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Gold Armband
The World’s End is a location at the far eastern end of the flat world of Narnia, and it represents the need for faith on life’s journey as well as representing death and the promise of an afterlife. Caspian, Reepicheep, and the others are excited to see the World’s End, even though they don’t know what to expect when they get there. They have heard that Aslan’s country might be near the World’s End and that it seems to be some kind of paradise, but no one knows for sure where Aslan lives. Even the wise Ramandu can offer Caspian few assurances about what he’ll find when he actually reaches the World’s End. And so, the crew of the Dawn Treader lets faith guide them, with Caspian trusting his instincts and Reepicheep believing in a prophecy he heard long ago.
Caspian’s faith in the World’s End helps him find the courage to continue venturing eastward, even as he and his crew face difficult challenges. Ultimately, the crew of the Dawn Treader is rewarded for their faith by the beautiful and strange sights they see near World’s End. In some ways, the journey itself is a reward, as Caspian achieves his goal of finding the seven lost Lords of Narnia, and Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace grow and mature over the course of their journey. The glimpses that the children get of Aslan’s country over the border of the World’s End make it seem like heaven. In this context, Reepicheep’s disappearance from Narnia at the World’s End seems to be a kind of death—but a happy one with the promise of a joyful afterlife. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the World’s End represents the promise of heaven and how faith in eternal life can motivate people to lead better lives and ultimately accept death with dignity.
World’s End Quotes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The The Voyage of the Dawn Treader quotes below all refer to the symbol of World’s End. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
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Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter East.
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Chapter 4
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At this Gumpas began to pay real attention. “Oh, that’s quite out of the question,” he said. “It is an economic impossibility—er—your Majesty must be joking.”
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Chapter 12
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“Fools!” said the man, stamping his foot with rage. “That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I’d better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams—dreams, do you understand—come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.”
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Chapter 13
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“Because,” said the Mouse, “this is a very great adventure, and no danger seems to me so great as that of knowing when I get back to Narnia that I left a mystery behind me through fear.”
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Chapter 14
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“My son,” said the star, “it would be no use, even though you wished it, to sail for the World’s End with men unwilling or men deceived. That is not how great unenchantments are achieved. They must know where they go and why. But who is this broken man you speak of?”
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Chapter 15
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The King took the bucket in both hands, raised it to his lips, sipped, then drank deeply and raised his head. His face was changed. Not only his eyes but everything about him seemed to be brighter.
“Yes,” he said, “it is sweet. That’s real water, that. I’m not sure that it isn’t going to kill me. But it is the death I would have chosen—if I’d known about it till now.”
“What do you mean?” asked Edmund.
“It—it’s like light more than anything else,” said Caspian.
“That is what it is,” said Reepicheep. “Drinkable light. We must be very near the end of the world now.”
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World’s End Symbol Timeline in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The timeline below shows where the symbol World’s End appears in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
...the Stone Knife. Seeing the sun rise so big and bright, so close to the World’s End , is the most exciting thing Edmund has seen so far on the voyage.
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...are under an enchantment, and the only way to wake them is to go the World’s End , leave a crew member there, and come back.
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...searching for, but Caspian feels it’s a shame to turn around so close to the World’s End . Caspian decides to put the question to the whole crew, but Edmund worries what...
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...end, just one sailor named Pittencream decides to stay behind. Although he never sees the World’s End , he tells future generations that he did until he almost believes the story himself.
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Chapter 15
Edmund worries what will happen if The Dawn Treader actually reaches the World’s End , and where it would go if it fell off. Reepicheep speculates that perhaps that’s...
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Chapter 16
...and abdicates the throne so that he can continue to go with Reepicheep toward the World’s End in a smaller boat. Many of the crew members don’t want Caspian to go, but...
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...after all. It will just be Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace going on to the World’s End .
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...mountains and a sweet musical sound coming from it. They believe they’re seeing over the World’s End into Aslan’s country.
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