Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Prince Caspian, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Good vs. Evil
Faith and Belief
Power vs. Leadership
Fear and Courage
Summary
Analysis
Soon, on a fine summer morning, Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, and Nikabrik begin to introduce Prince Caspian to other Old Narnians. They start with the Three Bulgy Bears, who agree with Trufflehunter that a son of Adam (a human) should sit on the Narnian throne. They give Caspian wet, sloppy kisses and share their honey with him. Then they visit Pattertwig the squirrel, who offers Prince Caspian a nut and volunteers to carry any messages they have for others. Trufflehunter and the Dwarves ask him to round up their friends for a feast and council at the Dancing Lawn at midnight in three days.
Caspian is a Telmarine human. Aslan means for humans to rule Narnia, but thus far his Telmarine ancestors have done a bad job. To prove his worthiness, Caspian must show the remaining Old Narnians that he respects them and that they can trust him. Like Trufflehunter, the talking beasts have a long memory and have retained their faith in Aslan; they accept Caspian immediately. It almost seems that the closer to nature an individual is (with talking animals being closer to nature and Dwarfs being closer to humans), the easier it has been for them to keep the faith.
Themes
Next, they go to the Seven Brothers of Shuddering Wood, red-haired Dwarves who live in a cave system beneath a rocky grove of fir trees high in the mountains. Although it takes a bit more convincing than with the talking beasts, they come around to the idea of Caspian as rightful king soon enough and pledge their loyalty to him. The blacksmith brothers offer Caspian, Trumpkin, and Nikabrik armor and swords more finely wrought than anything Caspian has seen before, even his own royal sword. They promise to attend the council.
The Dwarves prove slightly more reticent about trusting Caspian than the Bulgy Bears, but they, too, come around in time. Their ancestors likely provided some of the armor and other treasures at Cair Paravel, and their enhanced connection with the Golden Age inclines them to believe faster. But as ever, Caspian’s humility and willingness to work to earn the Old Narnians’ trust makes a powerful argument for his fitness to rule.
Themes
The five black-haired Dwarves who live a little farther down the mountain seem more suspicious, but eventually decide that the enemy of their enemy, King Miraz, must be their friend. They volunteer to introduce the party to some ogres and hags they know, but neither Caspian nor Trufflehunter wish to associate with “horrid creatures” that even Aslan abhors. It seems that the Dwarves’ have only a fragile belief in Aslan; Nikabrik swears he’d believe in anyone or anything who will overpower the “Telmarine barbarians.” He’d even believe in the White Witch—who was a better friend to the Dwarves than the talking beasts.
The book creates a hierarchy of species in Narnia: it has already presented the simpler talking animals in a good light because of their long memories and enduring trust in Aslan. And while it idealizes social collaboration, it upholds a strong sense of hierarchy. Now, it draws a distinct line between the good "Red” Dwarves and the not-so-good “Black Dwarves,” who have been consorting with evil creatures. The book seems to link the black-haired dwarves’ association with evil creatures with the dark color of their skin and hair, which modern readers might recognize as racist (the insinuation being that there is an inherent link between a darker complexion and badness or evil). Nikabrik articulates the source of this moral corruption when he says he prefers power to anything else in the quest to restore Narnia—a worldview that aligns him with the power-hungry Telmarines.
Themes
Caspian, Trufflehunter, Nikabrik, and Trumpkin descend the mountains and stop by a wooded gorge to talk to Glenstorm the centaur and his three sons. Because Glenstorm can see the future, he already knows why they’ve come, and he declares his readiness to join the war that will overthrow Miraz. This shocks Caspian and the others; instead of all-out war, they had imagined living in the woods and secretly rebuilding a slice of Old Narnia in hiding. Glenstorm reminds them of the seriousness of the situation. The conjunction of Tarva and Alambil prophesied the beginning of a new Golden Age which they must work to achieve. The council at the Dancing Lawn must be a war council.
Caspian likes the idea of being king and has been working hard to prove himself to the Old Narnians he meets. But Glenstorm galvanizes him to take the next step: asking others to fight with him to secure a future that the soldiers themselves may not live through the war to see. Such willingness to self-sacrifice, the book argues, is a key component of appropriate power and is necessary to overcome evil.
Themes
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Leaving Glenstorm after a satisfying lunch, Caspian, Trufflehunter, Trumpkin, and Nikabrik must skirt around a human region to reach the home of the mustachioed, gallant talking mouse Reepicheep. He pledges his support (and that of his 11 companions) to Caspian. Finally, after meeting many other talking creatures, the group stops near a well in a wide ring of elm trees to camp for the night. Trufflehunter wishes they could wake the trees, too. He explains that when the Telmarine humans came to Narnia and began to clear the forests, the naiads and dryads sank into a deep sleep. No one has been able to wake them. But if the tree- and water-spirits could stir again, they would quickly chase the Telmarine oppressors away.
Caspian and his friends have been gathering the talking animals and magical creatures of Narnia, but there are even more powerful, elemental forces like the minor deities that animate the trees in the forests and the waters in the streams and wells. The Telmarine subjugation of nature thus becomes a direct act of genocidal aggression against some of its subjects. The presences of the Telmarines has sapped the magic from Narnia; selfishness and self-serving agendas enrich a few (like Miraz) at the expense of the world.
Themes
Trumpkin doesn’t believe in the dryads and naiads, and he jokes that they shouldn’t stop at waters and trees but look for help from the stones on the ground, too. Trufflehunter ignores his sarcasm. Caspian drifts off to sleep and then wakes with a start deep in the night to the sound of distant music. It comes closer and soon the clearing fills with dozens of dancing fauns. Pattertwig sent them to join the council. Before he knows it, he, Trufflehunter, and Trumpkin have joined their dance. Only Nikabrik watches on in silence.
Trumpkin doesn’t believe in what he can’t see; because the trees have been asleep for nearly as long as Aslan has been absent, he discounts Trufflehunter’s words as fairy tales. He believes in what he can see: Telmarine abuses and Old Narnians in hiding. This suggests that the right evidence might awaken his faith. Notably, as the Old Narnians gather, they naturally welcome Caspian into their ranks, confirming his fitness to rule. Only Nikabrik holds himself separate from the rest of the allied Old Narnian forces.
Themes
