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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Horse and His Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom and Justice
Bravery vs. Recklessness
Christianity
Gender Roles
Summary
Analysis
During Peter’s reign as king of Narnia, a boy named Shasta lives in the land of Calormen (located in the south of Narnia). He is the son of a poor fisherman named Arsheesh, who treats Shasta cruelly. People in Calormen, particularly to the south, usually wear turbans and have beards and dark skin. Shasta is interested in going north, where no one he knows ever goes.
Peter was one of the main characters in C. S. Lewis’s first published Narnia book (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe), and so this opening quickly establishes how the book fits into the overall chronology of the series. Nevertheless, each Narnia book is also a standalone story, and the new character of Shasta gives the audience a new way to become familiar with the fantasy world. Shasta’s humble origins set up the classic coming-of-age story of a hero who learns to grow into the role.
Themes
One day, a stranger with armor and a dappled horse rides into Shasta’s town. Arsheesh recognizes the stranger as a Tarkaan (a type of great lord). The Tarkaan says he wants to buy Shasta. He claims Shasta can’t be Arsheesh’s son because unlike the other people of Calormen, Shasta has pale skin, like a Narnian from the north. Arsheesh admits that he never married and instead found Shasta as a baby. Shasta was in a small lifeboat with an adult man who recently died.
The discovery of Shasta floating in a boat recalls the Biblical story of Moses (who was adopted after being discovered floating down the Nile in a basket). The Tarkaan’s offer to buy and enslave Shasta introduces the concept of freedom into the story, as Shasta learns just how little freedom he seemingly has to determine the course of his life.
Themes
The Tarkaan offers a price for Shasta, but Arsheesh asks for one much higher. Shasta overhears them bartering and is curious, particularly because he has always found it hard to love his adoptive father. He imagines his biological father might be a Tarkaan or even a god.
Shasta learns from this exchange that Arsheesh didn’t adopt Shasta out of charity but out of wanting to receive some personal gain for himself. He begins to learn about the concept of greed and how it can motivate people’s actions. His wish that his father could be a god might seem naïve, but it also foreshadows how his journey will resemble a conversion to Christianity (where God is the Father).
Themes
Shasta wonders what sort of man the Tarkaan is and hopes he would be a kind master. He goes over to see the Tarkaan’s marvelous horse, wishing it could talk, and the Horse replies that actually, he can talk. The Horse explains that he’s from Narnia, where most animals can talk, but he was kidnapped and has been forced to live in Calormen. The Horse hasn’t told anyone else he can talk because he doesn’t want them to know his true value.
Shasta’s hope of kindness from the slave-owning Tarkaan shows again how naïve he is at the beginning of the story. Shasta’s encounter with the Horse parallels the structure of almost every Narnia book, where a child has their day-to-day routine disrupted by something fantastical. The Horse is Shasta’s first clue that the world is much larger and stranger than what he’s experienced so far in his small village.
Themes
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The Horse warns Shasta that the Tarkaan, whose name is Anradin, is a bad man, and that Shasta would be better off dead than enslaved by him. The Horse suggests that Shasta should run away with him. Shasta has never ridden a horse before, just donkeys, so the Horse volunteers to teach him. The Horse thinks they should go north, since the Tarkaan still thinks the Horse is dumb, and a dumb horse would just go south back to its stable.
The Horse has been hiding his special abilities from the Tarkaan. This parallels how Shasta has not been able to show or reach his full potential in his small fishing village. The Horse seems like a wise figure who can act as a guide to Shasta on his journey to adulthood, although later chapters will subvert this expectation, showing the limits of the Horse’s wisdom.
Themes
Shasta and the Horse prepare to leave. The Horse tells Shasta that he will lead the way, so Shasta should hold on with his feet, never trying to pull the reins or grab the Horse’s mane. The two of them sneak away at night. When it’s clear, the Horse wants to gallop, but Shasta still feels he isn’t skilled enough at riding. The Horse says that his name is Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah, but he reluctantly allows Shasta to just call him “Bree.” They head north for Narnia.
The arrangement at the beginning, with Shasta not controlling the reins, shows how Bree is leading the way. Shasta is on a journey toward freedom, but he still has not yet learned how to find his own way. Shasta’s reluctance to go fast shows his reluctance to leave behind his familiar old life, but Bree gives him the encouragement he needs to get started on the journey. Bree’s long full name is meant to sound like the noise a real horse makes.
Themes
