Prince Caspian | Chapter 5: Caspian's Adventure in the Mountains

Chapter Summary:

Prince Caspian and Doctor Cornelius have many more conversations in the tower about Old Narnia. One night, Doctor Cornelius wakes up Caspian in the middle of the night. Doctor Cornelius tells Caspian that King Miraz is a usurper--that Prince Caspian himself is the son of Caspian the Ninth, and that he is King Caspian the Tenth. Apparently, King Miraz killed Caspian the Ninth and slowly usurped the throne.

Prince Caspian learns that he is being told this because Queen Prunaprismia has just birthed a son during that night. Doctor Cornelius tells Caspian that King Miraz did not mind the thought of Caspian being his heir, but now that King Miraz has a son of his own, he will likely try to kill Prince Caspian--and as a result, Caspian must leave immediately.

Doctor Cornelius gives Prince Caspian a golden purse (filled with food for his journey) and Queen Susan's magical horn, which he has gone through great lengths to acquire. Doctor Cornelius explains that the horn will call aid to the one who blows it--and could even call former Kings and Queens of Narnia, or Aslan himself.

Fitted with his sword, purse, and horn, Caspian flees on his horse Destrier. Caspian travels all night and the next day, always moving south toward Archenland to find King Nain (per Doctor Cornelius's instruction). The second night, Caspian is traveling through a forest at the foot of a mountain when a storm moves in. Destrier becomes agitated, and runs uncontrollably. Something hits Caspian, and he blacks out.

Caspian awakes to the sound of three voices arguing about his fate. Caspian learns quickly that the voices are of true Old Narnians--a beaver named Trufflehunter, a Drawf named Nikabrik, and another Drawf named Trumpkin. They had found Caspian after he blacked out.

While the three are torn about Caspian's fate, Caspian tells them his story, only further complicating the decision. Caspian says that he has been searching for Old Narnians all his life. Trufflehunter, Nikabrik, and Trumpkin then argue about the legitimacy of the stories about King Peter and Aslan.

Reflection:

Another Prince runs to Archenland! This story should be pretty familiar--in The Horse and His Boy, we followed Shasta as he fled north toward Archenland, and now in Prince Caspian we are following Caspian as he flees south toward Archenland. A chance encounter with the peoples of the forest? That too should be familiar, from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 

This chapter also answers a few questions that were probably troubling us--particularly, the answer to what happened to Susan's horn. We can have a pretty clear guess now about what this horn will do--given that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy have seemingly miraculously returned to Narnia without trying to get there at all. I suspect that Caspian finally blew the horn.

My primary thoughts about this chapter reflect around the plot that occurs--after all, it is a very plot-filled chapter (I can always tell by the length of my summary). It is, much like The Horse and His Boy, a coming of age story. Indeed, it follows much of the characteristics of the prototypical bildungsroman--a German word that essentially means "a coming of age story." We have (1) a young boy who (2) is more important than he initially realizes (3) sent on a journey (4) by a mentor (5) to seek the help of another. We have (6) an antagonist (7) who wants to do him harm/kill him, and (8) characters seen as bad who will eventually help him--think of the Ents in LOTR or Snape in Harry Potter. 

There are more characteristics, but those will suffice. Essentially, C.S. Lewis is following a very, very old script here that continues to show up today. And it shows up because, despite the typically very predictable outcome, it is still a compelling story. But, spoiler alert, we can almost be guaranteed that Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, and Aslan will eventually come into the picture to restore Narnia to its former glory and thereby bring Prince Caspian to the Narnian throne, where he will rule with peace, justice, and tranquility, forever and ever (until the next calamity), amen.

So this gets me thinking--is a story as predictable as this still compelling, exciting, readable, and enjoyable? I think the answer is yes. And the answer is yes because the story is not about the destination, but about the journey along the way. It is about the characters who have suffered under the wrath of King Miraz finding freedom and the end of injustice in Narnia. It is about a boy, who knows what is right and wants to do right, finally achieving the ability to do so and have a far-reaching impact on others. It is not just a story about what happens, but why it happens, who it impacts, and what the ramifications are. We might know the ending (or perhaps I just think I do), but it is the journey that we are meant to enjoy. 

It is rather similar to hiking a mountain. It is not reaching the top that is the only joy, but it is the journey along the way that is meant to be enjoyed--or else, what ever is the point of making it to the peak?