The last time I read The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis was the first time in many years and also shortly after the publication of Solomon Says. It was a transfixing re-read! It seemed like the perfect novelization of my nonfiction book on Proverbs.
The story is literally about a journey from slavery to sonship. Shasta had to learn to handle freedom and, ironically, found his identity at the end of the journey in involuntary obligations that he could never escape. Adulthood means responsibility. All other “freedom” is a scam.
Bree, the horse, found that getting out of slavery was easier than getting slavery out of the horse. A lifetime of being the best war steed among dumb animals had led to pride and a certain amount of slackness. In one scenario, it is explicitly shown that Bree does not have the ability to apply maximum effort except under threat. He needs to learn to do better to reach real freedom, as well as learn humility.
Aravis is the social opposite of Shasta. While he was a slave to a miserably poor man, she was the daughter of an elite family. As a woman in a pagan form of male-dominated society, she was also virtually a slave who needed liberation. But her attitude was, nevertheless, much that of a slave master. While she had an honor code that was admirable in some respects, she had to learn to universally apply it.
Hwin, the mare who was helping Aravis, seems to be the rock of the company, a kind of equine Lady Wisdom. She undergoes the least change (that I can remember) but is a model of wisdom for the group.
Tashbaan & the Feminine Alternative
The fours’ journey includes a necessary trip through the city of Tashbaan, where there is an incident that threatens the entire escape (though, in the end, it makes it truly successful). One aspect of that incident is that Aravis is recognized by her friend Lasaraleen. Thinking quickly, Aravis leverages Lasaraleen’s friendship to protect herself and the horses.
What follows is, I think, a study in contrasting femininities. Lasaraleen is completely at peace with being married off by her family to whomever, with the only consideration being that she can continue living as she did as an aristocrat’s daughter. Almost all that matters is being pampered in luxury and attending parties.
Here is a quote:
The fuss she made about choosing the dresses nearly drove Aravis mad. She remembered now that Lasaraleen had always been like that, interested in clothes and parties and gossip. Aravis had always been more interested in bows and arrows and horses and dogs and swimming. You will guess that each thought the other silly.
Notice that while Lewis obviously prefers the character of Aravis, he does not condemn Lasaraleen’s. As the two young women interact, the difference between them allows Aravis to reevaluate some of the attitudes that they share in common as members of the same aristocracy. And while Lewis clearly sees Aravis as virtuous, those virtues also had allowed her to respond to her circumstances by planning and nearly achieving her own death. So there is lots of room for growth in wisdom and even something to learn, perhaps, from the adaptive attitude of Lasaraleen.
Despite many cliches in the description of Lasaraleen, the end result is a stark display of two types of femininity.
Tashbaan & the Masculine Alternative
The contrasting female types are complemented by a presentation of masculinities. There are two identifications that take place in the incident in Tashbaan. Aravis is seen by her aristocratic counterpart; Shasta is seen by his as well.
The reader does not immediately recognize what is going on, which is probably a good thing since the realization would make the whole story seem wildly improbable. (Later on, Aslan’s providential planning become the key that explains all the unbelievable coincidences.) Initially, all the reader understands is that Shasta has been misidentified as someone he is not. But:
- Shasta is recognized by Narnians as a Narnia-adjacent native: true
- Shasta is recognized as King Lune’s son: also true
The similarity between what happens to Aravis and what happens to Lasaraleen doesn’t end there. While Aravis has a aristocratic female counterpart in Lasaraleen, the key of everything that happens to Shasta involves a much closer male counterpart in Prince Corin.
To recap: Lewis tells a story of a young man and young woman who are both escaping their situations, accompanied by a stallion and a mare doing the same. And in Tashbaan the woman meets a counterpart female and the man meets a counterpart male. Lewis had to have planned all this.
So just as Lewis presents two female ideals, so we should see Shasta and Corin is in the same light.
Here is Corin’s story explaining himself to Shasta:
“A boy in the street made a beastly joke about Queen Susan,” said Prince Corin, “so I knocked him down. He ran howling into a house and his big brother came out. So I knocked the big brother down. Then they all followed me until we ran into three old men with spears who are called the Watch. So I fought the Watch and they knocked me down. […] Then the Watch took me along to lock me up somewhere. So I asked them if they’d like a stoup of wine and they said they didn’t mind if they did. Then I took them to a wine shop and got them some and they all sat down and drank till they fell asleep. I thought it was high time for me to be off so I came out quietly and then I found the first boy – the one who had started all the trouble – still hanging about. So I knocked him down again.”
Shasta has plenty of character flaws. The fact that he did not tell his “captors” that they were mistaken about his true identity was one immediate piece of evidence. Slave life had taught him some bad behavior. But next to Corin, he seems like the picture of restraint and reasonableness. While Corin’s values are honorable, he does not give a thought to the future or to the risks he incurs by resorting to combat at any opportunity. All wrongs must be immediately avenged and all fights must be joined no matter how emphatically those in authority have forbidden such adventures. He knows how to put on a show of humility when rebuked for disobedience but he does not hesitate to continue to disobey.
If Lasaraleen is a soft female juxtaposed to the virtues of Aravis, Corin is a treehouse pirate boy contrasted with a much wiser and humbler Shasta.
He is also shown to be far more heroic as the story unfolds. It turns out that Shasta, not Corin, will inherit a kingdom. Shasta is not happy about this, but it is obviously a much better situation for the king’s subjects. Lewis is sets up Shasta as the model for a boy becoming a man. Corin is likable, but not an example to follow.
Parenthetical Afterthought: Three Fathers
What if Shasta had never been kidnapped and brought to Calormen and raised by a fake father who used him for slave labor? King Lune, his real father, is always presented in a positive light.
But he obviously is limited in how he corrects Corin.
This review of the novel reminded my of the possible significance of Rabadash, the prince and heir of the Tisroc, the ruler of Calomen. Rabadash is a horrible man and his relationship with his horrible father is also horrible. King Edward mentions in passing one thing that has gone wrong with Rabadash: “He is little used (more’s the pity) to having his will crossed.”
While Corin is not a villain, I see very little indication that his will gets seriously challenged by his father or anyone in authority. I can’t help but wander if we aren’t supposed to see a criticism, though much milder, in Corin’s upbringing.
So how would Shasta have turned out if he had been raised as Corin’s brother by King Lune?. Among all the other providences mentioned in the book, the reader might consider that perhaps Shasta becomes better king by being raised as a slave rather than a prince.
Recovering Masculinity?
I point out in my book, that “manliness” is obvious a theme in Proverbs, but the contrast is rarely with femininity. Rather, the issue is adulthood versus childhood. Sex and violence are the pastimes of boys who refused to grow up. While there are more vicious and more innocent versions of immaturity, the agenda presented to the son is to become wise. Loving fights and the glory of heroism, as opposed to gentleness and patience, can be a deception to mislead Christian men into folly. Lewis’ novel is a pointed call to be a true man who can benefit God’s Kingdom.