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Chapter 11/12
As pointed out in the reading outline, this is Eustace’s first real battle. He doesn’t have the fighting experience of Peter and Edmund nor their skill (remember that Peter was able to go hammer-and-tongs with Jadis somehow). But even without that and with his heart quailing at the sight of the Calormenes approaching, he leaves it behind and gives it his all. He is apparently clear-headed enough to defend himself, even though he can’t remember anything that happened during the frenzy. Per Jill’s description (which is only so reliable, as she doesn’t know much about swordplay), he fights “brilliantly”. His love for Narnia drives him. Compare that to VDT, where the only thing he cared about was himself.
In his indignation (for which we don’t blame him, and the sentiment was shared by at least Jewel) at the Dwarfs, a bit of the old Eustace comes out as he insults them for their treachery. Jewel had offered to give them “hard knocks”, but Eustace did no more than resort to name-calling.
Chapter 15
Eustace’s deep-seated judgement of the Dwarfs continues here and extends also to Shift. He rejoices at the news of Shift’s demise just as we do, but the rest take the high road (and the right one, per the Bible). He also says, rather spitefully, that he hopes the Dwarfs met the same fate. Funny enough, he also recommends that Lucy should not try to make friends with them based on their behaviour, even though he had half an adventure of people treating him decently when he behaved poorly.
It’s strange that here, at the end of his adventures and surrounded by the goodness and beauty of the Real Narnia, his character seems to regress. Even stranger when we think of this place as “Heaven” and how no sin is there. However, I think there’s still something to learn from it. Just as Eustace’s character here isn’t ideal after such a time of change and being in this perfect place, we also have our failed moments. Though we’re not in Heaven yet, we do have the presence of God in our hearts and lives, and yet revert to our fleshly ways. But, also like Eustace, the further up and further in we go, the purer we become and, one day, when we meet Jesus one day, we truly will be perfect at last.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:00 am
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LB:
Chapter 5
Eustace seems to have great presence of mind. Even though it was Jill who told him to hurry up and get Tirian untied, Eustace did jump on that right away. (Can I just point out that Tirian is the second Narnian whose bonds Eustace has cut?) He also thought to offer Tirian food the moment they were walking easily.
Curious that, after Eustace had the smart idea of asking Aslan to allow him and Jill into Narnia in SC, there is no mention of any such notion in LB. The party “talked and talked” and… settled on forcing themselves into Narnia via the rings, even though Aslan had said in MN they were never to be used again. I wonder if asking Aslan ever crossed Eustace’s mind during the powwow or not….
Another change (though hardly a surprising one by this point) in Eustace since VDT is his handling of “our-world” information when speaking of them to Narnians. He takes time to clarify some of the words he’s throwing around, like “wire” and “train”, so that Tirian would have some context. A significant improvement over sneering at Narnia’s “inadequacies” compared to England’s advancements!
Not sure I’ve noticed this before, but Tirian notes that the kids were “well brought up”. Perhaps the change Eustace went through in VDT warranted no memory of how awful he was in official annals.
Chapter 9
Eustace’s practical mind pops up in full force (or at least, it seems to in comparison to Jill’s excitement). While Jill dislikes it when he is “dreadfully matter-of-fact” in the face of someone who is running on emotions, I don’t think it’s wholly a bad thing. He doesn’t do it because he’s heartless or has no emotion or an opinion on the matter: it’s just his nature to analyze things. I think that his response helped deflate some of the rising tension caused by Jill.
He doesn’t spend all his time in rational thought, though, because he does join Jill in begging to stay. He even feels brace doing it. Contrast this with his (days-long) demands to be taken home or at least to a British Consul back in VDT. Back then, he didn’t want adventure. Now, he knows that he’s in Narnia for a purpose that he not only must, but wants to fulfill.
Eustace isn’t afraid to admit his weakness to Jill, even when she appears braver than him. She trembles, but he feels like he may be sick. She declares she’d rather die fighting for Narnia than grow “old and stupid” in England, but he seems to be more interested in living in any case: he’s the one who brought up the question of death and the thought that a railway accident had flung them into Narnia. That’s not to say that Jill would not rather live herself or that Eustace is less willing to die for Narnia. It just seems that she’s more optimistic than he is about the possibility of dying.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:11 am
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Statistics: Posted by Benisse — Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:20 am
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SC -
Chapter 1 - Eustace has shown a remarkable change in 2 weeks (11 out of 13 left in the term) and everyone has noticed. If anyone needed evidence of a change in his heart, they don't even need more than these two weeks! Jill admitted that her snapping remarks were unfair because they were not true of the Eustace of the past two weeks. He's stood up to bullies and made it on their hit list. To add to the changes in him, check out his take on magic as opposed the the beginning of VDT: he now believes magic is real, knows that he can't know what to expect, and has an understanding that circles and chants are anti-Aslan. Of course, he had a good chunk of the voyage to know these kinds of things, plus whatever extra time he had with Edmund and Lucy after their adventure. Still, now that he's at Experiment House, away from Narnia and from his cousins, he's still holding to his newfound beliefs and character.
Another change I noticed is his reaction to the cliff. Unlike his reaction to the painting and its ocean, he takes the cliff much more calmly (despite his fear) and is the one helping out the panicking person of the scenario.
Chapter 5 - In the discussion of the quest with Puddleglum, I spotted a bit of old Eustace mingled with the new: on the one hand, he’s snapping and perhaps expecting things to be easier than they may be (perhaps aided by Puddleglum's very pessimistic take on the whole venture); on the other, he has confidence in Aslan and his adventuring spirit is ready to go, even going so far as to suggest leadership (not that he’s ready for that role, but he’s trying).
Chapter 8 - While this chapter focuses mainly on Jill and how she muffed up the signs, but remember that there are two others who should know the signs as well as she. Earlier (way back in chapter 3), Eustace had complained about how he and Jill would have known what to do had she not "played the fool" on the cliff. True as that is, they've had how much time in which Jill could have taught him the signs -- indeed, unless Jill recited them to herself mentally or quietly, I'd think the chances of Eustace hearing them are pretty high. At any rate, he recognizes the second and third signs as muffed once he saw them. Point is, yes, Aslan charged Jill with the task of reciting the signs, but that does not give Eustace any reasonable cause to pin all the responsibility on Jill. In order for the quest to succeed, he should have been just as (if not more) diligent in keeping the signs in mind.
Though he never says anything about not keeping the signs himself, he at least realizes that he was wrong to allow himself to be distracted from the quest to the point of "we'd nearly forgotten about Prince Rilian". He also recognizes a private wrong: secretly hoping he could shift the blame for Aslan's "belated" instructions. Even though it would have been easy to chide Jill for suggesting it, he comes out and admits he had thought the same, but knows that he can't justify himself. "We must just own up."
Chapter 15 - “I wonder am I small enough to get through where Jill did?” - This is where Lewis specifically says that Eustace does a very brave thing. Up until this point, Eustace has followed others, like Caspian, Reepicheep, and Puddleglum. He's hardly done any fighting at all (he attacked the sea serpent, however bravely and uselessly; he struck at the witch's snake-form in response to the danger). But here, in his concern for Jill, he is willing to stick out his neck to go after her into something completely unknown, and without thought of how nice it’d be for one of the others to do it instead (had they been able to). He even expresses hope when the other two are anything but: Rilian calls down shame on them for having sent a maiden into danger and Puddleglum is going on about fate and starvation. Eustace refuses to wallow in what-ifs and regret. Instead, he determines to find a solution and work toward it with no delay.
Overall, I think I'll say that SC shows much of the progression of post-dragon Eustace. Of course, we had some in VDT, but it's in SC that we see more of his old and new natures at war with each other. His poor qualities are highlighted as common features of the journey (like snapping at Jill and grousing at Puddleglum), but he also exhibits new ways of thinking that we hadn't seen heretofore. (Kind of makes you wonder exactly how bad of a shock his change was to his parents! To them, it would have seemed sudden indeed, but he had the benefit of improving over weeks, maybe months, in Narnia before returning; then school started probably not long after, considering that his voyage diary was marked with September dates. (And of course, I've gone with that too. It's a bit over-the-top, but whatever. (fanfiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; click at your own risk, etc) https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11253349/1/The-Difference)
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Fri Aug 17, 2018 6:39 am
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I hadn't noticed before how much like a dragon Eustace has already behaved. In The Hobbit, I think there's a line about Smaug not really enjoying the treasure for its quality or beauty, but having a rough idea of its current market value, and clinging to it on that account. That sounds just like Eustace doing his school work for marks without caring about any subject for its own merit.
Also dragons are very isolated creatures because they, like Eustace, make enemies out of anyone they come in contact with (even other dragons). Dragons and Eustace are both entirely self-interested and quite inconvenient to have around.
Statistics: Posted by Swanwhite — Fri Aug 17, 2018 3:06 am
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Curious that Eustace thought the old dragon as "sad". I really have no explanation for that.
It's amazing how quickly Eustace's attitude changes after his transformation. Though he harbours dragonish thoughts for at least a moment, he does realize that being a dragon is an awful thing. Which is perhaps in itself amazing since he knows nothing about dragons apart from his short observation of the old one and checking out the cave, and yet he is able to come to that conclusion.
I hadn't thought of this till this time around: Eustace grew up as a vegetarian, but apart from that factoid at the very beginning of chapter one, it never comes up again. How well did he adjust to eating meat on the Dawn Treader? Did he even eat it onboard? Maybe, since he mentions that all the poultry was washed overboard by the storm, and the eggs were a bit of an afterthought in his diary? At any rate, if he had any shock at eating almost a whole dragon's worth of meat here, he at least had the dragonish tastes and digestion to filter it for him.
Imagine the impact it would have had on Eustace to hear everyone, not just his cousins and Caspian, say that they had his back and would try to find a way to free him of his enchantment! There's not been any indication of any of the crew being rude directly to him, and we know for certain that Rhince didn't like him, but still. That's a lot of sudden support from a whole bunch of people he knows don't like him. And, as Lewis states, it does greatly affect him: liking people and being liked is the only thing keeping him from despair.
That said, he still feels shame. A rightful one, I believe. He is sorry for the way he's been and what he's become, even though he's getting along with the others so well now. Despite his immense usefulness and his eagerness to help, he doesn't puff up with pride (at least, not the hurtful sort). He is humbled by his time as a dragon.
I could wax poetic about the un-dragoning. In fact, I have. I went through a period of my own during which I became a dragon of my own and, yes, tried to "undress" myself till I eventually did as Eustace did and let the Lion do it. This poem, though it looks at Eustace specifically, reflects myself during that time as well. I'll just leave this link here, since it covers most of what I'd want to say and because it's late and I need to get to bed.... (fanfiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; click at your own risk) https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8094871/1/Dragon
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Thu Aug 16, 2018 6:31 am
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@Swan: Your poem sums up Eustace quite well and even has a lesson in it.
I got distracted and used up all my time, so I only read one chapter today.
VDT: Chapters 5
Though any of us would complain about a storm, how tired we were as a result, the poor rations, and the question of what to do and where to go, Eustace spends most of his time complaining about /people/. So much so, that he fails to recognize that they did ask for his opinion, but he merely labelled it as “instead of producing a better plan, they had the cheek to ask what I proposed.” It also doesn’t cross his mind that Lucy took pity on him when she offered to share her ration; to him, she did it for “some reason”.
Interesting that he justifies his attempt for extra water by declaring himself unselfish by not waking the others and asking for more water. Even more interesting is his statement, “I always try to consider others whether they are nice to me or not.” Again, he is lying to his diary (and therefore himself), choosing to take it easy on himself and to villainize the rest.
Again, he casts everyone as out to get him when he fears they’ve left him behind. I wonder if this is something instinctual gained by his school experience. As a bullying victim, he’s always had to be careful about Them; as a bully himself, he may have feared retaliation from his victims. If he’s ever had friends, he doesn’t seem to remember what that’s like, and his cousins aren’t his biggest fans either, so behaviour other than what he’s accustomed to is entirely foreign to him.
I think a takeaway is wrapped up in a single word: perspective. He never once puts himself in someone else’s shoes. Even though he knows about unselfishness and being kind when someone doesn’t deserve it, he’s oblivious to the unselfishness and kindness of others, and particularly toward himself. He refuses to see anything in any way other than his preferred version of the tale, however false it may be.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:43 am
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I was also noting how much of his outlook is learned from his parents. He has clearly inherited a great deal of their conceit and habits. (I'm not sure though whether Eustace for himself has the obsession with new trends that his parents have. He's not necessarily keen on newness for his own part.) The other thing I noticed was how much stock he puts in academic success. I think C. S. Lewis writes Eustace as almost a parody of himself. Eustace's flaws are mostly an exaggeration of Lewis's flaws. As an academic prodigy of sorts Lewis must have been tempted to be a snob about that at times, and I think Lewis too had a tendency towards self-pity.
Eustace Scrubb
built a castle from
numbers in a notebook
that could prove his worth,
but sadly knowledge of geography
is not the earth
and a limerick
is not the same as mirth.
Statistics: Posted by Swanwhite — Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:37 pm
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Ajjie is very busy at the moment. I'm preparing for a three week trip to Europe where I'll be speaking at 2 conferences and I'm moving to another city and starting a new job in the next 2 month and a half so I'm a little overwhelmed but I'll try take part as best I can.
Day 1
I was struck by the following quote:
“He thought of course that they were making it all up; and as he was far too stupid to make anything up himself, he did not approve of that.” ((p.s. wrote this before seeing Ariel's comments on the same quote))
It's interesting that Lewis refers to Eustace as stupid because, given the other information we know about him, he is anything but. He loves to read books of “information” and knows about insects like beetles. He apparently knows a whole lot about art theory, because Edmund is worried that Lucy's comment on the picture will “get him started about Art and all that” and later we're told that “he knew a lot of answers” to Lucy's comments that it looked like the waves were really moving. He also shows off a detailed political knowledge for someone his age when he threatens to “lodge a disposition” with the “British consul”. He also knows about limericks and poetic devices like assonance (another thing Edmund is worried he will give them a lecture on). In fact, it seems like Eustace makes a habit of lecturing his cousins about things he has stores of knowledge on.
So why does Lewis call him “stupid”? Well the context of the description is that he is “too stupid to make anything up for himself” so I think Lewis is pointing to the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Eustace is full of random head-knowledge and apparently loves to rattle off what he knows to other people (something which really annoys Edmund). But he has no imagination and doesn't know how to apply the things he knows. This is evidenced by his reaction to the painting “coming to life”. He assumes Lucy and Edmund are playing a “silly trick” on him. He can't deal with the possibility that what he is seeing mig be real and so he tries to rationalise what he is experiencing.
And I think this is the crux of what Lewis is trying to teach us. Head-knowledge is not enough if it is not applied with wisdom and imagination. It doesn't matter if you know all sorts of random theoretical stuff if all you can so with it is show off and annoy people. If you act like that, you might think you are very clever but actually you're being rather foolish. And that kind of attitude can close your mind to truths that don't fit in nicely with your rational way of thinking.
This is a lesson I need to keep in mind working in Academia.
Three proverbs about fools:
“The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” Proverbs 15:2
“A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.” Proverbs 18:2
“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” Proverbs 18:7 (NKJV)
Statistics: Posted by Ajnos — Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:25 pm
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VDT: Chapter 2
And now we come to the part where I really can’t defend Eustace, apart from being irritable while sick. Indeed, Lewis says that as soon as he stopped wailing about the “storm”, Eustace proceeds to make demands, threats against Caspian and Reepicheep, a diary in which to grouse, and a spot of “fun” at the expense of Reep. If he was rude and selfish before, it’s just got worse. His bullying escalates to physical tormenting (and he either hasn’t got it through his head that Reep is his own person, or he simply doesn’t care). He walks about with his nose in the air, taking no consideration for the fact that these people wouldn’t know about things in his world any more than he knows theirs (and, frankly, he only knows so much himself about the things he’s spouting off). He makes no effort at all to connect with, understand, or even care about anybody on the ship. This makes things miserable for him, as we all know.
Also of note, he mentions to his diary that it’s lucky he’s not seasick. Even to his private booklet (and therefore himself), he lies about Lucy’s involvement in that piece of “luck”, preferring to chalk it up to his own body and good fortune.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:57 am
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