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Chapter 4: The Dwarf Tells of Prince Caspian
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Prince Caspian, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Good vs. Evil
Faith and Belief
Power vs. Leadership
Fear and Courage
Summary
Analysis
Over the next few years, Prince Caspian learns the practical and theoretical disciplines he will need as king, from sword fighting to law, physics, and history. He also becomes observant of the world around him. He realizes that he dislikes Queen Prunaprismia because she dislikes him. He sees that the taxes are high, the laws are stern, Miraz is cruel, and the country is unhappy. Then one night, after a period in which it seems like the queen is sick, Doctor Cornelius wakes Caspian in the middle of the night.
Caspian’s education prepares him to ascend one day to the throne, in more ways than one. Of course, he learns the practical skills of a king. But as he looks around him, he develops compassion for the people whom King Miraz oppresses and abuses; this is one of the marks of a good leader, according to the book.
Themes
Doctor Cornelius tells Prince Caspian to get dressed and get his sword. They quietly fill a bag with food, then tiptoe to the Great Tower for a private talk. Cornelius tells Caspian he must flee immediately. Caspian’s father, Caspian the Ninth, was the rightful king. After his death when Caspian was a baby, Miraz took control of the country as Lord Protector. When Caspian’s mother died, too, Miraz slowly eliminated the old king’s supporters and then declared himself king. Only the fact that Miraz and Prunaprismia had no children of their own kept Caspian from certain death for all these years. But now the Queen has given birth to a son of her own, so Cornelius has no doubt that Caspian’s aunt and uncle will murder him, just as they murdered his father.
Caspian’s personal history—in which his Uncle Miraz took what rightfully belonged to him (the throne) by violence and for his own selfish reasons—mirrors the history of Narnia, which the Telmarines conquered by taking the Narnian natives’ rightful land. When Caspian claims the throne, he will restore order in his own family and in the whole of Narnia. The birth of Caspian’s cousin offers a grim reminder that he lives and enjoys his royal status only at the behest of his uncle. As soon as Caspian no longer serves Miraz’s interests, he becomes vulnerable. Miraz’s selfishness and lust for power corrupts him entirely and turns him into the book’s clearest example of evil and bad leadership.
Themes
Doctor Cornelius presses Prince Caspian to flee, alone and as quickly as possible, into the kingdom of Archenland to the south. He presses two gifts into Caspian’s hands: a small bag of gold and Queen Susan’s legendary horn, which, he assures the prince, will always summon help for the one who blows it. Cornelius ushers Caspian down the stairs and to the castle walls, where Caspian’s horse waits. As Caspian rides into the darkness, fireworks explode over the castle to celebrate the new prince’s birth.
Doctor Cornelius risks his own safety by helping Prince Caspian escape the castle, showing both his personal bravery and his selfless devotion to the true Narnian cause. And Caspian’s innate belief and faith in Aslan justifies the gift of the horn, which draws on Aslan’s power to deliver magical help to those in need. The forces of good begin their ascendance the moment Caspian leaves the castle’s walls.
Themes
At first, Prince Caspian feels almost happy at the thought that he is the rightful king, off on a grand adventure. But as he leaves familiar territory and the weather gets worse, he starts to feel frightened and small again. In the morning, he takes a break to eat and sleep before resuming his journey, getting increasingly closer to the mountains. At nightfall, just as Caspian rides into a dark forest, a storm breaks. Prince Caspian worries about animosity from the trees because the dryads initially resisted the Telmarines. If any still exist, they have no way of knowing that he doesn’t share the Telmarines’ general hatred and violence toward wild things.
Though Caspian’s adventure seems like fun at first, it soon becomes dangerous and uncomfortable for Caspian. Nevertheless, he presses on, both showing faith his faith in Aslan and demonstrating his own courage. The Telmarines fear the trees in part because the dryads (tree spirits) were among the Narnian species they massacred when they conquered the country. Because dryads can switch forms between tree and human, it’s almost impossible to know what’s a tree and what’s a dryad.
Themes
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And the trees do treat him like he’s a normal Telmarine, throwing themselves in his path and trying to knock him off his horse. Soon, Caspian loses control of his horse on its wild flight through the forest. Something strikes his head, and he loses consciousness. He wakes up later, in a warm and firelit place. Three voices argue about what to do with him. A figure approaches the bed and offers Caspian a warm drink. When the fire flares, Caspian realizes it’s an unusually large, talking badger. Two Dwarves sit by the fire. Overwhelmed by the realization that he’s found Old Narnians at last, Caspian faints.
The way that the trees impede Caspian’s progress suggests that the magic of Old Narnia may not be quite so defeated as the Telmarines wish to imagine. Whether or not they mean him ill, the dryads ultimately help Caspian along his personal journey to restoring his (and Narnia’s) rights by knocking him off his horse directly on the doorstep of a trio of Old Narnians.
Themes
Soon, Caspian learns their names: Trufflehunter (the badger), Nikabrik (the black-haired Dwarf) and Trumpkin (the red-haired Dwarf). Nikabrik worries about the possibility of Caspian, a human and a Telmarine, returning to his people and betraying them. If they don’t kill Caspian, he fears they’ll have to imprison him for life. Trumpkin protests that Caspian doesn’t looks like a traitor and points out that they disclosed themselves by bringing Caspian into their home. Caspian interrupts to say that he doesn’t want to go back anyway, and that if they kill him, they’ll just be doing a favor to their greatest enemy, King Miraz. On learning that Caspian is the king’s nephew, Nikabrik reaches for his dagger. Trumpkin and Trufflehunter hold him back.
Nikabrik understands the conflict in Narnia as one between the Old Narnians who exist in hiding and their Telmarine oppressors; in his opinion no Telmarine can be trusted, even if they are allowed to live. Caspian protests that larger forces of good and evil overlap with this magical creature-human conflict. He thus aligns himself with the Old Narnian cause and begins to lay the groundwork for a vision of Narnia that includes both humans and magical creatures.
Themes
Caspian tells the trio his story, stunning them into momentary silence. Then Nikabrik resumes his stream of complaints. Caspian’s Nurse should have held her tongue; the less humans know about the Old Narnians the better; he hates “renegade” Dwarves like Doctor Cornelius. Trufflehunter interrupts. Beasts like himself, he claims, have longer memories than mercurial Dwarves. He sees something admirable in Prince Caspian and knows that Narnia flourishes most under human kings. Trumpkin dislikes the idea of Narnia as human country, but Trufflehunter corrects him: Narnia isn’t human country. But it is a country for humans, like the legendary Peter, to be king of.
Trufflehunter agrees with Caspian that the essential conflict lies between good and evil, not one species versus another. Those who are abusive, violent, and selfish demonstrate their evil inclinations, while anyone who has faith in Aslan, who wants to see the Old Narnians returned to their rightful places, and who will sacrifice their own self-interest for the greater good, is good. Caspian clearly belongs in the latter group, and Aslan wants, as Trufflehunter points out, a human to rule over and guide Narnia’s creatures. Nikabrik’s antagonism toward mixed-race Dwarf-Telmarines suggests that he has other motives than the restoration of Narnia as a whole.
Themes
Peter ruled so long ago that some Narnians, like Trumpkin, doubt his existence. Trufflehunter protests that beasts don’t forget. He believes in Peter as firmly as he believes in Aslan. Caspian interrupts to say that he, too, believes in Aslan, even more now that he’s met real Dwarves and talking beasts. Trufflehunter swears to follow Caspian as his king, forgiving him for offenses against Narnia like hunting beasts (even if modern beasts aren’t the same as the old, talking beasts like himself). Eventually, all three agree to let Caspian stay, and they begin making plans for to take him to see “the Others” as soon as he’s well.
Trumpkin represents a midpoint between those who, like Trufflehunter, believe in Aslan still and those who, like Nikabrik or Miraz, doubt his existence altogether. The book doesn’t criticize Trumpkin’s doubt—it even hints that what his people have suffered would be enough to test almost anyone’s faith. Instead, it will judge him by how he changes his mind when presented with new information. Trufflehunter readily follows Caspian; Nikabrik and Trumpkin show that he still must work to earn the respect of the Old Narnians he will one day lead.
Themes
