The Silver Chair | Chapter 15: The Disappearance of Jill

Chapter Summary:

Puddleglum hoists Jill onto his shoulders so that Jill can see over the wall in front of her. Jill asks to be lifted a little higher and Puddleglum does so. Suddenly, Jill is pulled off of Puddleglum's shoulders by an unknown source, and she disappears over the wall. Eustace, Puddleglum, and Rilian are distraught, thinking that enemies now have taken Jill. 

What had really happened to Jill was that when she stared over the wall, she saw that the dim light was really the night sky, and that she was looking down upon many beasts of Narnia, who were in the process of playing a winter-time game in the snow. As part of the game, a rogue snowball had hit Jill in the face. Jill realized that she could call for help, did so, and got pulled from the hole that was located in the side of a hill.

While Jill is given food and warm clothes, Jill tells the beasts and animals of Narnia that Eustace, Puddleglum, and Prince Rilian are still in the hole and need help. The beasts and animals immediately set to digging, and eventually Eustace, Puddleglum, and finally Rilian with his two horses emerge from the hole. A great celebration begins when the Narnians realize that it is really Prince Rilian who has finally returned to Narnia. 

While Eustace and Jill sleep, Puddleglum catches up on the latest news from Narnia. Rilian consults many of the Beasts and Dwarfs of Narnia and everyone finally learns the whole tale of his absence. 

Reflection:

You already know how I'm going to start this post--this is a good old fashioned plot-moving chapter. Not much allegory to speak of, really. Instead, let's focus on something altogether uncommon from the other 90-some posts in this blog series--the absolute joy of the great outdoors. When Eustace, Jill, Puddleglum, and Rilian come to a wall in the tunnel and see a strange sort of light above it, they don't realize that it's actually the night sky that they are seeing. In fact, it's close to midnight. (How would they have any concept of time underground?) 

When Jill looks around, what she sees is that they have found themselves right in the heart of Narnia during a winter-time Narnian tradition. It couldn't be more perfect. She also sees the night sky for the first time in what seems like forever (way, way, way, way, way longer for Prince Rilian, by the way), and also sees that the ground is covered in snow. 

What an awesome picture. Imagery is the thing in this chapter, and it's the imagery of nature that is the most significant. Even you can probably imagine how great the outdoors would look if you spent even an hour lost in a giant cave. Now imagine that instead of being lost for an hour, you were lost for days--or years. Certainly the outdoors would look incredible. We all get a feeling of this when we leave an artificially air conditioned (or heated) building, only to find that the weather outside is ridiculously beautiful. What a joy it is. 

Working in a basement, I get this feeling often when I step outdoors. Which is why this past weekend I so very much enjoyed the opportunity to go to Enchanted Rock with my wife, sister-in-law, and our family friend. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we were able to enjoy about 45 minutes of solitude on top of Enchanted Rock before anyone else joined us. This was such an incredible opportunity, and it really brought out the nature lover in me. 

So, there are days, I admit, when I sit in my office in the basement and secretly wish I had become a park ranger--or some equivalent job that would allow me to work outside 24/7. But then I remember that working outside in Central Texas is actually pretty uncomfortable 85% of days of the year (50% are too hot, 25% are too cold, 10% are too rainy, and only about 15% are just right). I guess I'm glad I work in an air conditioned building, but I sure do love nature. But probably not as much as Prince Rilian.