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Chapter 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bravery
Christianity
Growing Up and Selflessness
Temptation
Summary
Analysis
The Dawn Treader sails on and takes harbor near a new island unlike any they’ve seen before. A long sandy path on the island leads to a house. As everyone approaches the house, Lucy gets a stone in her shoe and ends up separated from the others. She hears loud voices of men who seem to be planning an ambush, but she can’t see anyone. She runs ahead and finds Caspian and Eustace in the courtyard of the house. Along with Edmund and Reepicheep, they all try to figure out how to fight an invisible enemy.
Like Eustace on Dragon Island, Lucy gets separated from the others, but she shows better sense by immediately seeking them out before they get too far away. With each island, the crew journeys deeper into the unknown, and they experience increasingly unfamiliar things. The fact that the residents of this island are literally invisible shows how deep into the unknown the Dawn Treader has gone.
Themes
Caspian decides they have to go out and face their enemies at once and perhaps parley with them. But the Voices don’t want to parley, and the Chief brags that they have 50 invisible warriors ready to fight. The Chief explains that all of the Voices are servants of a great Magician on the island.
As usual, Caspian would rather lead through reason than violence. It’s not clear how truthful the Chief is when he boasts of his many warriors, which once again shows the potential dangers of the unknown.
Themes
The Chief says they’ve been waiting for a girl like Lucy to come free them from their invisibility spell by reading a spell from a magic book. Lucy agrees to help them, even as the others warn her. And so, the Chief invites the Narnians to stay on the island.
Lucy shows bravery by agreeing to help the invisible people, even after all their threats. Her decision ends up being the right one, as the Chief shows them hospitality, highlighting the benefits of bravely facing the unknown.
Themes
