The Magician's Nephew | Chapter 5: The Deplorable Word

Chapter Summary:

Chapter 5 of The Magician's Nephew describes the consequence of Digory's decision to ring the bell. The chapter begins with the beautiful woman--immediately identified as a queen--coming to life from her frozen form. The Queen, who we learn is named Jadis, inspects Digory (and ignores Polly) and determines that he is not a magician, but has arrived with a magician's assistance.

The walls and great hall begin to crumble around them, and Queen Jadis takes the hands of Digory and Polly, leading them to safety and away from the crumbling city. Eventually, they pause at a high place overlooking the city.

Queen Jadis explains that they are in the city of Charn, but that the world is in its final days. Jadis explains that long ago her sister refused to relinquish the throne to her during a great battle, so Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word (we don't learn what the word is), which caused every living thing within the world to be destroyed, except for Jadis, who was instead frozen in the great hall until the magical bell was rung.

Queen Jadis then requests to be taken to Digory and Polly's world. The chapter concludes with Digory and Polly putting on their yellow rings to try and escape the Queen.

Reflection:

There's a good deal of items I could focus on from this chapter, but I want to look at a very specific passage (actually two), and then talk about a much broader subject. Here are the two passages:

1) This first quote is from early in Chapter 2 of The Magician's Nephew, and comes when Digory tells Uncle Andrew that it was cruel of him to not burn Mrs. Lefay's wooden box, as she requested on her deathbed. Uncle Andrew replies, "Oh, I see. You mean that little boys ought to keep their promises... But of course you must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be... can't possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages... Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures. Ours, my boy, is a high and lonely destiny" (p. 15).

2) This second quote is Queen Jadis's response after Digory scolds her for, basically, murdering every living being in her world: "I had forgotten that you are only a common boy. How should you understand reasons of State? You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny" (p. 30).

Of course, today's topic is the importance of repetition and parallels in literature. It's an art that has been used as long as literature has existed, and is most prevalent (or perhaps just most obvious) in the Bible, Old Testament v. New Testament. The purpose of this in literature is, I think, fairly apparent: The goal is to draw attention to things that would otherwise be passed over. In this case, we are forced to see a strong parallel between Uncle Andrew and Queen Jadis. 

What we should interpret this to mean is not readily apparent, but it's certainly not a good thing. When we think of real-life historical figures who believed that they were free from all rules, the list includes the likes of serial killers and initiators of genocide (Queen Jadis?). What we can learn from this repetition is that we are meant to draw parallels between Uncle Andrew and Queen Jadis. As readers, we should be giving thought to how they are different, and most importantly, why. (As I suggest in my previous post, the answer could certainly be their choices. After all, there are a huge number of parallels in the Harry Potter series between Harry and Voldemort, but it was their choices that ultimately defined them.)

It will be interesting to continue to look for these parallels and repetitions, especially as we move into the highly allegorical The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.