The Silver Chair: Chapter 9 “How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing”

C.S. Lewis Read-Along, Vol. 4, Issue 10

Background: When our choices take us off God’s path, our return does not always automatically result in an easier way. The closer we draw to Him, the more we realize how far away we really are. God uses those difficult moments to help craft us into who He created us to be. The process is long and painful, but if God feels it is worth the cost to Him, we can be sure it is worth the cost to us.

Quote: “Long, long afterward, without the slightest warning, an utterly strange voice spoke. They knew at once that it was not the one voice in the whole world for which each had secretly been hoping; the voice of Aslan. It was a dark, flat voice—almost, if you know what that means, a pitch-black voice.”

Pauline Baynes illustration

Despite hating every minute, Jill proved her worth by pretending to be a silly, giggling girl to gain the confidence of the giants staying behind in the castle during the hunt. Some “seem to feel sorry for her and called her ‘a poor little thing’ though none of them explained why.” In this chapter, we discover why the giants have these feelings and why the Lady of the Green Kirtle sent the trio to Harfang.

As they’re eating venison for lunch, Puddleglum overhears a disturbing fact. The giants share that the deer pleaded for his life before they killed him to cook for this meal. The reality of the situation hit each of the three differently based on their experience within Narnia, with Puddleglum taking the worst of it and feeling “as you would if you found you had eaten a baby.”

In this specific instance and the overall inclusion of talking animals, Lewis is not attempting to equate animal life with human life. He’s not arguing for vegetarianism, as he included that among the many factors that made Eustace Scrubb’s family so odd in the opening of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lewis recognized the distinction of humans being created in God’s image, but he did value animal life.

His essay “Vivisection” in God in the Dock argues against animal cruelty. He says that once a culture embraces evolutionary materialism and asserts humans are merely elevated animals, any reason used to justify experimentation on animals could also be used on “inferior” humans. But even from the Christian perspective, Lewis says we shouldn’t mistreat non-human living beings. “In justifying cruelty to animals we put ourselves also on the animal level,” he writes. “We choose the jungle and must abide by our choice.”

The discovery that the giants eat Talking Beasts “made all three of them more anxious than ever to leave the castle of the Gentle Giants.” But as they’re waiting in the kitchen for their chance to sneak out, they find even more reason to leave as quickly as possible.