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Peter Pevensie:
Peter is the oldest of the four children who travel to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. As the oldest, he is the natural leader, notable for his bravery and good judgment. Peter has high standards, which sometimes make him seem kind of self-righteous to his more flawed little brother, Edmund. Also, sometimes Peter can be blinded by his own self-importance, such as when he finds it difficult to believe his little sister Lucy's story about a world called Narnia, even though he knows that she never lies. Still, in general, Peter is upright and virtuous. When he learns that Mr. Tumnus the Faun has been arrested for protecting his sister Lucy, Peter immediately thinks that it is his duty to try and rescue Mr. Tumnus in return.
During his stay in Narnia, Peter's bravery and leadership skills increase. When he and his sisters first meet Aslan, Peter takes the lead, speaking to Aslan first when everyone else is too overawed to say anything. Peter also takes responsibility for his failings: he admits to Aslan, without being asked, that his treatment of Edmund may have contributed to Edmund's betrayal: "That was partly my fault, Aslan," Peter says. "I was angry with him and I think that helped him to go wrong." As Peter's destiny unfolds, he learns that he is to be High King over his brothers and sisters at the castle of Cair Paravel.
In his first swordfight, Peter slays the wolf Fenris, earning the title "Sir Peter Fenris-bane" from Aslan. But Peter's bravery and success don't mean that he feels no fear. On the contrary, when Peter first sees Fenris attacking Susan, he "did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do." Peter's bravery consists, not in how he feels, but in how he acts. In spite of his fears, Peter pulls himself together and fights. Similarly, when Aslan leaves him in charge of the battle against the Witch, Peter rises to the occasion. Although we learn that Peter feels "uncomfortable" about fighting the battle alone, and "the news that Aslan might not be there had come as a great shock to him," he still takes on the task and ends up fighting with the Witch in hand-to-hand combat.
Peter seems to know instinctively how to be a warrior – after receiving his sword from Father Christmas, he needs no training before slaying Fenris and fighting in the battle. He also instinctively begins to think like a military tactician; when Aslan leads his followers to the Fords of Beruna, Peter suggests that they camp on the far side of the river to protect them from a night attack by the Witch. Aslan tells him this is unnecessary, but that "All the same it was well though of. That is how a soldier ought to think." Actually, we think that Peter's transformation from English schoolboy on holiday to High King Peter the Magnificent in the blink of an eye is one of the more unrealistic aspects of the story!
Maybe part of the reason we find Peter's development hard to believe is that it happens more between the lines than that of any of the other children. The narrator delves into Edmund's and Lucy's thoughts quite a lot, and we understand how their attitudes change, but we don't focus on Peter that much. During the final chapters of the story, the narrator chooses to follow Susan, Lucy, and Aslan, leaving Peter and Edmund "offstage" to begin the battle against the Witch. In fact, the book doesn't really narrate much of the battle – just the very end, when the Witch is killed and Good triumphs over Evil. Why do you think C.S. Lewis didn't care about narrating more of the details of the battle that Peter leads?
Susan Pevensie:(~Played by: Rockpath101~)
As the oldest girl among the four children in Narnia, Susan often takes on a motherly role. For example, it is Susan who makes the practical suggestion that the children put on the fur coats from the wardrobe to keep them warm in the snowy landscape. Sometimes Susan's mothering is annoying to the others. On their first night in the Professor's house, Susan tries to tell Edmund that it is his bedtime, and Edmund immediately says she is "Trying to talk like Mother […] who are you to say when I'm to go to bed? Go to bed yourself." Although Edmund is being pretty darn rude, there's an important truth behind his criticism.
In her hurry to grow up and act like a grown-up, Susan forgets that she herself is also a child. Before she experiences Narnia for herself, Susan is ready to believe that Lucy might be losing her mind and, when the Professor suggests that other worlds could really exist, she's confused because "She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn't know what to think." Susan clearly equates "growing up" with being practical, literal, and maybe even a little unimaginative. She's in such a hurry to become an adult that she hasn't stopped to think about the more amazing possibilities that the world holds.
In many situations, Susan shows that she is the least courageous of the four children. When she finally does make it into Narnia and discovers – along with Peter, Edmund, and Lucy – that Mr. Tumnus has been arrested, she says, "I wonder if there's any point in going on […] I mean, it doesn't seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won't be much fun either. And it's getting colder every minute, and we've brought nothing to eat. What about just going home?" We're pretty torn about what to think about Susan's attitude. When we're reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at home, curled up in a chair with a cup of hot chocolate, it's easy to think that Susan is totally lame and unadventurous. But if we were really in Narnia, standing in the snow with no food, and we had just found out that the only friend we had there had been arrested by an evil Witch…heck, we might want to go home, too.
Besides, Susan's lack of courage doesn't prevent her from sticking to her values. After a discussion with Peter, Susan, and Edmund about what they should do, she admits, "I don't want to go a step further and I wish we'd never come. But I think we must try to do something for Mr. Whatever-his-name is – I mean the Faun." We also notice that Susan isn't afraid of Narnia in particular – she is afraid of the unknown in general. At the end of the book, after she has reigned as Queen Susan the Gentle for many years, Susan, along with the other children, is led by the White Stag to the lamp-post in the woods. The other three want to see what lies beyond it, but Susan doesn't: "by my council," she says, "we shall lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stag no further." So, no matter what world Susan is in, she is nervous about crossing its boundaries.
Of course, Susan does have virtues, and she does develop a special connection with Aslan, much in the same way that her sister Lucy does. Susan notices Aslan's depression on the night they leave the Stone Table, and with Lucy she follows him as he trudges sadly toward the place of his sacrifice. Like Lucy, she comforts him on the night of his death, burying her hands in his mane, and, like Lucy, she witnesses his murder and mourns for him all night. Susan romps with Aslan after his resurrection and helps him free the statues at the Witch's house. When the children become Kings and Queens of Narnia, Susan becomes Queen Susan the Gentle, "a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the Kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage."
Susan's virtues, however, are more passive than Peter's, Edmund's, or Lucy's. While Peter is a great warrior, Edmund is a wise judge, and Lucy is brave and cheerful, Susan is simply gentle and pretty. Those are good things to be, but she doesn't seem to be very actively good – doesn't seem to take action herself, but to be good and practical in the background. One of her gifts from Father Christmas hammers this passivity home: she receives a magic hunting horn which, when sounded, will call help to her no matter where she is. Wouldn't it be just a little bit cooler if she got a magic sword and could help herself? Of course, she does get a magic bow and arrows – and, if you keep reading the Narnia books, you'll find out that she becomes a pretty great shot.
Edmund Pevensie:
Edmund, younger brother to Peter and Susan and older brother to Lucy, starts out as a real jerk. In the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund talks back to Susan, defies Peter, makes fun of the kindly Professor, and teases Lucy about her claim that she has traveled to another world. It's suggested that Edmund's experience at school has turned him into a bully: "You've always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself," Peter says to Edmund, "we've seen that at school before now" (5.13). Some of Edmund's unpleasantness also comes from his clash with Peter, and Peter admits to Aslan that his treatment of Edmund might contribute to his brother's attitude.
When Edmund finally does make it to Narnia, he is discovered by the White Witch, who plays on his greed and selfishness. The Witch convinces Edmund that she will make him a prince and give him power and authority. Foolishly, Edmund eats and drinks food that the Witch gives him, including a large quantity of a candy he requests, Turkish Delight, which she enchants so that he will continue craving it forever. The combination of Edmund's own flaws and the Witch's power makes him a traitor to his brother and sisters. The narrator is careful to explain that Edmund is wicked, but not necessarily evil:
You mustn't think that even now Edmund was quite so bad that he actually wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone. He did want Turkish Delight and to be a Prince (and later a King) and to pay Peter out for calling him a beast. As for what the Witch would do with the others, he didn't want her to be particularly nice to them […] but he managed to believe, or to pretend he believed, that she wouldn't do anything very bad to them.
Lying to himself, Edmund betrays his siblings to the Witch. In this fantasy story with overtones of Biblical allegory, Edmund is like Judas – the trusted member of the inner circle who turns out to be a traitor.
Of course, as soon as Edmund delivers the information that the Witch wants to hear, she takes him hostage and treats him very badly, forcing him to march across the damp countryside without a coat, cold, wet, and hungry. During this journey, Edmund has a small revelation when he sees a group of animals enjoying a feast that Father Christmas gave them. The Witch, angry that her anti-Christmas spell is clearly breaking, turns them to stone: "And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Edmund's ability to feel sympathy and pity demonstrates that he could be reformed.
Eventually, the Witch decides to murder Edmund, but he is rescued just in time by Aslan's followers. At this point, Edmund has a long, private conversation with Aslan. The narrator says that, "There is no need to tell you (and no one ever heard) what Aslan was saying but it was a conversation which Edmund never forgot." After this experience, Edmund changes radically. He asks his brother and sisters to forgive him, and they do. He becomes a valuable part of Aslan's army, attacking the Witch when everyone else is too frightened to do so and cleverly destroying her magic wand. Wounded in the battle, Edmund is healed by Lucy. Crowned King of Narnia along with his siblings, he becomes known as King Edmund the Just, "a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgment."
Edmund's change of heart, not unlike a religious conversion, is the only significant character change that takes place in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If you think about it, all the other characters are constants who don't change or develop. The Witch is always evil, Aslan is always good, Lucy is always truthful, Peter is always brave, and Susan is always gentle. OK, so the other children may develop a little – Peter discovers reserves of strength he never had, and Susan pushes herself beyond her normal limits – but only Edmund goes through a radical transformation. Edmund's journey from nasty traitor to wise judge is the central conceit of the book and shows Aslan's power more than any particular feat of magic.
Lucy Pevensie:
Lucy is the youngest of the four children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but in many ways she is the most important. It's no accident that Lucy is the first one to find her way into the world of Narnia – the gateway through the wardrobe only works sometimes, so it seems meaningful that the first time it operates is to bring Lucy through. Lucy frequently demonstrates her instinctive good judgment. She can tell immediately that Mr. Tumnus is a kind friend, and even when he confesses that he was intending to kidnap her, she feels certain that he will not harm her in any way. In the same way, she knows that Mr. Tumnus is on the side of Good and that the White Witch is on the side of Evil, and she trusts friendly creatures, like Mr. Beaver, on sight.
Lucy is also truthful to the point of stubbornness; when Peter, Edmund, and Susan disbelieve her tale about her adventure in Narnia, she sticks to her story. Lucy defies their disbelief, asserting "I don't care what you think, and I don't care what you say. You can tell the Professor or you can write to Mother or you can do anything you like. I know I've met a Faun in there." Lucy's strength of character and her refusal to lie just to please other people are impressive, especially for a little girl in 1940s England!
Along with her sister Susan, Lucy develops a particularly close relationship with the lion Aslan, the majestic and magical King of Beasts who rules Narnia in his own way. Upon first meeting Aslan, Lucy observes to herself that he has "Terrible paws […] if he didn't know how to velvet them", noticing both Aslan's power and his gentleness. Lucy is very perceptive regarding Aslan's moods, and when the army retreats from the Stone Table, she notices that Aslan seems extremely depressed. With Susan, she follows Aslan back to the Stone Table, and when he notices her, she walks with him and shares his sorrow. At the Stone Table, she and Susan witness Aslan's sacrifice and mourn him, and as dawn breaks they discover that he has been resurrected. Aslan allows Lucy and Susan to get very close to him; during their sad walk to the Stone Table, they bury their hands in his mane. After he is resurrected, they romp and wrestle together joyfully; when he frees the Witch's captives, they ride on his back.
(As you may have noticed, Aslan is a Christ figure in this story, and the relationship between him and the girls reminds us of the relationship between Jesus and his female followers, especially "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary," who witness the Crucifixion and are the first to arrive at the empty tomb after Jesus is resurrected.)
However, although Lucy and Susan have a relatively intimate relationship with Aslan, they are also given a limited role in the battle and other momentous events. It is Father Christmas who tells Susan and Lucy that, although he has given them weapons, they are not supposed to fight in the battle. Lucy objects, saying "I think – I don't know – but I think I could be brave enough." Given her stalwart behavior throughout the book, we totally agree! But Father Christmas tells her that "battles are ugly when women fight." His statement is ambiguous, and we could interpret it to mean that he thinks women fight dirty, or, more likely, that there is potential for more unpleasant violence when men, who tend to be physically stronger, are pitted against women, who tend to be physically weaker. (There is, perhaps, even a slight hint of the possibility of sexual violence as something to be avoided here.) Still, beyond the specific question of whether women should fight on the front lines, there is a more general point: most of the "good" characters in this book, including Aslan and Father Christmas, believe that there are clear gender roles men and women should stick to.
We're not saying that we agree or disagree with this – in fact, we think you should make up your own mind about it – but we are pointing out that's how this particular book works. The boys, Peter and Edmund, take their swords and fight in the battle; the girls, Susan and Lucy, rescue people who have been turned to stone and assist Aslan with behind-the-scenes tactical support. Lucy has a special role as healer, using her magic cordial to help those who have been wounded, and even saving her brother Edmund's life. Still, it's worth noting that Lucy feels ready to break these gender boundaries – to fight in the battle – if she has to do so.
When Lucy saves Edmund's life, we finally see that she does have some flaws. After she pours a few drops of her magic cordial into his mouth, she waits to see if he will recover – waits, while other people and creatures are lying wounded and dying around her on the battlefield. Aslan has to remind her, very strongly, that nobody else should have to die for Edmund's sake. Lucy quickly comes around to his way of thinking, but we've already learned that her love for her family can sometimes distract her from broader humanitarian duties. (OK, we admit that, as flaws go, it's really a pretty small one.)
In the end of the story, of course, the four children become Kings and Queens, and Lucy is known as Queen Lucy the Valiant. It's interesting to us that the virtue Lucy is best known for in Narnia isn't a particularly "girly" virtue. Calling someone "valiant" could be praise for a great warrior, and Lucy transcends her appointed gender role at least a little bit.
Lucy is also the only one of the four children who (sort of) doesn't grow up, even when she reigns for years as a Queen in Narnia. As the narrator describes each of the children developing into a King or Queen, we learn how Peter, Susan, and Edmund have changed as they became adults. "But," the narrator tells us, "as for Lucy, she was always gay and golden haired, and all Princes in those parts desired her to be their Queen." This seems to be a contradiction. Lucy is mature (princes want to marry her) but also not mature – she is "always gay and golden haired" just like she was when she was a little girl, and she doesn't change as much as the other three. We suspect this is because Lucy is already the most perfect of the characters. If you're already truthful and perceptive and valiant, then maybe there's not much growing up left to do!
Aslan:
Aslan is the great lion who rules Narnia. He is described as the King of Narnia, the King of Beasts, the Lord of the Wood, and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan is the embodiment of all that is Good and Just and Right and Perfect and all the snazzy things which are easy for characters to stand up for in movies, but tough for people to stand up for in real life.
When The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe begins, Aslan hasn't been seen in Narnia for generations, and his return is nothing short of the fulfillment of prophecy. As you may have guessed, Aslan is a Christ figure. We don't mean that we have a little pet theory that Aslan is a bit like Jesus. We mean that C.S. Lewis definitely intended Aslan to be an allegorical representation of Jesus Christ, and most of Aslan's actions in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are comparable to parts of the story of Jesus. This is an explicitly Christian fantasy story, with an explicitly Christ-like hero at the center of it. Except that here, Christ is represented by a giant talking lion with a wild, dangerous edge. As Mr. Beaver says, Aslan "isn't safe. But he's good."
Aslan's name itself is powerful, even for people who don't know who he is yet:
At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in his inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realise that it is the beginning of the holidays.
It's interesting to notice that, when they hear Aslan's name, the children not only perceive his power, but also become a little bit more themselves. Edmund, who has betrayed his family, feels dread as a result of his treachery. Peter, who is in the process of becoming a leader and one day a High King, feels even braver. Susan, who loves beautiful things, feels like she is perceiving one. And Lucy, who is young and excitable, feels her excitement and sense of freedom increase. What we've learned is that Aslan makes an impression on everyone, but that impression varies depending on what the individual is like, what he or she has done, and how they view the world.
When Aslan returns to Narnia, pretty much everyone there expects him to whup the White Witch, rescue the traitorous Edmund, bring back spring, and basically make everything perfect. Mr. Beaver recites a prophetic rhyme that suggests Aslan can fix everything in a jiffy:
"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."
Instead of simply taking out the Witch with a wave of his paw, though, Aslan must operate within certain moral and magical limitations. There is a "Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time" which makes Edmund's treachery require some kind of punishment. Instead of allowing Edmund to be murdered by the White Witch, Aslan sacrifices himself in Edmund's place. Like Christ's crucifixion, Aslan's sacrifice involves humiliation and torment, and for a long time he lies dead. But, also like Christ, Aslan is resurrected. Aslan tells Lucy and Susan that a "Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time" saved him – that "when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards." Similarly, Christians believe that Jesus' crucifixion substitutes for the sacrifices due from sinners, freeing them from punishment.
Aslan is notable for always doing the unexpected. When everyone expects him to be a great military leader and conduct a battle against the Witch, instead he allows himself to be sacrificed. Although he does kill the Witch in the end, he appoints others to fight the battle while he does work elsewhere – but he's such a good judge of who is capable of doing what that everything works out for the best. He doesn't stay in Narnia and rule it in person; he's got other things to do, and he likes to let people run their own lives. (Heard of free will?) And even though he presides at the crowning of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, he doesn't hang around and give them advice. As Mr. Beaver says, "He doesn't like being tied down – and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion." We'd say that Aslan works in mysterious ways, but maybe that would be hammering it home a little too far.
