The Silver Chair

The narrative structure of the hero’s quest is typical of works of fantasy and reminiscent of both mythological and religious texts. In The Silver Chair, the protagonists are sent on a dangerous journey by Aslan with the purpose of finding the long-lost Prince Rilian, as established in Chapter 2: “And now hear your task. [...] I lay on you this command, that you seek this lost prince until either you have found him and brought him to his father’s house, or else died in the attempt, or else gone back to your own world” (19). The solemn (and indeed, almost biblical) tone of this particular quote lends the entire plot a heavy significance that transcends its more practical aspects. Not only must the children find a missing prince, but they must commit to the possibility of laying down their very lives in the attempt, and thus the mission becomes a hero’s quest of the utmost gravity.

Due to Aslan’s intervention, which makes the characters’ fates seem ineluctable, the quest takes on a mythical dimension. The narrative structure of the quest is also allegorical, and C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series as a whole can be read as a Christian

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