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stephwd 's review for:
The Horse and His Boy
by C.S. Lewis
I am a little torn about this latest instalment of the Narnian chronicles. It tells the fairly straight forward narrative of a boy, Shasta, who has seemingly been abandoned since birth and brought up by Arsheesh, who treats him as little better than a slave. However, when a rich merchant arrives and Arsheesh promises to sell him to a newer and crueller master, he escapes on the merchant’s horse. Yet this is no ordinary horse. Bree is a Narnian horse, who was likewise captured in his youth and treated as little better than a common working horse. Together, they travel across the exotic land of Calormen in a desperate bid to return home on route learning not merely several moral lessons, but also encountering new friends who will remain with them for life before finally facing not only their own enemies, but those of Narnia as well.
In many regards, this is an enjoyable quest story with a clear narrative arc. The children face repeated dangers in their desperate journey to a place that represents not merely sanctuary, but also home. Much of the story therefore brings to mind traditional fairy tales – a prince and princess in danger; the pauper and the prince, 1001 Arabian Nights and so forth. Its simplicity and presentation of good versus evil forces battling against one another with the inevitable victory of the heroes, gives the novel an otherworldly, fantasy appeal that would draw in anyone who has a penchant for fairy-tale adventures. Moreover, Shasta is a particularly appealing character given the manner in which Lewis presents as at once both vulnerable and courageous. His determination against all odds as well as a resourcefulness makes him appear heroic and perhaps an ideal role model that will appeal to young readers. Likewise, the novel builds to a satisfying climactic conclusion that both resolves the events that we have witnessed escalate as well as creating an enjoyable sense of drama.
However, like many reviewers, I also struggle with some of the xeonophobic elements of the novel. The Calormen people are presented as exotic others ruled by an obsolete and ignorant dictator who seems both perfectly happy and aware of the fact that his eldest son may need to die as it is perfectly possible that he will attempt to overthrow his father as others before him have. Even the name of their race smacks of racism and Lewis appears to deliberately draw attention to the difference in their skin tones. Whilst the Calormenes are a savage nation whose ostentatious appearance and continued reliance on slavery recalls all the worst stereotypes of Arabian nations, the Narnians are pure, pale and moral. The lines in this novel are thus drawn not merely according to good versus evil, but coloured versus white and for a modern reader, this makes the novel distinctly distasteful.
My other issue with the novel is in its presentation of women and their role in society, which I also feel is a by-product of backwards 1950s thinking. It is inappropriate for them to take part in fighting and the fact that Lucy does, means that she is seen as peculiar and hardly a girl at all. The women are married off as commodities such as Susan who is in Calormen in the first place to acquire a husband (although for the Narnian boys having a wife is not necessary). Likewise, the focus of both societies remains on the concept of primogeniture – male children are best and will inherit, female ones are only useful for making political alliances. Moreover, it appears that only the female characters are punished for their flaws. I found the image of Aslan clawing at Aravis’ back so she can feel the pain of her a former slave particularly horrifying. Thus there is also an element of ingrained sexism that makes the novel difficult to digest as much as it is in keeping with the attitudes of those whom Lewis, (existing in a male-dominated academic environment), was surrounded by.
Nonetheless, ‘The Horse and its Boy’ remains an interesting and entertaining novel that, as part of the brilliant Narnia series, should be valued and appreciated for what it truly is. Whether I would be entirely comfortable with my children reading it and imbibing these values for themselves though is another matter entirely.
In many regards, this is an enjoyable quest story with a clear narrative arc. The children face repeated dangers in their desperate journey to a place that represents not merely sanctuary, but also home. Much of the story therefore brings to mind traditional fairy tales – a prince and princess in danger; the pauper and the prince, 1001 Arabian Nights and so forth. Its simplicity and presentation of good versus evil forces battling against one another with the inevitable victory of the heroes, gives the novel an otherworldly, fantasy appeal that would draw in anyone who has a penchant for fairy-tale adventures. Moreover, Shasta is a particularly appealing character given the manner in which Lewis presents as at once both vulnerable and courageous. His determination against all odds as well as a resourcefulness makes him appear heroic and perhaps an ideal role model that will appeal to young readers. Likewise, the novel builds to a satisfying climactic conclusion that both resolves the events that we have witnessed escalate as well as creating an enjoyable sense of drama.
However, like many reviewers, I also struggle with some of the xeonophobic elements of the novel. The Calormen people are presented as exotic others ruled by an obsolete and ignorant dictator who seems both perfectly happy and aware of the fact that his eldest son may need to die as it is perfectly possible that he will attempt to overthrow his father as others before him have. Even the name of their race smacks of racism and Lewis appears to deliberately draw attention to the difference in their skin tones. Whilst the Calormenes are a savage nation whose ostentatious appearance and continued reliance on slavery recalls all the worst stereotypes of Arabian nations, the Narnians are pure, pale and moral. The lines in this novel are thus drawn not merely according to good versus evil, but coloured versus white and for a modern reader, this makes the novel distinctly distasteful.
My other issue with the novel is in its presentation of women and their role in society, which I also feel is a by-product of backwards 1950s thinking. It is inappropriate for them to take part in fighting and the fact that Lucy does, means that she is seen as peculiar and hardly a girl at all. The women are married off as commodities such as Susan who is in Calormen in the first place to acquire a husband (although for the Narnian boys having a wife is not necessary). Likewise, the focus of both societies remains on the concept of primogeniture – male children are best and will inherit, female ones are only useful for making political alliances. Moreover, it appears that only the female characters are punished for their flaws. I found the image of Aslan clawing at Aravis’ back so she can feel the pain of her a former slave particularly horrifying. Thus there is also an element of ingrained sexism that makes the novel difficult to digest as much as it is in keeping with the attitudes of those whom Lewis, (existing in a male-dominated academic environment), was surrounded by.
Nonetheless, ‘The Horse and its Boy’ remains an interesting and entertaining novel that, as part of the brilliant Narnia series, should be valued and appreciated for what it truly is. Whether I would be entirely comfortable with my children reading it and imbibing these values for themselves though is another matter entirely.