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Chapter 8: How They Left the Island
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
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Trumpkin are exhausted when the boat finally rounds the final headland and pulls into the mouth of the creek. After a quick meal of cold apples, they huddle together on a mossy patch of ground and all but Lucy quickly fall asleep. She races her favorite Narnian constellations and listens to nightingales in the trees. Then she stands up and walks into the wood, her eyes growing accustomed to the dark. She remembers dryads, the human forms each tree used to take, and she finds herself begging them to wake up. Leaves rustle all around her, even though there is no breeze. The nightingale falls silent as if waiting for the trees to speak. But the moment passes, and the wood resumes its ordinary look. Suddenly, Lucy feels tired, so she returns to the camp and snuggles down between Peter and Susan.
Just as the book implies that simpler, more rustic creatures (the talking animals) have better kept their faith in Aslan, it also suggests that younger, more child-like humans (like Lucy) have an easier time connecting to the magic in the world and trusting in the power of Aslan. Lucy hears the call of the sleeping dryads, and her faith in them (and, by extension, Aslan, who rules them) is almost enough to rouse them from their stupor. Though she doesn’t manage to rouse them, this moment has reinvigorated Lucy’s faith and heightened her senses for the otherworldly and magical around her.
Themes
In the morning, the forest seems damp and dirty. The children bicker about the best way to proceed. Susan wants to turn back, but Peter and Edmund feel confident that they can navigate through the woods with their compass. Luckily, they know not to assume the gaps between the trees are paths and wander off. They trudge on and on until Trumpkin calls a halt and whispers that he hears something following them. He and Susan hold their bows at the ready. They come near to a dense thicket and a giant gray bear bursts out of it in a shower of broken branches. It knocks Lucy down just as Trumpkin kills it with a single arrow. Susan hesitated too long, afraid to kill a talking bear accidentally.
Susan seems to share the Telmarines’ concerns about the woods, but her fears are less founded than theirs—as queen, she should expect any awakened dryads to respect her. Her fear makes her focus on her own needs and her own plans at the expense of the rest of the group and the larger mission to save Narnia. And when the forest does present danger in the form of a rogue bear, Susan’s fears keep her from effectively responding to the threat. Lack of courage, strongly associated with a lack of faith in Aslan to protect them and to aid their mission, endangers not just Susan but the whole country.
Themes
Trumpkin grimly notes that the bear’s meat will provide welcome food in Prince Caspian’s camp and asks Peter and Edmund to help him butcher it. While they wait, Lucy has a horrid thought: what if one day in their own world people begin to forget their humanity and turn wild, just like the once-civilized animals in Narnia have done? There’s enough to worry about right now, Susan insists, without considering things like that. After the boys butcher the bear, all five wrap up as much meat as they can carry in leaves. It’s not a pleasant job, but they know they’ll be grateful later, when they get a chance to eat a good meal.
Lucy’s worries point toward a phenomenon the book has thus far only implied: that personal evolution and devolution are both possible. The talking animals that did not escape into hiding after the Telmarine invasion devolved into normal, un-talking animals. Likewise, Lucy worries that people who lose their faith or who cannot treat themselves or others with dignity and respect (like the Telmarines) may one day lose their humanity.
Themes
As the sun rises and the stiffness from the previous day’s boat ride wears off, everyone’s mood improves. At least until they haven’t reached the Rush River by the time Peter and Edmund expect. Then they start to worry that they’ve lost their way. Suddenly, the reach the lip of a deep gorge with a river in its bed. The children begin to bicker about what to do, believing themselves to be hopelessly lost. But Trumpkin points out that this could very well be the Rush River; they all know how much the country has changed since the children’s day. At any rate, the river flows north. If they just follow it, it will take them to the Great River and they can navigate back to Aslan’s How from there.
The changes to the Narnian countryside continue to remind readers (and the children themselves) of how much time has passed since the siblings’ last visit. The wildness of the countryside mirrors and comments on the Telmarines’ abuse of power. As bad stewards of the land, they have allowed—and even encouraged—it to fall into disarray. And despite their rising frustrations and falling hopes, the children and the Dwarf continue to work collaboratively, foreshadowing a restored Narnia for all.
Themes
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Just as the party turns downstream, Lucy cries out, “Look! Look! Look!” She saw Aslan himself, a little way up the mountain on their side of the gorge. She’s certain he wants them to go that way. Trumpkin says that he’s heard reports of lions in the woods, and none of them are reportedly talking beasts. He and Lucy argue util he asks how she knows that Aslan himself couldn’t have reverted into a wild animal over all these years. Lucy turns red with rage, but Peter lays a hand on her shoulder. Their D.L.F. just doesn’t understand Aslan, he says. But he isn’t sure he believes her, either.
As the youngest and most pure of heart and faith, Lucy sees Aslan first. The way he shows himself to her demands that she either get the others to agree to go with her, or strike out on her own. Trumpkin continues to act out his disbelief in Aslan—the most he’s willing to admit is that Lucy might have seen a wild lion. And while Peter’s defense of Lucy shows that he still believes in Aslan—at least in an abstract sense—he doesn’t have much faith in Aslan or his sister in the moment. Without seeing proof, he struggles to believe.
Themes
Edmund suggests they vote on going upriver or down. As the oldest, Trumpkin gets the first vote. Dubious of Aslan’s existence, he wants to go downstream. Susan agrees. Edmund recalls that when they stumbled into Narnia, it was Lucy who got there first. None of the others believed her then, either, but she was proven right again and again. He votes with her for going upriver. Peter, after a moment’s thought, breaks the tie by voting downriver; he acknowledges that Lucy may be right but he can’t bring himself to follow what he fears may be wishful, or mistaken, thinking.
By showing himself to just Lucy, Aslan precipitates a spiritual crisis among the group; only Edmund even considers the possibility of believing in what they haven’t seen with their own eyes. He remembers that sight isn’t necessary for faith. When the siblings vote, they show their commitment to working collaboratively despite disagreements, modeling again the leadership that once allowed Narnia to flourish. But Narnia isn’t a totally egalitarian world, either, and the final say must rest with the most authoritative person, in this case High King Peter.
Themes
