The Silver Chair

After the owls take Jill and Eustace to the mysterious Marsh-wiggles, the children meet the third protagonist, Puddleglum, whose name is a deliberate play on words that contributes to his characterization as a “puddle of gloom”—a typical trait for his species, although Puddleglum himself is described as much more cheerful than his peers. When Eustace and Jill thank him for his hospitality, Puddleglum replies: “I see you’re making the best of a bad job. That’s right. You’ve been well brought up, you have. You’ve learned to put a good face on things” (49). This attitude is typical of the Marsh-wiggle, who often responds to a situation with a polite statement before adding an overly pessimistic caveat. With these quirks firmly established at the outset, Puddleglum’s narrative role is twofold. On a superficial level, he provides comic relief to the more serious moments of the story. However, on a more symbolic level, the Marsh-wiggle often acts as Jill and Eustace’s conscience and serves as an unwavering moral compass due to his unconditional faith in Aslan in the face of all adversity. Thus, he comes to represent a prime example of the theme of Faith as a Moral Guide.

As Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum first cross the wild waste of the North and the land of the giants, Lewis demonstrates a narrative move typical of his storytelling by introducing a dangerous situation to increase tension before defusing that very same tension with an element of humor and absurdity. Thus, the giants’ tendency to throw rocks in the vicinity of the protagonists is recast as the result of an idle, childish game, for as Puddleglum explains, the giants simply “play cock-shies most fine mornings” (58) and are only inadvertently dangerous, whereas the giants of Harfang are much more deliberately malicious despite their thin veneer of friendship and hospitality.

This section also represents the protagonists’ first encounter with the true villain of the story, the Lady of the Green Kirtle, and the lost Prince Rilian, whose identities are implied quite strongly through the narration despite the children’s failure to recognize these mysterious figures for who they truly are. Thus, Lewis injects an element of dramatic irony into the narrative, for given that Lewis’s descriptions strongly imply that the Lady of the Green Kirtle is the same entity that murdered the Narnian queen, any subsequent advice or information that she provides can only be highly suspect at best. Indeed, the encounter serves as a reminder of the owls’ earlier story of Prince Rilian’s disappearance, during which Jill commented: “I bet that serpent and that woman [wearing green clothes] were the same person” (43). The young girl’s earlier statement thus foreshadows the eventual revelation of the Lady of the Green Kirtle’s double identity. In fact, she appears to Jill and Eustace in the same form as she appeared to Rilian, a seductive illusion that conceals her evil intentions. The dramatic irony, in turn, creates further tension when the children enthusiastically follow the lady’s advice despite Puddleglum’s cautious warnings.

The children’s interaction with the witch also serves to illustrate the recurring theme of the Dangers of Temptation, as her appealing promises of shelter, food, and comfort cause Jill and Eustace to become even more discontented with their current circumstances and grow ill-tempered enough to start arguing and complaining. This section of the novel depicts Jill and Eustace straying further and further away from Aslan’s guidance, in a stark contrast with Puddleglum’s unwavering morality and faith. To highlight this contrast between following the straight and narrow path and straying into more sinful habits, even Puddleglum’s ever-present voice of wisdom is temporarily silenced just as the trio reaches Harfang, one of the most dangerous places in the book. Befuddled by drink, Puddleglum is almost immediately removed from his role as a protector and moral compass, leaving Jill and Eustace to fend for themselves and ultimately fall right into the giants’ trap. Jill’s resulting dream that night is ambiguous, easily interpreted as being either the result of her own anxiety, or a deliberate admonition from Aslan to get back on track. In any case, she and Eustace soon realize their failure to recognize Aslan’s signs and recognize the danger that they have fallen into, and the children’s character growth is further exemplified when they take responsibility for their mistakes, apologize for their behavior, and demonstrate quick thinking by planning their escape. The narrator’s comment that “the others admitted afterward that Jill had been wonderful that day” (91) highlights her own admirable qualities as well as their strengthened friendship.

After overcoming a spiritual obstacle, (i.e., their failure to resist temptation), the children and Puddleglum overcome a physical one by escaping from the giants’ castle. They jump into a hole in the ground seemingly by chance, but the narrative arguably suggests that, because they reclaimed their faith in Aslan, they consequently found their way back towards their original goal, taking a literal leap of faith into the next adventure. Chapter 9 thus ends appropriately on a cliffhanger, with the protagonists trapped in the dark and an ominously “pitch-black voice” (100) threatening them. Once again, Lewis partially defuses the tension in the next chapter, as the characters learn that they are surrounded by gnome-like, despondent Earthmen.