The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | Chapter 9: In the Witch's House

Chapter Summary:

This chapter opens with the timeline of Edmund's escape from the Beaver's house (he had indeed heard about the meeting at the Stone Table and about Aslan's arrival). Edmund hikes through the cold and snowy land, which is growing quickly dark, in the direction of the Witch's palace. During his march, he justifies to himself his reasons for betraying his siblings.

Suddenly the Witch's palace comes into view. Edmund circles it, and enters into an open archway on the far side of the castle. Edmund is initially spooked by a lion in the courtyard, but he quickly realizes that it is made of stone, and he draws on it with a pencil. He notices that the courtyard is filled with stone animals and beings of all different types.

Upon trying to step over a wolf (which Edmund thought was stone), the wolf awakens. The wolf, named Maugrim, is Chief of the Witch's police and is both startled and enraged by Edmund's presence. Edmund states his errand, and the wolf then goes into the palace and returns to grant Edmund access to the Witch. Edmund meets with the Witch and tells her that his siblings are nearby at the Beaver house and that Aslan is coming. The Witch is angry that Edmund came alone, but shouts to her dwarf to ready her sleigh.

Reflection: 

This chapter would be another good time to talk about premeditation versus chance versus fate. For instance, I think it's rather telling that when Edmund is traveling across the barren, snowy country that the heavy snow suddenly and arbitrarily stops and the sky clears, allowing Edmund to find the Witch's palace. Since the text says that Edmund could not see even three feet in front of him, we can assume that unless the snow had stopped, Edmund might not have made it to the Witch's palace (or anywhere, for that matter). Indeed, the narrator says that Edmund "would never have found his way if the moon hadn't come out by the time he got to the other river" (p. 103). 

And speaking of fate, how realistic is it that Edmund was somehow able to sneak out of the Beaver's house, right under the nose of his three siblings and the two Beavers, one of whom was already suspicious of him? Much like the progression of events leading up to Jesus's death in the Gospels, it seems that the events that are occurring in Narnia were fated to occur, and that they continue to occur in spite of the unlikelihood of their occurrence. 

By the end of the chapter, we have come to the point where the events of the rest of the chapter now seem to be set in motion--past the point of no return, if you will. Once the betrayal has been done, there is no doubt what the Witch will do, and the result is the plot of the remainder of the book. 

And all of this is in spite of the ridiculous number of "THIS IS EVIL AND YOU SHOULD STOP" indicators along the way--between the ominous castle (which Edmund is frightened of), the courtyard filled with stone creatures, the wolf-guard, and the angry Queen/Witch, you would think that Edmund would get the message loud and clear. The narrator even tells us that toward the beginning of Edmund's march, he knew "deep down inside him ... that the White Witch was bad and cruel" (p. 102). Nevertheless, Edmund marches on. Whether it is predestined or not, Edmund ignores sign after sign until he betrays his siblings to the Witch. 

I suppose we ought to cut him a little slack. Edmund is probably no more than about ten years old, and we are told that he doesn't really think that the Witch will do anything too horrible to his siblings.

Anyway, I don't think I'm going in any particular direction with this reflection at this point. I just think it's interesting to speculate about how much of the plot is completely out of the control of the four children--I would venture to guess that the answer is "most of it."