The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"[W]hen they returned...and saw the whole western sky lit up with an immense crimson sunset, and felt the quiver of the ship, and tasted the salt on their lips, and thought of unknown lands on the eastern rim of the world, Lucy felt that she was almost too happy to speak" (Lewis 30). C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tells the story of Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace's adventures in Narnia, the land of talking animals, dwarfs, centaurs, and other mythical creatures.

After falling in the ocean and being suddenly teleported into Narnia through a painting, the children are rescued by the Dawn Treader, and some old friends of Edmund and Lucy's: Prince Caspian and Reepicheep the mouse. While their official quest is to find and/or avenge the seven missing lords of Narnia, Reepicheep longs to come to the end of the eastern sea, where Aslan's country can be found. As the voyage progresses, they are challenged by a variety of different trials, temptations, and challenges, transforming the qualities of the main characters.

Having either found or avenged each of the seven lords, they eventually come to a place where they can't sail any farther, forcing all except Reepicheep, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace to turn back. While Reepicheep enters into Aslan's country, the other are met by Aslan, who sends them back to their own country, concluding the story. While the novel alludes to a variety of themes, there are two which are extremely prevalent: longing and transformation. C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader uses the themes of longing and transformation to teach the reader valuable truths about living as Christians in relation to secular culture.

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Throughout the novel, C.S Lewis uses the characters of Eustace and Caspian to express the theme of transformation and its application in the life of a Christian. Described as a 'record stinker' (Lewis 3) by his cousin Edmund, Eustace is a character who "deep down….like(s) bossing and bullying…" (Lewis 2). Throughout the entire first half of the voyage, he engages in a variety of selfish behaviours, often sulking in his cabin, criticizing the Narnians, and at one point, swinging Reepicheep around by the tail.

In fact, Eustace's disposition is so uncongenial that when the adventurers are under the captivity of Pug and his fellow slave traders, he becomes "a sort of utility slave that no one will buy" (Lewis 65). However, in an attempt to escape the hard work of repairing the Dawn Treader on what would later come to be known as Dragon Island, Eustace ends up falling asleep "on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart….becom(ing) a dragon himself" (Lewis 97).

Eventually, he meets Aslan, who after tearing off Eustace's dragon skin with his claws, tells him to bathe in the well, allowing him to be transformed into a human once more. Not only does it become "clear to everyone that Eustace's character had been improved by being a dragon," (Lewis 107) but the author says "[Eustace] began to be a different boy" (Lewis 119) after his encounter with Aslan the lion. "[The] inability of Eustace to change himself, the water into which he was plunged, and the new clothes unite to make this even the Narnian equivalent of rebirth…," (Schackel 56) an essential part of a Christian's life, both in the past and in modern society.

In the Bible, we are told to take off the old and put on what is new (NIV Bible, Ephes. 4:22-24), in addition to being transformed by the renewing of our minds (NIV Bible, Rom.12:2). After Eustace is cleansed of his old dragon skin, Aslan dresses him in new clothes, symbolizing that Eustace has set aside his old selfish ways, and adopted a new way of doing things. His mindset has been changed, so that his comrades can't help but notice the change in his manner of speaking, as well as in his actions.

In a world where selfish thinking and actions are encouraged, it can be hard to remember that we as Christians are called to take on a new way of doing things. To make things worse, we often forget that much like Eustace, who was only able to remove his dragon skin with Aslan's help, we are incapable of completely escaping self-centered instincts on our own. "Eustace in Narnia, like so many persons in our world, was a rebel who must lay down his arms…," (Shackel 56) an example of how we are required to surrender our way of thinking, allowing ourselves to be transformed through our relationship with Christ.

He also serves as an example of how this renewing of the mind is a continual and ongoing process. C.S. Lewis tells us that not only would Eustace suffer relapses from time to time, but would have entire days when he was "very tiresome" (120). In a culture where a perfectionist mindset is often encouraged, we can fall into the trap of expecting ourselves to perform flawlessly at all times, but this is an unrealistic expectation. To quote Lewis, the "[c]ure ha(s) begun" (Lewis 120), but it has not yet been brought to completion.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader consistently makes reference to the theme of longing, along with allusions to its role in the lives of Christians. This longing, one of the major characteristics of joy as defined by Lewis in his other writings, is most evident in two the main characters: Reepicheep and Lucy. In the beginning of the novel, Reepicheep recounts a verse from his childhood about the location of the "utter east" (Lewis 22), saying that "the spell of it has been on (him) all (his) life" (Lewis 22).

Not only that, but he is so intent on finding the "utter east," where Aslan's country is rumoured to be, that he describes going "into the utter east and never return(ing) into this world" (Lewis 225) to be his "heart's desire" (Lewis 225). This type of longing is reflective of one of joy's characteristics as described by C.S. Lewis, who viewed "[j]oy as a particularly poignant and exalted form of desire for heaven…." (Froula 60).

We also see Lucy experience small tastes of this joy, in a different form. On one island, the Dawn Treader's crew is faced with a group of invisible creatures called Dufflepods, who send Lucy on a mission to find and say the spell that will make them visible again. While searching through the Magician's spellbook for said spell, she comes across a story of a cup, sword, tree, and green hill, which she then reads through and describes as "the loveliest stories (she has) ever read (Lewis 167).

In fact, Lewis tells us that from this point on, Lucy uses the tale found in the Magician's book almost as a marker for what was truly a good story. When she asks Aslan if she "will ever be able to read (the) story again" (Lewis 171), he says that he will "tell it to her for years and years" (Lewis 171), suggesting that it's a Narnian version of the gospel. While Reepicheep and Lucy are two of the characters who exhibit the most longing in the novel, they're also the most steadfast in the face of trouble.

When the Dawn Treader comes to the Island of Dreams, Lucy is the one who remembers to ask Aslan for help, and despite the fear evident in the rest of the crew, Reepicheep is reluctant to turn around and sail away from the island. Similarly, when a portion of the crew discovers Deathwater Island, Reepicheep and Lucy are the only ones vocal about the dangers of fighting over the water's ability to turn things to gold, while the conflict between Edmund and Caspian is only stopped by Aslan making an appearance.

Lucy and Reepicheep's sense of longing keeps them grounded and focused, giving them the ability to discern what is truly beneficial and worth pursuing. In today's culture, this longing can be our compass and source of guidance when it comes to what will really fulfill and satisfy us. While everyone has been filled with this sense of longing for a relationship with God, not everyone is aware of what will truly fulfill this deep need.

Quite often individuals will look for fulfillment in success, shopping, learning, wealth, and a whole host of other things, yet never feel as if they've satisfied this sense of longing. As Christians, we know that this yearning can only be fulfilled through developing our relationship with and growing closer to God, giving us a sense of discernment which will keep us steady through life.

Through the themes of longing and transformation, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader gives insight into how we should live our day to day lives as Christians. Not only this, but through showing how the main characters get to know Aslan more and more, it reveals how we can develop our relationship with Jesus. In Aslan's words: "This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there" (Lewis 270).

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