The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

One of the recurring themes in The Chronicles of Narnia series is Aslan’s role as a godly figure who created, rules over, and will eventually destroy Narnia. Aslan is an all-seeing, all-powerful Christ figure who acts as a spiritual guide for the protagonists throughout their many adventures. Indeed, he often sets them on quests, comes to their aid in dire situations, and bestows rewards and punishment for moral and evil actions, respectively. Significantly, the narrative often implies that the characters’ fates are predetermined by Aslan’s divine will. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for instance, the protagonists are guided by Visions of Aslan, who symbolically blesses their journey through these profound spiritual experiences.

Reepicheep is the character who most powerfully exemplifies the theme of fate. He volunteers to accompany the king on his voyage because of a prophetic verse he heard as a child: “Where sky and water meet, / Where the waves grow sweet, / Doubt not, Reepicheep, / To find all you seek, / There is the utter East” (10-11). At the end of the book, when the mouse finally reaches Aslan’s country, the narrator remarks that “everything now felt as if it had been fated or had happened before” (140). Similarly, there are instances in the story when characters seem to be aware that they are following Aslan’s predetermined path. When they find the three sleeping lords on Ramandu’s island, for example, Lucy Pevensie wonders: “Do think we have perhaps come here to break [the enchantment]?” (111). This suggests that she understands that there is a “right” and a “wrong” path for their journey to take, and she wants to ensure that the company continues to follow the will of Aslan.

Additionally, the sense of predetermination is often reinforced by the narrator, whose metafictional commentary implies that the story is being reported the story long after it happened. On several occasions, the narrator comments on events that are about to occur, such as when he discusses Caspian’s decision to walk across the Lone Islands with his friends: “If Caspian had been as experienced then as he became later on in this voyage he would not have made this suggestion; but at the moment it seemed an excellent one” (20). Thus, just as Lewis establishes himself as an omniscient narrator for the duration of the story, the character of Aslan is also established as an omniscient, all-powerful deity whose will drives the characters toward the conclusion of their quest. His role becomes somewhat intertwined with the more nebulous presence of Lewis as narrator, for Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund Pevensie that they will not return to Narnia and implies that Eustace Scrubb will: a declaration that sets up the premise of the following book in the series, The Silver Chair. Significantly, Aslan’s last words underline the narrative’s Christian message, as the lion explains that the children’s adventures in Narnia have always been meant to inspire their spiritual awakening.