Michael Hemmer: Suffering Breaks the Spell

     In The Silver Chair, there is a climactic moment in which Jill, Scrubb, Puddleglum, and Prince Rilian are being enchanted by Queen Jadis in her Underworld and made to think that the Overworld is fake. Jadis speaks softly and kindly, pretends to help, strums an instrument, and fills the air with a sweet odor. Her enchantment is effective, making the group forget the Overworld or seriously doubt it's existence. As the group struggles, they bring up Narnia, the sun, and Aslan. All three are dismissed by the Queen and the reader begins to feel that the enchantment will succeed. However, the enchantment is broken when Puddleglum thrusts his foot into the fire burning in the fireplace. As Lewis says on page 190, "There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic."

    I thought this chapter was one of the most powerful in the series. The group is being assaulted by evil lies and deception, but it is not so obvious to them that this is the case as it occurs. Rather, each member is swayed by the calm and attractive nature of the enchantment before them. Interestingly enough there are two things which work simultaneously to free the group from the enchantment. Truth and Pain. Pain is what initially breaks the spell and brings truth back to the forefront of the mind. Truth is the reality that replaces lies. 

    There is significance in Lewis using pain to bring about redemption, or to break the spell of the Underworld. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Scrubb is being undragoned, it is a painful process for him. This scene in some ways draws a great parallel. The undragoning shows the personal pain of recognizing the lies in which one has lived. That pain is deeper in many ways and also carries a good bit of shame as well. In tandem, the order is important. One must confront the ways in which they are living dishonestly before they confront the dishonesty external to oneself. Unfortunately, each tend to be initiated by suffering. 

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