The Silver Chair | Chapter 3: The Sailing of the King

Chapter Summary:

Jill and Eustace have been reunited. The scene in front of them includes a castle (Cair Paravel) and an old man--the King of Narnia--about to embark on a very grand ship. Jill and Eustace watch from a distance as the King addresses his subjects, which include people, animals, and the mythological creatures of Narnia.

The King sails away, and an owl alights next to Jill and Eustace. The owl asks where they have come from, and they explain that Aslan has sent them to look for a lost prince. The owl tells them that they should speak to the Lord Regent Trumpkin the Dwarf immediately. On the way, Eustace asks who the King of Narnia is. The owl says that Caspian the Tenth is King, and Eustace realizes that he has arrived in Narnia about 70 years after his previous visit--the old man is his friend, King Caspian.

When Eustace, Jill, and the owl reach Trumpkin, they find that he is too hard of hearing to be of any help. During the conversation, the owl says that his head has cleared a bit, and that they should not mention anything about a lost prince to Trumpkin. Trumpkin does understand that the children are humans, and tells the owl to see to it that they are given rooms at Cair Paravel. 

After Jill and Eustace are brought to Cair Paravel, they wash up, and then have a conversation. For the first time, Jill is able to explain her full meeting with Aslan, including the tasks, and the signs. Meanwhile, Eustace describes the shock of seeing King Caspian as an old man. In doing so, Eustace explains to Jill that time in Narnia works differently than time on earth. Jill realizes that they have missed the first sign--King Caspian was the old friend that Eustace should have spoken to immediately after his arrival in Narnia.

Just before they begin to really argue, the dinner bells ring. Jill and Eustace eat a grand dinner. Jill says that she bets they will sleep well that night. The narrator disagrees.

Reflection:

Ageism is the topic for today, and with darn good reason. For a full page in this chapter, C.S. Lewis delights in making fun of the now-rather-elderly Lord Regent Trumpkin the Dwarf. Intended to be humorous, the entire dialogue is instead rather offensive. The elderly (but much esteemed) dwarf is clearly no longer his former self--he is significantly older, much in the way that Caspian the Tenth is as well. But the dwarf gets pretty poor treatment, in my opinion, in this chapter. 

What Trumpkin supposedly hears is never exactly quite what the owl is trying to get across, and the story is clearly intending to mock his difficulty with hearing. Perhaps C.S. Lewis, who died at age 64, was never old enough to understand the plight of being hard of hearing--but there are plenty of people who would take rather great offense at Trumpkin being made fun of in this chapter. 

And what's more, it's not just one little joke. It's a full, complete page of the owl continually trying to convey information to Trumpkin, who just gets increasingly confused. The entire message is distorted, and in the end, all that Trumpkin understands is that they are two humans sent by Aslan. 

I think it's rather a low form of humor to make fun of another individual like C.S. Lewis intentionally does in this chapter. I get that young children reading the book will probably find it something enjoyable to giggle at, but that doesn't make it right. Trumpkin, of all people in this novel, should be held in high esteem and honored, not laughed at.