Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Read and discuss the Last Battle with us (July 14-21)

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Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Swanwhite » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:37 pm

The Summer Challenge 2014. The Last Battle.
This is the place to post your reflections on the chapters we've read and comment on other people's posts. Further up and further in!

Mon 14: Ch 1 & 2
Tue 15: Ch 3 & 4
Wed 16: Ch 5 & 6
Thur 17: Ch 7 & 8
Fri 18: Ch 9 & 10
Sat 19: Ch 11 & 12
Sun 20: Ch 13 & 14
Mon 21: Ch 15 & 16
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by The Happy Islander » Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:18 am

Chapter 1:

Little birds are flying
Swiftly, softly, overhead.
"Will the birds be talking?"
A liar's filled with dread.
"Ah!" the Liar is sighing,
Lion skin at his feet still spread,
"Those are just dumb birds soaring."
And as singing birds race ahead,
The liar is sewing and silently plotting:
A web of lies is spun thread by thread.


Chapter 2:

Little birds telling tales,
Wondrous stories of Aslan the King.
Can they be true?
They must be true!
Man and unicorn feel they must sing,
Because of the beautiful tales.
They might not need me but; they might.
I'll let my Head be just in sight;
A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
-Emily Dickinson
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Swanwhite » Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:04 am

Oh I love your poems, Islie :)
"swiftly, softly" catches me especially, and I like how you use birds for both the chapters.


I've kind of made two reflections that both relate to both chapter 1 and 2.


A thunderclap
Shakes the earth in warning.
In the sky above
All the stars are mourning,
And the last king of Narnia
Stands on the edge
Of the end of the sight
From the first flight of Fledge.

Now the water is dry
And the sun rises black
As the skin of a lion
On poor Puzzle's back
Becomes the most dangerous
lie mixed with truth
To fell an old world
And a king still in youth.


A Contrast in Friendships

One thing that had not occurred to me before was how these first two chapters present expressively contrasting examples of friendship.

In the first we have Puzzle and Shift who call themselves friends. They are very different from each other and Shift pretends that they are using their different strengths to help each other because Puzzle does the physical work (such as fetching the lion skin) while Shift does all the thinking and planning for both of them. In reality Shift is just using his cleverness to use Puzzle for his own selfish purposes, and even Puzzle is not a good friend to Shift because he serves him out of fear rather than real love. The real strength that Puzzle could have offered Shift was his more sensitive sense of right and wrong, but Puzzle is not brave enough to stick to his convictions and Shift is too proud and selfish to take heed.

In the second chapter we find the real friendship of Tirian and Jewel. They have each risked their lives for each other and would do so again. They also have different strengths, but actually use them to serve each other. Jewel is more cautious in his reasoning and conclusions than Tirian is. He is slower than Tirian to believe that Aslan has come, but when Roonwit tells them that it is a lie, Jewel questions this also while Tirian is already angry at the liars. Tirian's boldness and Jewel's consideration balance each other. Jewel also uses his physical strength to help Tirian when they ford a river by keeping to his right "so as to break the force of the current", and later Jewel tells Tirian to ride on his back to escape an immediate danger. These are services freely offered in friendship and in no way forced or manipulated. When Tirian decides to turn himself in, it is not something that Jewel would have done of his own accord, but he decides to go with Tirian. This is still completely different from Shift wanting the lion skin and Puzzle fetching it because Tirian says "There is no need for both of us to go" and means it sincerely. Jewel chooses to go with him of his own free will, and they face the hard thing together.

These first two chapters make some excellent points about what friendship should and shouldn't be, and even though I hadn't noticed it before, I think it very likely that the contrast in the two friendships was intended by Lewis.
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by hobbit_of_narnia » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:27 am

Something I noticed this last time I've read these chapters is that I'm always quick to judge Puzzle for his agreeing with Shift, and Tirian and Jewel for their impetuous actions, but then I asked myself what I would have done in their situation, and I'm afraid I wouldn't have done any better than they did.
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Ariel.of.Narnia » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:08 pm

Good thoughts everybody!
I would post something right now but I have to resubmit some links to Wrosie first (whoops). Also since I'm out of town, I got a head start and finished all of the book as well as all of my reflections but I hope to post them somewhat according to the day. Ish. :)
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Benisse » Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:05 pm

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and poems so far. Swanny's observation about the contrast in the two friendships was a fresh insight for me especially. I've been out of town but hope to start reading LB today ;)
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Ajnos » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:32 pm

Great thoughts guys. I loved your poems, Islie, and I like the way you referred to Fledge. Excellent thought about the friendships. Hobbit, you're right that it's easy to quickly judge a character as good or bad but when you really get into it and their thought processes etc, you can learn a lot more about them and about us.

I've decided that for the first few chapters at least, I'll do Character Profiles as we meet different main characters. We first meet Shift and Puzzle in chapter 1 and Tirian and Jewel in two. But since I'm a day behind in posts, but not in reading (it's almost bed time for me) I've included information from 3 & 4

Shift

Name: Shift
Species: Ape (though later claims to be a very old human)
Physical Description: Very old, ugly and wrinkled. Later dresses in a scarlet jacket, jewelled slippers and a paper crown
Role: Chief antagonist

Character/Personality - What we learn about the character:
Shift is a selfish character, full of deceit and manipulation. He cares only about himself and gets others, especially Puzzle, to serve him and satisfy his own desires. He cares nothing for the wellbeing of others. He talks down on other people, making them feel inferior in both intelligence and moral judgement. He represents the kind of person who is selfish, greedy and manipulative.

Puzzle

Name: Puzzle
Species: Donkey
Physical Description: Grey in colour (at least a grey nose). Long neck.
Role: Shift's skivvy. Persuaded by Shift to wear the lionskin and masquerade as Aslan

Character/Personality - What we learn about the character:
Puzzle's character is a little hard to pin down. He is certainly partly naïve and has extremely low self-esteem. He is not quite as stupid as Shift wants him to think, but he lets Shift talk him down and boss him around. I've been wondering whether it is really a lack of intelligence or sense that lets him fall for Shifts lies, or if he is so desperate for friendship of any sort, he allows himself to be persuaded. This represents a far too common personality trait in the world and Puzzle makes us aware of just how easily someone can be conned in their desperateness for approval. I've also been thinking a little of how Puzzle might be seen as a counterpart to Emeth. I won't get into the debate about whether Lewis was right about Emeth now (we can save that for when we get to him), but I was thinking that if Emeth is meant to represent those who have devoutly followed a false god or religion because of being brought up in a place where the True God is not known or accurately portrayed, Puzzle might be seen to represent those who, although they believe in the True God, follow false teachings about him and what he expects from us. One might ask how someone who knows about the True God can be so easily led astray from the truth about him, and the answers may be the same as for Puzzle. They are led by a false teacher, like Shift, either through genuine ignorance and naivety, or through a desperate need for acceptance that masks their judgement. There were moments when Puzzle did know what was right (it would be dreadful for people to mistake him for Aslan, Aslan wouldn't want them giving evil commands in his name) and yet he has convinced himself that Shift knows better than him and so lets his moments of conscience be quelled by Shifts "superior" arguments.

Tirian

Name: King Tirian
Species: Human (Telmarine)
Physical Description: 20-25 years old, broad shoulders, scanty beard, blue eyes, a fearless honest face
Role: King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, Emperor of the Lone Islands

Character/Personality - What we learn about the character:
Tirian is a good man, with a good strong conscience. As a King, however, he comes across as still young and inexperienced. He cares strongly for his kingdom and his subjects, but he is somewhat impetuous, acting before he thinks through his actions. His instincts are true, however, and he has a good heart. Unlike most of the other Narnian Kings we read about, he has lived his life so far without ever having met Aslan in person. He knows about him, believes in him and is faithful to him, but there is a degree to which this is second-hand knowledge and he has not really experienced his working himself. He is very excited about the prospect of Aslan's return and relies more strongly on the eyewitness accounts than Roonwit the centaur's prophesies. While his faith in Aslan is mostly strong, he does have some doubt, allowing the phrase "he's not a tame Lion" to let him doubt both the stars foretelling and Aslan's goodness. His rashness causes much trouble but he tries always to do what's right, even admitting his guilt handing himself over for killing the Calormene. While he does make errors of judgement, there are some things he will take on faith. This is seen in his calling out to Aslan in his deepest need and to the friends of Narnia, both of whom he only knows about in long distant tales. And although he has moments where he fears that Aslan might truly have returned and turned out not to be who he thought he was, he is immediately clear that it is all lies when he hears the claims that Aslan and Tash are one. He represents the everyday Christian who tries to do what is right and sometimes fails.

Jewel

Name: Jewel
Species: Unicorn
Physical Description: Blue horn, creamy white flanks
Role: Tirian's faithful steed and best friend

Character/Personality - What we learn about the character:
Jewel is fiercely loyal to his master. As the two are kindred spirits, he shares much of Tirian's characteristics, including faith in Aslan, but room for doubt. He is quick to avenge the wronged Narnians and equally penitent about his rashful behaviour.
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Tenethia » Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:59 am

*comes into the thread crying and clinging to everybody in sight*
This is why I haven't read LB more than once. :P

I've gotten through Chapter 1 and have no deep, intricate thoughts on them.

What struck me most this time attempting the book (I've started the first two chapters a half dozen other times) is how Shift pretends to be Puzzle's friend. It's so... obvious to us it's not, but it reminds me of how people have used others by sending them on guilt trips and putting themselves down in order to lift themselves up, and... *grrrs* I can't write anymore about this. It hurts.
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by Swanwhite » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:18 am

Ch. 3
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Ch. 4

I love seeing the Narnian perspective of encounters from our world. It's almost funny how pivotal points in Narnian history were when children came to its rescue. Obviously the kids made a difference because Aslan was using them, showing his strength by working through weakness. I like how the Last Battle gives us an opposite point of view by having a Narnian protagonist instead. It's neat seeing the friends of Narnia as these mysterious otherworldly heroes.
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Re: Summer Challenge Sharing Thread

Post by hobbit_of_narnia » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:36 am

I just read LB a month or two ago. It makes it hard to concentrate this time around. :P
It always drives me crazy, though, that Tirian never gets his chance to speak and overthrow Shift's "rule" in chapter 3. But then I think, "Oh, maybe it's better this way, though." I mean, all the characters end up happy in the end. And this way the book is longer and more interesting. :lol:
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