I think you could make a good case for Digory and Polly. Polly wants to go along the ride, and refuses to use the ring to go back home to get food. And Digory reacts emotionally when the Witch suggests leaving Polly behind. And of course, we find out that they end up being close lifelong friends.

I don’t think this counts as quite the same thing, but this passage has always stood out to me:

But all the Talking Beasts surged round the Lion, with purrs and grunts and squeaks and whinneys of delight, fawning on him with their tails, rubbing against him, touching him reverently with their noses and going to and fro under his body and between his legs. If you have ever seen a little cat loving a big dog whom it knows and trusts, you will have a pretty good picture of their behaviour.”

 

I just really love this portrayal of the animals’ loyalty towards Aslan. How connected they feel towards him as fellow animals, and how safe they feel in his presence. And how Aslan willingly allows them to come around him, recognizing their loyalty. (The kitten-and-large-dog metaphor works very nicely, btw.)

It’s a beautiful moment that hasn’t been featured in either of the PC adaptations so far (to be fair, BBC wouldn’t have been able to pull it off at all), so I hope it’s featured in whatever new adaptation is made.

At the end of The Silver Chair Lewis emphasizes that Jill and Eustace were always friends. This is very different from the beginning of the book when Jill said that Eustace’s conduct was terrible, although she did notice that he had changed.  People who were not always friendly can later become friends. This is true even if they are critical of each as the two of them were several times throughout the book.  They were angry at each other but apparently they were able to get over it. I don’t think that the story would have been as realistic if they had always been nice to each other. 🙂

All really good ones. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the examples of deep friendship is Caspian X and Drinian, especially in a flashback scene in The Silver Chair. 

Here’s a bit of a recap, after Drinian and Prince Rilian saw the Lady of the Green Kirtle:

Drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the King, but he had little wish to be a blab and a tale-bearer and so he held his tongue. But afterwards he wished he had spoken. For next day Prince Rilian rode out alone. That night he came not back, and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in Narnia nor any neighbouring land, and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything else was ever found.

Then Drinian in the bitterness of his heart went to Caspian and said, "Lord King, slay me speedily as a great traitor: for by my silence I have destroyed your son." And he told him the story.

Then Caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the Lord Drinian to kill him, and Drinian stood still as a stock for the death blow. But when the axe was raised, Caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out, "I have lost my queen and my son: shall I lose my friend also?"

And he fell upon the Lord Drinian's neck and embraced him and both wept, and their friendship was not broken.

Such deep friendship. Drinian was saying, “Oh king, go ahead and kill me. It’s my fault that your son is gone.” Then even though Caspian was about to do it, he knew he could not. He had already lost his wife and son, so he didn’t want to lose one of his closest friends either.