Voyage of the Dawn Treader C&C

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis is about three kids; Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and Eustace Scrubb. They were cousins and Edmund and Lucy were visiting Eustace because the rest of their family went to America. The brother and sister didn’t really like Eustace; he was more of a conservative, environmentalist-type person. However, one day they were staring at a painting in Eustace’s house and suddenly, they found themselves in the actual place of the painting; a ship at sea. The young kids found themselves on a ship in the land of Narnia. Narnia wasn’t unfamiliar to Lucy and Edmund, they used to be rulers of the area. However, Eustace had a hard time believing this was real. The kids found out that they were on the Dawn Treader, a Narnian ship, sailed by Prince Caspian; a friend of the Pevensies. Prince Caspian was on a quest to find the seven lords that his uncle banished when he was on the throne. That was the start of a long and adventurous journey for the whole crew. Challenges are obstacles that must be overcome; in this book, the characters face and overcome many challenges.

The first island that the kids and Prince Caspian and crew landed on was one of the Lone Islands, Doorn. Prince Caspian and the Pevensies wanted to walk a little bit so they decided to hike to the other side of the island where the Dawn Treader would pick them up. As soon as the kids and Prince Caspian got to shore, they were met by some strangers. Immediately they were taken and planned to be sold in the local slave market. However, on the way there, the group was met by an old man. He wanted to “purchase” Caspian and after much debate, did. When the two were alone, the old man revealed that Caspian looked like the King of Narnia. He also told Prince Caspian that he was Lord Bern and that he was banished by his uncle. Prince Caspian was so happy, but then remembered that he had friends that could possibly be sold. So he and Lord Bern planned to present themselves to the Governor of the Lone Islands, since it is territory of Narnia. The next day, the two played their plan in which Caspian would call his ship and then make it look like he has a large army here to put Governor Gumpas in prison. Some of Caspian’s men and Lord Bern then went to the estate where the Governor lives and confronted him about what is happening in the Islands. “There are two points especially on which I require an explanation. Firstly, I find no record that the tribute due from these Islands to the crown of Narnia has been received for about a hundred and fifty years.” (Lewis 59) Eventually, Caspian relieves Gumpas of his office and then makes Lord Bern the Duke of the Lone Islands. As soon as that happens, Duke Bern makes a law that there will be no slaves or slavery in effect. The children and some of the crew of the Dawn Treader were then saved by almost being sold in the slave market. The voyagers faced a huge challenge of being enslaved, however, with the cunning and smarts of Prince Caspian; they got over the obstacle and got back to their journey to find the other Lords.

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Eustace Scrubb was a very anti-social kid. He didn’t really like having company nor did he have friends. He wasn’t really close to his parents either and that was why he didn’t really like Lucy and Edmund. They had most of the things that he wanted. He was also very hardheaded and didn’t really believe in things that weren’t “normal.” When the crew first set sail, Eustace was still very hesitant and had a hard time believe the whole situation was real. He was very cranky and wanted to go back home. After a few days, the crew saw land and decided to stay there for a while. While the crew and children were having dinner, Eustace took a walk by himself and found the body of a dragon in a cave. He found some treasure close to it and put a bracelet that he found on his arm. After that he fell asleep, only to wake up finding himself as a dragon. That was a huge obstacle in Eustace’s adventure because he never believed in dragons. He was very upset at first and went back to the ship where everyone else was. The group was scared at first but then after trying to communicate with them, the crew and children found they could trust the dragon; even though they didn’t know it was Eustace. The next few days, Eustace started to be a better asset to the group. He brought food for them and also let them ride him on a tour of the island. “The pleasure (quite new to him) of being like and, still more, of liking other people, was what kept Eustace from despair.” (Lewis 108) Eustace changed through the obstacle of being a dragon, and got over the big challenge that he faced.

After the dragon incident with Eustace on the foreign island, the group again set sail for search of other islands. Soon enough, the members of the Dawn Treader came to another island. The island had a house and the crew decided to see what was inside. Lucy and the others started to hear voices, but ignored it. Then the voices, they realized, were real. The guests tried to figure out what they were trying to say since there were so many of them. “We’ve been waiting for ever so long for a nice little girl from foreign parts, like it might be you, Missie—that would go upstairs and go to the magic book and find the spell that takes off the invisibleness, and say it...” (Lewis 151) Lucy was pretty scared in doing the deed, but eventually she pulled herself to do it. The challenge of facing her fear and helping the invisible creatures to become visible again was a true test of her fear. She faced an obstacle that was hard to go through, but she eventually got through that and said the spell to make the creatures visible again.

There are many challenges the adventurers face throughout the whole book. That is why I recommend this book to people who like adventures. I also recommend it to people who liked the other books in the series of the Chronicles of Narnia. In the end of this book, the members of the Dawn Treader find all of the seven lords Prince Caspian’s uncle banished. Finding the seven lords and being able to return to Narnia, above all, was the true obstacle, and the characters in this book overcame it.

Works Cited

Lewis, C.S. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: Harper Collins, 1952.