The Horse and His Boy | Chapter 8: In the House of the Tisroc

Chapter Summary:

The entirety of this chapter takes place in the room in the Tisroc's house. Aravis and Lasaraleen are hiding behind the couch. The others in the room are the Tisroc, Ahoshta Tarkaan (the Grand Vizier), and Prince Rabadash.

As the chapter opens, we learn from Prince Rabadash that the Narnian ship carrying Queen Susan has disappeared from its port. Prince Rabadash is distraught, and insists that he must have Queen Susan in marriage. Prince Rabadash insists that the Tisroc should invade Narnia, kill King Peter, and allow him to have Queen Susan as his wife.

We learn from the Tisroc that he has hesitated to invade and conquer Narnia because of the Enchantress (the White Witch) who has held dominion over the land. Even now, knowing that her reign is over, the Tisroc fears that great magic must be present in the land.

Prince Rabadash then proposes the following plan: He and 200 men will go to Cair Paravel to meet Queen Susan as she gets off the ship and take her as his wife. On the way, he will conquer Anvard--a city in Archenland. He will do all of this supposedly without the Tisroc's knowledge, so if the plan goes afoul, the Tisroc can claim that Prince Rabadash was acting without his authority. But if all goes as planned, the Tisroc can then build an army at Anvard until he is ready to invade Narnia. Prince Rabadash believes also that King Peter would not seek Queen Susan's rescue because of the political advantages of being aligned to the Tisroc's throne.

Prince Rabadash leaves the room to begin this plan; the Tisroc and Ahoshta remain in the room. The Tisroc says that he is pleased by the plan, and that if Prince Rabadash dies, he has many more sons to succeed him. He says that he is glad that Rabadash is distracted abroad, as many sons of the Tisroc have murdered the Tisroc in order to gain the throne. The Tisroc says that he and Ahoshta will claim to have no knowledge of the conversation that just occurred, and that anyone else who knows the information just discussed will be killed. Ahoshta leaves the room, and later, the Tisroc does as well.

Reflection:

Despite being a chapter pivotal to the plot of the remainder of the novel, this chapter just might rank as the most dry chapter of TCON thus far--it is filled completely with (unnecessarily) lofty language and political discourse, and is really just not all that thrilling to read. And in addition, it contains all of the political corruption that you would probably find in a vast majority of political environments. In the span of this chapter, there is discussion of kidnapping, murder, and deception--all discussed as just another day in the political realm of Tashbaan. It is clearly corrupt, and encompasses all that Tashbaan is as a city. 

It is most interesting to think about what sorts of messages C.S. Lewis is trying to send here. The Horse and His Boy was published in 1954, with WWII a recent memory in Great Britain. Political corruption is likely viewed as dangerous and hostile. It is also abundantly clear, through the description of the clothing, jewelry, customs, and traditions that Calormen is a nation similar to one in the Middle East or Indian subcontinent region. 

There is, by the way, an absolute undertone of racism within this novel--the Narnians are the lighter-skinned peoples of the North, and though a small nation, they are wealthy (not necessarily in money, but in peace, prosperity, love, and kindness). Meanwhile, the Calormen southerners are described as rougher people with darker skin, and in which there is a definite and omnipresent caste system (just look at what happens when important people are carried through the streets--the commoners must squish themselves out of the way or risk physical abuse). There are no slaves in Narnia--even the animals are freed, talking animals. The Tisroc himself even refers to Narnia as a free nation. There are most definitely slaves in Calormen. In fact, there were two slaves in the meeting with the Tisroc, Prince Rabadash, and Ahoshta--but we are told that they are deaf and dumb, in order to maintain the secrecy of the conversation being had.

So we begin to see that the world inhabited by Narnia is one not unlike our own--with nations were many peoples are free, and nations ruled harshly by dictators with none-too-kind agendas and political systems. There are thoughts of dividing and conquering, there are caste systems, racial tensions, and political corruption. The land of Narnia is a utopia, of sorts, in this world--and no utopia can remain a utopia without intervention from the outside. Chances are, this is exactly what is about to happen to Narnia.