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Chapter 11: Aslan is Near

Pattertwigs Pal
(@twigs)
Member Moderator

1. The narrator says "At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely." Do you think the narrator is saying the party should have lied in this case? Do you think the witch really would have forgiven them?

2. After the White Witch turned the animals to stone, "Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Why do you think this moment is the first time Edmund feels sorry for someone else?

3. What else did you notice about the chapter that was interesting?


NW sister to Movie Aristotle & daughter of the King

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Topic starter Posted : November 2, 2013 5:26 am
King_Erlian
(@king_erlian)
NarniaWeb Guru

1. The narrator says "At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely." Do you think the narrator is saying the party should have lied in this case? Do you think the witch really would have forgiven them?
Maybe they should have lied; I don't think we could really condemn them if they had. But even if they had said that they'd been lying after the Fox had said that Father Christmas had given them the food, the Witch would have known that they'd told her the truth, so no, I don't think she'd have forgiven them.

2. After the White Witch turned the animals to stone, "Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Why do you think this moment is the first time Edmund feels sorry for someone else?
From when he escaped the Beavers' house to now, this was possibly the longest time he'd been separated from his brother and sisters for ages, maybe even for the whole of his life so far. While he was with them, he constantly felt put upon, whether or not that feeling was justified. Now they weren't there, he no longer felt they were "getting at him" and so he stopped feeling like he was the victim all the time, even though his situation with the Witch was far worse than anything he'd experienced with Peter or Susan. Also, he'd not witnessed the Witch being gratuitously cruel until now; maybe part of him still wanted to believe that she was good, and that she hadn't done anything bad to Mr. Tumnus.

3. What else did you notice about the chapter that was interesting?
I felt really sorry for the reindeer. The Witch must have worked them far harder than they ought to have been.
Why didn't the Witch at least try to re-establish the Winter, at least before she realised that the Spring was Aslan's doing?

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Posted : November 5, 2013 1:42 am
ValiantArcher
(@valiantarcher)
BC Head and G&B Mod Moderator

1. I don't really think the Witch would've forgiven them, no. As for whether they should've lied, I don't think that's what Lewis was saying; a sudden childish outburst from the squirrel was sure to bring the Witch's wrath upon their heads, and the young squirrel shouldn't have interrupted the fox.

2. Edmund is really seeing the Witch's true character, and he knows that these animals have done nothing to bring her wrath down on them.

3. I feel sorry for the reindeer too, King_Erlian. I'm not sure how the Witch could've re-established winter, though.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

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Posted : March 2, 2014 10:39 am
Pattertwigs Pal
(@twigs)
Member Moderator

1. The narrator says "At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely." Do you think the narrator is saying the party should have lied in this case? Do you think the witch really would have forgiven them?
I'm not sure. Honesty is supposed to be the best policy but in this case once could certainly understand lying. I wonder if Lucy would have told the truth in this situation. I doubt the witch would have kept her promise. It is possible of course but I wouldn't count on it. The narrator also could have been suggesting the squirrel picked a bad way of telling the truth.
2. After the White Witch turned the animals to stone, "Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Why do you think this moment is the first time Edmund feels sorry for someone else?
He didn't have much of an opportunity before. The witch's treatment of him was a wake up call.


NW sister to Movie Aristotle & daughter of the King

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Topic starter Posted : June 19, 2014 4:29 pm
Ryadian
(@rya)
Member Moderator

1. The narrator says "At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely." Do you think the narrator is saying the party should have lied in this case? Do you think the witch really would have forgiven them?
I don't think the book says one way or another what the right answer was, and I seriously doubt that if they had lied that she would've spared them--though the punishment may have been different. I think what they meant by the young squirrel "lost its head" has more to do with the fact that he apparently panicked and blurted it out, rather than trying to be remotely diplomatic (like the fox did).

2. After the White Witch turned the animals to stone, "Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Why do you think this moment is the first time Edmund feels sorry for someone else?
First of all, I think by this point, Edmund is well aware that the Witch is exactly who the Beavers have described her to be. There's no way he can deny it anymore--after the way she's treated him, he just wants to be reunited with his family, "even Peter!". In addition to that, I think he can identify with the creatures--they were just having a party, and the Witch turned them to stone for no reason than utter spite. (Given his own motivations so far, perhaps he even is beginning to realize his own spitefulness?) How can you not feel sorry for the poor creatures, unless you're as cold-hearted as the Witch (which the book has already established he isn't)?

3. What else did you notice about the chapter that was interesting?
I find it kind of amusing that the Witch utterly refuses to believe that her winter is disintegrating around her, and that it is Aslan's doing--to the point where she threatens to kill even her servant if he uses Aslan's name. The prophecy is being fulfilled around her, Aslan is clearly returning, her Winter has ended... and she's still desperately trying to be Queen of Narnia.

N-Web sis of stardf, _Rillian_, & jerenda
Proud to be Sirya the Madcap Siren

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Posted : September 12, 2014 5:35 am
Movie Aristotle
(@risto)
NarniaWeb Junkie

1. The narrator says "At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely." Do you think the narrator is saying the party should have lied in this case? Do you think the witch really would have forgiven them?

I'm not sure that the narrator is suggesting that the animals should have lied to the queen, but he is suggesting that the squirrel should not have directly confronted the queen in this manner. This squirrel's bold but foolish action resulted in the consequence of the entire party being turned into stone.

2. After the White Witch turned the animals to stone, "Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." Why do you think this moment is the first time Edmund feels sorry for someone else?

Earlier in the story, Edmund felt sorry for himself without any reason. He had caused (or even invented) his own misery.

During the horrible sleigh ride, Edmund started to feel sorry for himself with good reason. The queen was truly abusing him by forcing him into the cold and wind and wet without any coat. Edmund had learned what a person really aught to feel sorry about, rather than the silly little grievances he had charged Peter with before.

Now that Edmund understood what abuse was actually like, he was more sensitive to it when it occurred to others. The witch had threatened his family and made him miserable all night. Now he was realizing the extant of the witch's evil, and that her reign of terror was not only wide, but powerful.

It is also of note that this was the first time that Edmund had witnessed a "murder" and the fact that it had happened to an entire party, including a young squirrel, must have made it particularly terrible.

Movie Aristotle, AKA Risto

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Posted : September 30, 2014 10:20 am
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