture I took of Snoqualmie Falls:

I also had points of reference for Jewel the Unicorn (in the water at the top), Farsight the Eagle (in the sky) and Puzzle the Donkey (in the water in the pool at the bottom). I used a sponge to paint the spray. I thought it was a interesting that I was using something inspired by a sea creature to paint water. This painting was also larger than the others, as it was my final painting in that class in 2012. In the painting, King Tirian is at the top with Jewel and Farsight. From top to bottom on the waterfall are King Peter, Emeth Tarkaan, King Edmund, Digory Kirke (left, wearing red), Polly Plummer (right, wearing green), and talking Dogs. In the pool are (left to right) a talking Dog, Poggin the Dwarf, another talking Dog, Eustace Scrubb, Queen Lucy and Puzzle, and Jill Pole in the back watching the whole thing as she swims. (I don't think Lewis specifies what kind of Eagle Farsight is, but I have a feeling he was probably a Brown Eagle. I thought a Bald Eagle would be a bit more majestic, and it would be easier for the head and tail to be noticeable.) 

"I Was the Lion"

The Horse and His Boy is a fascinating book by CS Lewis. Released in 1954, it was the fifth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, but is third in chronological order. 

The novel tells the story of a boy named Shasta who was raised a slave in the southern kingdom (Tisrocdom?) of Calormen, but he does not feel he belongs, and his master has not treated him well. One day a Calormene official visits his master, and while the adults are in the house talking, Shasta gets to know the official's horse, who it turns out is a talking Horse from Narnia named Bree. Neither Shasta nor Bree is happy with their respective masters, and they escape together. Sometime later, they are driven by lions to join with a runaway high-born Calormene girl named Aravis, and Hwin, also a talking Horse from Narnia who has been exiled in Calormen. The four of them journey together to the capital city of Tashbaan, and on through the desert and into the kingdom of Archenland. In the process, they go through many complications and adventures, and Shasta learns a lot about himself and his heritage. In Tashbaan and as they journey north, they learn of a clandestine plot by Prince Rabadash of Calormen to lay siege to Anvard and Cair Paravel, the capitals of Archenland and Narnia respectively. In an effort to save lives and prevent a violent conquest, Shasta must get to Anvard in time to warn the Archenlanders.

Through it all, they are plagued (so they believe) by lions, a cat, jackals, and more. This painting is inspired by one of my favorite passages in all of literature, when Shasta has met King Lune of Archenland and has fallen behind their entourage. As he is wandering through the mountain pass on the border of Archenland and Narnia, he feels lonely and dejected, and only has an Archenlander horse he hardly knows for company in the thick fog...until he senses another presence and hears a voice. Shasta recounts his adventures to the new arrival and is shocked to learn...

"I Was the Lion"
Steven Sauke
Acrylic on canvas
2012

"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so you could reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

...

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

The High King above all kings stooped toward him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all around him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with a horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky. And there were birds singing.

Throughout The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan is a Christ-like figure, in many cases mirroring the actions of Christ in the Bible. This passage has been a comfort to me over the years. Whenever I am going through hard times, I need to be reminded that Jesus is right there, as Aslan was for Shasta and his companions. Even when all seemed hopeless, Christ was there. His faithfulness to me is astounding, and I don't deserve it, but looking back on my life, I can see so many times when things seemed hopeless, but God always provided, protected, and allowed me to grow through it.

Susan's Fate

*WARNING: If you have not read The Chronicles of Narnia, do not read on. SPOILER!*

Authors have a big task when constructing a novel or series of novels, and many show their brilliance in what they write and how they explain. In my opinion, one mark of a truly great author is what he leaves open to the imagination of the reader, rather than explaining.

Such is the fate of Susan Pevensie, one of the important characters of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. Very few characters actually survive the series. We witness the deaths of the White Witch, Miraz, Caspian, the Lady of the Green Kirtle, even Aslan. We see Reepicheep go up the wave in his coracle to Aslan's Country. We hear about the death of Caspian's beloved Queen in a flashback. We see Prince Rabadash of Calormen transformed into a donkey, and he has to be transported to Tashbaan where he is transformed back into a man in the temple of his god Tash. He reforms and leads a peaceful reign, but we read that he eventually dies, and his people proceed to call him Rabadash the Ridiculous. Some characters die during the time between books. We don't know how, but for example, thousands of years have passed in Narnia between The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. By virtue of the passage of time, we know that the Beavers, Tumnus and all the others have long since died by the time Prince Caspian starts. In The Last Battle, we see Ginger the Cat get overconfident, take one look at Tash, and shoot out of the stable like a bullet, unable to speak. Tash grabs Rishda Tarkaan and Shift and takes them away.

However, perhaps the most heartbreaking fate is that of Susan...and she is one of the few characters that actually survives.

After King Tirian pulls Rishda Tarkaan through the stable door in The Last Battle, Tirian finds himself in a beautiful paradise, and Rishda finds himself face-to-face with the reality that the evil god he has not believed but has pretended to worship all his life is very real and is not happy. Tirian turns to find before him nearly all of the Friends of Narnia that we have met throughout the series. Jill and Eustace, with whom he just fought the Last Battle, are there, along with Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Polly and Digory. Tirian is amazed to be before so many heroes from throughout Narnia's history, and he is mystified when he realizes that Queen Susan is not there. When he asks where she is, Peter explains that she is no longer a friend of Narnia. It turns out that she has decided that Narnia was child's play, and she doesn't understand how her siblings can still think it's real. In other words, she has contracted a serious case of adultitis. She is more concerned with the superficial trappings of being a woman and going to parties than she is with spending quality time with her loved ones and remembering the lessons she learned not so long ago.

As we read on, we find out that the Friends of Narnia have been trying to return. Peter and Edmund went to retrieve the rings that transported Polly and Digory to Narnia, and they were waiting at the train station for the others to arrive. The train rounded the bend too fast, crashing into the station and probably derailing, killing those on board and in the station. Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Polly and Digory suddenly found themselves in the New Narnia, and Eustace and Jill found themselves in the Old Narnia with a task to help King Tirian to defend their nation to the end. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the Pevensies' parents are also on board the ill-fated train. They suddenly find themselves in a New London.

Beyond what is told above, we don't know what happened to Susan. When a child asked Lewis about it, he had this to say:

Dear Martin,

The books don't tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there is plenty of time for her to mend, and perhaps she will get to Aslan's country in the end--in her own way. I think that whatever she had seen in Narnia she could (if she was the sort that wanted to) persuade herself, as she grew up, that it was "all nonsense".

Congratulations on your good marks. I wish I was good at Maths! Love to all,
Yours,
C.S. Lewis

Letters to Children, Letter of 22 January 1957

Think about it: Susan has just lost her ENTIRE family. Her nearest living relatives that we know of are her Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold, who have also lost a son. All three of her siblings, her parents, her cousin, even the respected Professor who took her in during the war, have all died in one train crash. If that isn't enough to shake a person to their senses, I don't know what is. I've lost family members, but only one at a time--and none as close as a sibling or parent. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose so much at once. Not to mention that she's only 21 at this point. She has her whole life ahead of her, and she has to live it without the ones who have been closest to her growing up.

Susan's fate is both heartbreaking and hopeful. As Lewis pointed out to young Martin, Susan has a chance to remember the lessons she learned from Aslan and let go of her selfish pride and adultitis. As Aslan pointed out in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he has another name in this world. On January 22, 1952, Lewis explained in a letter to a child named Carrol that the word Aslan "is Turkish for lion ... And of course I meant the Lion of Judah." He likely expected Carrol to understand that the Lion of Judah is a name for Jesus in the Bible. Thus, Susan has a choice. She can continue to reject the hope that has been given to her in the form of Christ appearing to her in the form of a lion, or she can put her trust in Christ, who died to save her from her sin. (She saw this reenacted only a few years earlier as Aslan gave his life on the Stone Table to save Edmund from death, and then the Stone Table cracked and Aslan rose from the dead and defeated the White Witch).

Susan has a choice. Which did she choose? We'll never know, because she's a fictional character...but each of us has the same choice. We can choose to follow Christ and one day find ourselves in His presence, or we can reject Him and find ourselves in the presence of someone worse than Tash.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

From the moment the first scene started, I was in awe. The movie drew me in like few movies have, and I was rather surprised when I realized we were already getting close to the end. I did not realize that much time had passed since it began. The mark of a truly great movie.

Back up a bit.

In the past few months, I have gone through a range of emotions anticipating The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I watched excitedly as NarniaWeb.com and other sites posted pictures from the filming, and I couldn't get enough of it. However, then the ads started coming out, prominently featuring the White Witch, Peter and Susan. They are hardly mentioned in the book, so why would they be major characters in the movie? I got further worried when I started to hear about a "green mist" and a quest to find lost swords, that is nowhere to be found in the book. It concerned me that Ramandu's daughter introduced herself in the trailer as their "guide," which is not her role in the book. When it comes to adapting books to movies, I am a bit of a purist, and it seriously bothers me when studios make major changes or cuts. (Don't get me started on the butchered adaptations of Eragon and the old animated Lord of the Rings.) I was also concerned about the precedent that Disney/Walden set with making major changes to Prince Caspian that were truly painful to watch (and were very likely the reason it didn't do as well in the box office). For a long time now, I have wanted to see all seven Chronicles of Narnia adapted for the big screen, and the last thing I want is for the franchise to end early because it is not adapted well.

I am happy to report that, though they did make changes to the plot, they made it work well, and I am OK with them. I don't want to spoil too much, but they did indeed add a green mist and a quest to find the swords of the seven lost lords. Both of these add a common thread throughout the episodic nature of the story. The order of the islands is shuffled from the book, and they combine two islands into one. The changes are very much in line with Lewis' views and the spirit of the story. As for the concerns with Peter, Susan and the White Witch, they make it work. Peter and Susan do not go to Narnia, as the marketing made it appear, and you only see them very briefly (Susan more than Peter). The White Witch appears briefly as a sort of memory, only to Edmund.

Each character must learn to fight their temptations. Whereas the battles in the first two movies were with swords, the ones in this movie were more internal battles with each person's inner demons. Lucy does battle with her feeling of inferiority to her older siblings, especially Susan. Edmund battles a similar inferiority complex, in which he tries to enlist in the British army at the beginning, and later wants to take some of Caspian's authority (but not in an annoying way like Peter in Prince Caspian). Eustace, on the other hand, must learn to battle his superiority complex. Will Poulter does an amazing job of portraying an arrogant brat, who finds out that he has a lot to learn from the most unlikely of characters: a mouse.

That is not to say there are no sword battles. There is a brief battle in the Lone Islands, and the battle with the Sea Serpent is quite spectacular, much more dramatic than in the book.

For me, the brilliance of this movie shines through in several ways...

The effects. The mist is visually amazing. The White Witch, Caspian's father and a couple other characters appear in a misty form, embodying the dreams of various characters. Dragon-Eustace and Reepicheep were amazing, and I especially enjoyed the expressions on both of them. The credits alone are worth the price of admission (especially in 3D).

The lessons. They kept the lessons C.S. Lewis put in his book. (One of the disappointments for me in Prince Caspian was how many lessons they left out.) They expanded on the theme of resisting temptation, as well as covering restoration brilliantly. They toned down Eustace's undragoning a bit, but they were very clear that only Aslan could undragon him. Aslan's charge to the children to get to know him in our world with his other name was there, verbatim from the book.

The acting. Everyone nailed their part.

There were some possible references to other movies. I especially noticed a line that seemed to be straight out of Star Wars, and an element that very much reminded me of a scene in Harry Potter (although it could also have been inspired by a scene in The Silver Chair). I enjoyed the subtle (and not-so-subtle) foreshadowing to The Silver Chair, which were added.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a solid 99. I had to deduct a point because of the plot changes. :-)

(Note: I'm pretty sure those are stars in the picture, not snowflakes. Stars are much more important to the story than snow, which only appears once and very briefly.)