Devin Brown Writes About Dawn Treader Characters

Our friend Devin Brown has written a character profile article in conjunction with Operation Narnia (the campaign to shoeboxes for needy kids around the world). Brown’s article is titled “C. S. Lewis’s Message in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and highlights four characters to watch in the upcoming film: Eustace, Reepicheep, Aslan, and Lucy.

Jesus explained to his followers that He came to seek and to save those who are lost. And like Edmund early in the first story, Eustace is a young boy who is definitely on the wrong path. In fact when we meet him, Eustace has been on the wrong path for so long that he can see no other—in his eyes, he does no wrong. Edmund refers to his cousin as a “record stinker” and this is putting Eustace’s spiritual condition mildly.

Friends? Lewis tells us he has none. Happiness? Eustace knows only one kind: bossing and bullying others, provided they are either smaller or weaker than he is or too good to fight back. But even while Eustace is this record stinker, Aslan loves him and will not abandon him to a life which leads to misery in the short term and to destruction in the end. Through a magical painting which comes to life at just the right moment, much as the wardrobe did, Eustace is brought kicking and complaining into Narnia.

Click here to read the whole post (it’s fantastic!)

Devin Brown has also posted a second post about the Christian themes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Read here.

And don’t forget to start working on your shoeboxes!

47 Responses

  1. narnian resident says:

    wow this is really cool. 😀

  2. DragonGirl28 says:

    Yeah, definitely cool.

  3. narnian resident says:

    i just absolutely love it when people write about the spiritual elements hidden in the Chronicles of Narnia. and you know, this is the first i've heard of this stuff, with Eustace in all. in VDT, that one was the hardest for me to figure out the spiritual meaning behind it, and reading this i've finally figured it out. finding these things are so much fun, and often i'll reread the books and read them even deeper to try and find the fascinating spiritual elements in them. its all so powerful, in my perspective anyway, and that is one of the main why i love these books so much. the depth of them is just so intriguing and fascinating that it catches the attention of any reader, no matter the age. i love books that make you think and wonder, not just give a fun story to entertain you. thats what i say is the ultimate talent of writers and storytellers: not just telling a story, but causing you to think and wonder, to imagine, and THAT is what enterains us all about a book. i am a writer myself, and C.S. Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia are my ultimate inspiration 🙂

  4. Eustace+Jill says:

    Is he talking about the books or the movie?

  5. Reepicheep775 says:

    He's talking about the books. My shoebox is filled!

  6. Lylanarniafan says:

    Totally agree !!!

  7. Shastafan says:

    Wow…That was very cool to read. The article definetly shows the depth of Christianity in VDT, and it's great for someone to give us a good explanation of it! 🙂

  8. Alambil says:

    Aww…. He didn't discuss Edmund. =(

  9. Pepper Darcy says:

    Aw sweet! this is *so* awesome! We didn't have this for PC! 🙂

  10. SavedByGrace says:

    I love it when people write about the spiritual side of Narnia. I haven't read any of these books, but I will start looking for them now.

  11. antar says:

    cant wait

  12. Not Of This World says:

    That was very nicely said. I agree also.

  13. Not Of This World says:

    This was awesome. I loved how they explained all four characters. I had never thought of Reep like that. That was terrific!

  14. Kotarki says:

    The sad thing is will be how what Devin is saying will not be communicated to the big screen. I'm fairly certain that the filmmakers will elect to follow the route much safer at the box office where it is all about the Penvesies feeling good about themselves because they saved Narnia again. There is so much depth in the books that secular filmmakers would not try to incorporate.

  15. QueenLucy12 says:

    COOL!

  16. always narnian says:

    Didn't read the whole post yet, but that parts good 🙂

  17. FriendOfNarnia2 says:

    We'll just have to wait and see the film. Supposedly several Christian leaders have already seen portions of the film, and seemed quite excited about it.

  18. Victoria says:

    ditto! 🙁

  19. Alambil and Tarvis says:

    That was beautiful.

  20. Interesting. I'll be praying for guys like him!

  21. Pepper Darcy says:

    Exactly! And they even *said* they kept Eustace being 'undragoned' by Aslan (instead of earning his right to be a human again) because they realized grace is a gift and can't be earned 🙂 So they're at least concerned about what message they're sending out 😉

  22. Starlily says:

    That's a very good article, very well-thought out. And I like the Devin Brown one too. They make you think, and remind you what Narnia is really pointing towards.

  23. sgk474 says:

    He would be more likely to discuss Edmund in LWW – even Lucy is just touched upon here.

  24. sgk474 says:

    I think the whole Samaritan's purse thing and this writing suggests the Christian character of the books is being honoured – let's be positive 🙂

  25. Not Of This World says:

    This is good that Narnia is doing Operation Christmas Child because:
    1. It is helping kids arround the world in Christ's name.
    2. It is very good advertizing in the Christian community.
    3. It makes Narnia look very good helping with Operation Christmas Child

  26. MurtaghLuv says:

    awesome!!!! this is gonna be awesome. I picked up from the trailers that it would about temptation along with the spritual life and I was so happy!!! i always felt that vdt was the least of all the books preaching the gospel, but this is gonna be awesome.

  27. Devin Brown says:

    This is Devin Brown checking in to say that the work that Smaraitan's Purse does all over the world for the neediest of the needy is so wonderful and so important. I hope that Narnia fans all over the world take this opportunity to reach out through Operation Narnia to help others who are less fortunate, those for whom it is never Christmas.

    I believe C. S. Lewis would have been thrilled to know that his stories are helping to bring love to these special children.

  28. Knight of the Prince says:

    I agree. I love how there's a deeper meaning. I have a realy good book called ROAR! it has biblical parallels,a guide to all the Narnia books,and other fun stuff. It's really cool!

  29. Alambil says:

    I guess that's true… but still, I thought if he covered one of the Pevensies in the movie, he'd cover the other. It's okay though

  30. Ariel_of_Narnia says:

    Whoo! Go Devin Brown! I'm likin' what I see!

  31. Ariel_of_Narnia says:

    I believe so too, Mr. Brown. And I pray that Narnia fans will not just reach out through this "just because" but so as to make it an opportunity to help spread the true Joy of Christmas.

  32. Ariel_of_Narnia says:

    I don't know if there was some kind of limit on what he wrote or not, but if there was and if he's anything like me, what he's got will have to do. (Trust me, if you give me a subject to write on that I /really/ like (eg: Narnia) or that I have a burning passion for (eg: on persecution or abortion), do /not/ give me a maximum limit! I'm sure to blow it!)

  33. narnian resident says:

    where did you find this ROAR! book? who is the author?

  34. Ariel_of_Narnia says:

    It is natural for you to feel that way, Kotarki, and that's okay. I often think of stuff like that myself. But think about this: Lewis had such strong themes and events woven throughout the books that it'd be kind of hard to miss (eg: whether they liked it or not, the moviemakers were obliged to put in the message of salvation in LWW (Aslan's death being parallel to Christ's sacrifice and all)). And even if some of the people working on that scene (or the whole movie in general) never made that connection, they portrayed the Gospel in a big blockbuster hit, right? And stuff like "Of course [Aslan] isn't safe, but he's good" just /had/ to be put in because that describes Aslan (and Christ) to a "T". Without that line, you miss the whole essence of who this great Lion is.
    So, all that to say: even if they try to hide some stuff, they can't hide it all.

  35. Ariel_of_Narnia says:

    At one point, I kind of wondered about any references to spiritual things being pointed to in the book (seeing it as an almost-purely adventurous story), but the more I thought of it, the more I saw. And then when someone writes up something like this, and you read it, then you're like, "Ohh… neat!" (Especially if you thought you knew everything there was to be gleaned and then find another gem or two or three!) A book that kind of did that for me is called "Finding God in the Land of Narnia" by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware. If you're interested, I suggest you check it out! (They've also written "Finding God in The Lord of the Rings" and Jim Ware wrote "Finding God in The Hobbit".)

  36. Aslan's Meadow says:

    I got mine from the interloan library system, here in Michigan.

  37. Son of Rillian says:

    this is so cool

  38. TigerPole says:

    I have that book too! My mom got it for me off of CBD.com(Christian Book Distributors). This is a GREAT article!!! Go Dr. Brown! I know someone who goes/went to Asbury!

    I want to make a box! Where do I turn it in so people know I'm "with" Narnia? My church does Operation Christmas Child. Do I give it to them and put a Narnia sticker or something in with it?

  39. Amelia says:

    Fantastic article!! I love the spiritual parallels in Eustace's story!!

  40. Knight of the Prince says:

    It's written by Heather Kopp with David Kopp. I'm not all the way through but it's really good so far. It also has a part about whether or not it's alright for C.S Lewis to use magic in the books.

  41. Belle says:

    but Micheal Apted directed Amazing Grace…and that movie had excellent christian values in it. i guess we'll just have to wait and see!!

  42. HighQueen_Of_LanternWaste says:

    Great article. I love his explanation of Eustace's transformation. Everything was very well written.

  43. sam says:

    He's talking about the books (unless he was one at the original script screening) I do hope that these elements from the book are translated onto the screen

  44. HighQueenofNarnia says:

    Very insightful article. I hope that Apted, et al., will reflect some of those concepts in the film.

  45. Evangeline says:

    Wow, that was terrific! 😀
    Very nicely done 🙂

  46. Lucy Pevensie says:

    I love the way C.S. Lewis put Christianity in his writing and how you can relate it to the bible! It makes me want to read and see everything he had to offer to the world!

  1. August 17, 2010

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