The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | Chapter 16: What Happened about the Statues

Chapter Summary:

This chapter begins with Aslan, Susan, and Lucy in the courtyard of the Witch's palace. Aslan begins to breathe on the statues, which one by one begin to awaken. After all of the animals and creatures in the courtyard are awakened, they all search the castle for other statues--many are found and awakened. Mr. Tumnus is awakened and reunited with Lucy.

Aslan asks a Giant (Giant Rumblebuffin) to knock down the palace wall so that they can leave. The Giant does so. Then, Aslan says that they need to search for the battle. Some of the animals help sniff out the scent of the battle, and the now-large party runs toward the battle.

Upon finding the battle, they see Peter, Edmund, and a very exhausted army fighting a much larger army led by the Witch. Peter and the Witch are fighting, but Aslan jumps on top of the Witch. The remainder of the former-statues join the battle, to the great relief of Peter, Edmund, and company.

Reflection:

This is a good chapter, indeed. Aslan literally breathes life back into Narnia, reversing the spell that the Witch has placed on many good creatures throughout her reign. This results in the coming-together of the community that is always present before the last battle--think of the protection of Hogwarts toward the end of The Deathly Hallows or the arrival of Rohan in The Return of the King. Or that scene at the end of Twilight in which the battle isn't really fought, but there's enough vampires and warewolves present for a pretty awesome battle, but instead everyone is left severely disappointed by the unspeakable anti-climax. Anyway, the battle cannot be fought without the army to support it, and Aslan has brought that army to the battlefield, it seems, just in the nick of time.

I don't find myself having a ton of other thoughts about this chapter, perhaps with the exception of one thing: There is a ridiculous ton of joy in this chapter. I mean, on the one hand it is definitely exciting that the Witch's spell is being broken and that the statues are coming back to life. Don't get me wrong--this is a great thing. But really, they are mostly just an army being awoken. They are going to war. War where at least a few of them will probably die. And yet they are leaping and jumping for joy--the entire tone of the chapter, even when they reach the battle, is one of celebration. Again, I know that there is a lot for them to celebrate. Aslan is a pretty cool guy, and many of them have been in something akin to a coma-like state for a good while--but really? I can't think of many people who just brim over with joy at the thought of going to war. Perhaps it's because victory is inevitable (this is a children's book after all, and they are the good guys)--or perhaps it's just the current state of affairs, which is a new life for most of them. But it's just beyond me that they would be in such a state while marching off to war. Indeed, if I recall correctly, this joy will be a bit muted in the next chapter as the consequences of the war become apparent.

Maybe that's it. The tone of the chapter seems to imply that the animals and mythological creatures don't really understand the action --> consequence lesson that Edmund had to learn the hard way during the course of this novel. They are so overwhelmed with the joy of being un-frozen (perhaps I would feel the same way) that the consequences of the impending (rather, immediate) war are minimized or even forgotten.

What's interesting is that everything I have described above is not lost on one person in the story--Lucy. Here's what the narrator says as they are all approaching the ongoing battle:

"Lucy heard above all these noises another noise--a different one, which gave her a queer feeling inside. It was a noise of shouts and shrieks and of the clashing of metal against metal" (p. 129). 

I would venture to guess that Lucy knows what is coming. The joy of what has just occurred is not forgotten, but I bet she knows the consequence of what is about to occur. It is interesting as well that C.S. Lewis chose Lucy as the character to have this keen sense of awareness and not Susan--but after all, Susan has already used her gift from Father Christmas, and I suspect that it is now about time for Lucy to use hers.