The Chronicles of Narnia

The Silver Chair

Tittle: The Chronicles of Narnia; The Silver Chair

Writer: C. S. Lewis

Year of published: 7 September 1953

The Silver Chair is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. In this book, the Pevensie children are not involve but they are must be change by their cousin Eustace Scrubb. Eustace takes a second trip to Narnia with him school fellow named Jill Pole. Chronologically The Silver Chair takes place many years after Eustace, Edmund, and Lucy’s visit to Narnia in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The book opens with an explanation of Jill’s distress at the weird school. The Silver Chair includes some truly monstrous moment, including a murderous witch and man eating giants, yet these tales are still very tame by today’s standards and although they allude to some rather dark material in the book remains a children’s story above all these. It’s the first book in the series that stand strong throughout its length, whilst The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe become tedious and the Voyage of The Dawn Treader like a collection of short stories. The Silver Chair combines the extended adventure narrative of the first two books with the strength of plot of the third.

A large part of the books strength is derived from the absence of some characters; the four pevensie of the original children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, were particularly dated and insincere, Jill Pole has certain level of guts and personality.

The Silver Chair is undeniably a children’s story, with an air of religious allegory about it, but for the first time, Lewis has on offer a slightly darker lion with a little of bite.