The Silver Chair - by C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair is another one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis. This novel is just one of the tales in The Chronicles of Narnia. Narnia is a magical land filled with mythical creatures and talking beasts, and is ruled by the mightiest of lions, Aslan. The story starts out by introducing the two main characters, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb. Eustace and Jill attend the same school and make their way into the land of Narnia one day in an attempt to escape being bullied by their classmates. Once in Narnia, the two are told to look for signs as they are given a quest that they must complete. They soon encounter many situations that are quite peculiar to them, such as their run-in with Puddleglum (a marsh-wiggle). The three continue on to experience many more interesting encounters with Gentle Giants and Gnomes. The trio is soon taken across the “Sunless Sea” and arrives in an underground city belonging to a maiden known as the “Lady of the Green Kirtle” The silver chair comes into place as they find a man in the underground city. The man says that every night, by the Lady’s order, he must be locked into a silver chair so that he cannot escape on his nightly fits of insanity. At night, the man seems to turn into a completely different person, and begs the three to let him loose. The same man earlier had told them not to release him in the night, no matter how hard he begged, but the three did so anyway as they recognized from the fourth sign given to them that that was what Aslan had meant for them. The man turned out to be the long lost Prince Rilian who was being imprisoned by the evil “Lady of the Green Kirtle”. The Prince and the Lady then fight until the evil woman (now transformed into a serpent) is killed. The story ends with Rilian’s return to his kingdom and the return of Eustace and Jill back to their school where they manage to give the bullies waiting for them a good beating. They were returned only after they had successfully completed the task the Aslan had set for them.

I thought that The Silver Chair was a fascinating book. The many different and odd encounters of Jill and Eustace were very interesting. Another thing that made this book near impossible to put down was the idea of Aslan’s quest. I simply had to find out whether or not the two ended up fulfilling their task. That is what made me want to finish this book.

Also, one of the biggest dilemmas in the story was whether or not Puddleglum, Eustace, and Jill should free the man in the silver chair. The “right-minded” side of the man that they saw in the daytime said one thing, and the “insane” side of the man during the night begged them to let him go, in the name of Aslan. This problem was very interesting and it made the plot. Shortly after followed the climax in the battle between the “Queen of the Underworld” and Prince Rilian. This was one of my favorite parts of the novel.

C.S. Lewis is definitely a very creative writer with loads of imagination. Not only does he write great plotlines and adventures, but he also incorporates biblical allusions into many of his stories, including The Silver Chair. This book is not hard to understand and is great for anytime you want to relax and be captivated by a great story.