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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Posted by Derrick
on
15:27
Now the film of this one was a travesty. Utter complete devastation was what I felt for most of it. It was the first time in ages I nearly walked out of the cinema at a film. The book itself is a delight. I can still remember the feel and even the smell of the copy of this book in the village library.
The story is a journey to the utter east to recover seven missing lords sent out to sea by king Miraz. Caspian made the promise and is now carrying it out. He is joined by Lucy and Edmund and their obnoxious cousin Eustace. The story is centered on two characters. Eustace and Reepicheep. Eustace is an awful character who goes through a complete transformation upon realising how bad he is and after meeting Aslan. Reepicheep is following his destiny and trying to find the land beyond the eastern horizon.
Some of the more obvious themes here are redemption, baptism and fellowship. Eustace really is a horrid character. He lies, cheats, bullies and is an abject coward. He hates his family and the others without any just cause. They treat him well and he throws it all back in their faces. He becomes the worst thing in the world and realises just how far he has sunk. He then finds out more about his companions and in particular the one he thought was the worst. He finally makes friends and finds out that he is useful to society. Is it too late for him? No, of course not. At his lowest point Eustace meets Aslan and goes through a baptism like process becoming a much nicer person. A person who loves and knows that he is loved. He becomes braver and more daring (although not perfect as the book points out).
We see a very close bond develop between the people on this voyage. They go through a lot together and there is the close knit nature of their living situation as well. Lewis portrays this group of characters well and we see that there is tension and difficulty amongst the good things. Eustace cannot cope with this because of his modern upbringing and he struggles with unconditional friendship. As the story develops the group face dangers which they can only overcome together. They find their greatest threat at the time when they are most alone.
Lewis spins a great yarn and this book, perhaps more than any of the others, stands alone as an adventure story (maybe HB does as well) but it should not be discounted. There is much here for the Christian to learn from and remember. Christ is as evident in these pages as in any of the other pages of this series of books.
My favourite picture in this book is the picture of Eustace as the dragon. At his lowest ebb, needing help he cannot imagine, there is hope in the near future.
The story is a journey to the utter east to recover seven missing lords sent out to sea by king Miraz. Caspian made the promise and is now carrying it out. He is joined by Lucy and Edmund and their obnoxious cousin Eustace. The story is centered on two characters. Eustace and Reepicheep. Eustace is an awful character who goes through a complete transformation upon realising how bad he is and after meeting Aslan. Reepicheep is following his destiny and trying to find the land beyond the eastern horizon.
Some of the more obvious themes here are redemption, baptism and fellowship. Eustace really is a horrid character. He lies, cheats, bullies and is an abject coward. He hates his family and the others without any just cause. They treat him well and he throws it all back in their faces. He becomes the worst thing in the world and realises just how far he has sunk. He then finds out more about his companions and in particular the one he thought was the worst. He finally makes friends and finds out that he is useful to society. Is it too late for him? No, of course not. At his lowest point Eustace meets Aslan and goes through a baptism like process becoming a much nicer person. A person who loves and knows that he is loved. He becomes braver and more daring (although not perfect as the book points out).
We see a very close bond develop between the people on this voyage. They go through a lot together and there is the close knit nature of their living situation as well. Lewis portrays this group of characters well and we see that there is tension and difficulty amongst the good things. Eustace cannot cope with this because of his modern upbringing and he struggles with unconditional friendship. As the story develops the group face dangers which they can only overcome together. They find their greatest threat at the time when they are most alone.
Lewis spins a great yarn and this book, perhaps more than any of the others, stands alone as an adventure story (maybe HB does as well) but it should not be discounted. There is much here for the Christian to learn from and remember. Christ is as evident in these pages as in any of the other pages of this series of books.
My favourite picture in this book is the picture of Eustace as the dragon. At his lowest ebb, needing help he cannot imagine, there is hope in the near future.
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