RE: [thelionscall] Dawn Treader
It could also (from within the story) that there simply weren't that many talking beasts left at the time. After all, a life in hiding and on the run would have cut down on their numbers. Just look at how small Narnia's army was when it came to battle. Also, there would be few beasts who would be interested in leaving their homes when they had just gotten back to them.
I would suspect that the real reason was the type of story C.S. Lewis wanted to tell. However, the ones others and I have listed are perfectly good as well.
"O. Daniel Stanley" <dstanley@zbc.edu> wrote:
"O. Daniel Stanley" <dstanley@zbc.edu> wrote:
I don't know if Caspian had reestablished contact with the merpeople or not, I'm sure it was lost during the reign of the Telmarines, and probably before. I'm not sure if they'd be able to actually be on the boat. I was thinking that creatures like otters and the like who are not afraid of water. I'd say beavers, but there seems to have been an unfortunate extinction of talking beavers in Narnia by the time of Caspian's reign.
But I agree with you that the real reason was Lewis's desire to write a sea tale reminicent of the sea tales of old. And they of course didn't have bears, badgers and centaurs running around on the poop deck.
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From: thelionscall@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Daniel Himes
Sent: Thu 4/13/2006 6:27 PM
To: thelionscall@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [thelionscall] Dawn Treader
It's not just talking beasts. There aren't any dwarves or any other creatures either. You could argue that most would not be suitable to the sea, but then there are the naiads and mermen who both would be perfect for a sea voyage. I think the real reason was Lewis's basing the whole adventure on the old tales of the sea.
"O. Daniel Stanley" <dstanley@zbc.edu> wrote:
Yes, that's a given. However, my thought was that since in the new Narnia under the reign of Caspian X, talking beasts were given equal status with humans. And yet it seems that there is only one talking beast who has taken sail in this adventure.
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From: thelionscall@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Daniel Himes
Sent: Wed 4/12/2006 8:07 PM
To: thelionscall@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [thelionscall] Dawn Treader
Talking beasts are only shown to come from inside the boarders of the country of Narnia itself, although they can travel and live outside if they choose. Calormen and Telmar, for instance, has none, and Archenland only has talking beasts they hired from Narnia. Since the entire adventure takes place outside of Narnia, its no wonder.
Brook Ogle <brivagook224@yahoo.com> wrote:
Perhaps the Aslan in our world ;-) inspired the artist to with a picture of this other-worldly ship in his mind's eye, knowing it's future purpose? I have usually thought that the painting was more of a non-specific picture of a ship, and that the details of the Dawn Treader didn't appear until they actually went into the picture.
I never really thought about the lack of talking beasts in this book, but you're right! I guess I was appeased by the other characters who wouldn't be found in out world, such as the dufflepuds, the dragon (who never talked... right?), Ramandu and his daughter... The Mer-people who Lucy sees towards the end seem to qualify more as people than beasts. Maybe the animals they ride and shepherd (don't have my book with me at the moment, so I can't remember exactly what they are... seahorses maybe?) are talking beasts, but they just couldn't carry on a conversation due to the water barrier?
~Brook~
"O. Daniel Stanley" <dstanley@zbc.edu> wrote:
I�m rereading Dawn Treader right now and 2 things strike me as unusual:
*** There is an old picture in Eustace�s house of that someone painted of the Dawn Treader. Where did this picture come from? If it was a Narnian painter, they would have had to go back in our time to deliver it here. If it was a painter from our world, he/she would have had to go forward in time to see the ship and then back in time to return to our world. We know that there is no strict connection between our time and Narnian time, but this is the only example of being able to go backwards in time from Narnia to England.
*** Other than Reepicheep and Aslan, there is an amazing lack of talking beasts in this book.
Just some thoughts,
Dan
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