I think this question illustrates one of the biggest problems I have with these two characters - sure they can both be used as examples of how skin colour is not necessarily a barrier to acceptance in Narnia... However at the same time they are also characters who only attain that acceptance precisely because they reject their people's entire culture and way of life.

In other words, they are "the exceptions that prove the rule", as in order to answer your question I would have to accept the premise that all Calormen lack virtue, and that there is something uniquely different about these characters that makes them different to all other Calormen, which therefore confers a status of worthiness on them.

Would it not simply be better to discuss the positive qualities of these characters on their own terms without having to anchor the question by way of a comparison against their entire race?

@icarus

I get that. Narnia has plenty of controversial topics and this one is no exception.

Aslan didn't say "You are accepted into Aslan's country because you weren't too interested in girly stuff" to Aravis or "You are accepted into Aslan's country because didn't eat onion and garlic" to Emeth. That's not what's happening.

"So I went over much grass and many flowers and among all kinds of wholesome and delectable trees till lo! in a narrow place between two rocks there came to meet me a great Lion. The speed of him was like the ostrich, and his size was an elephant's; his hair was like pure gold and the brightness of his eyes, like gold that is liquid in the furnace. He was more terrible than the Flaming Mountain of Lagour, and in beauty he surpassed all that is in the world, even as the rose in bloom surpasses the dust of the desert. Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of Thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.

"Then he breathed upon me and took away the trembling from my limbs and caused me to stand upon my feet. And after that, he said not much but that we should meet again, and I must go further up and further in. Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of gold and was gone suddenly."

Posted by: @jasminetarkheena

Another thought for a discussion is what made two Calormenes, Aravis and Emeth stand out, since they were accepted into Aslan's country?

Are you asking how C. S. Lewis, the author, made them more appealing than other Calormene characters? Because I feel like that's kind of obvious. Or are you asking in-universe why they were better people than their average fellow citizens? That's the kind of question that's hard to answer. There are a lot of factors that contribute to making people good or bad. One thing is that no matter how corrupt any culture is it usually celebrates some kind of virtue. Calormen clearly prizes bravery and dedication, both things Emeth and Aravis cultivate. While The Horse and his Boy stresses that, unlike the Narnians and Archenlanders, their culture sees less powerful people as things to be used by more powerful people as they please, it's possible there's also a strand of thought that stresses the duties higherups have. When Aravis falls asleep, just like everybody else, she feels like she's more to blame because she's not a horse or a slave boy. Snobby but it shows that she can be hard on herself. She probably learned that from somewhere. Also, while I'm quite cynical about humanity, I imagine everyone is born with one or two good instincts, even if the bad instincts predominate. 

Posted by: @icarus

Would it not simply be better to discuss the positive qualities of these characters on their own terms without having to anchor the question by way of a comparison against their entire race?

Well, I'm not really sure why you'd want me to praise Aravis since you dislike the only book about her, but here goes. I think she's the kind of exhilarating to read about since she's so different from the average Narnian protagonist. While a couple of them are proud and have to learn humility, she's the only one who has a reason to be proud, being very high up on the social ladder and having at least a few talents. The character dynamic makes for a nice change of pace. Her virtues tend to be of the tough kind, which is unusual for a Narnian protagonist. In a way, she's more like the White Witch than like Susan, Lucy or Jill. (I'd sort of describe Jill as tough, but her toughness is more bravado.) 

As for Emeth, I think the reason he's mostly discussed as a foil to other Calormenes is because that's his role. He's not a fully developed character so much as a character to provide a contrast to others. (Unlike Rishda, he's not just out to increase his power and security. He's capable of devoting himself to something higher.) You can certainly argue that that's racist, but the Narnia books aren't about realistic depictions of cultural conflict. They're stories about totally good groups of people vs. totally bad groups of people. The reason people bring up that sympathetic/positive Calormene characters exist isn't just because they're defensive about the books they enjoy. It's because it's genuinely surprising, given the kind of stories they are. 

Speaking of Rishda Tarkaan...

Posted by: @jasminetarkheena

I don't know if Rishda and Emeth were close friends (they could be, since they were both from the upper class society, though Emeth was younger than Rishda).

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, they were not. Emeth describes Rishda as someone he knows only professionally and, even granted that, not well. (He's surprised to realize Rishda doesn't really believe in Tash.) And their personalities make it hard for me to believe they could have been close. 

Posted by: @col-klink

Her virtues tend to be of the tough kind, which is unusual for a Narnian protagonist. In a way, she's more like the White Witch than like Susan, Lucy or Jill. (I'd sort of describe Jill as tough, but her toughness is more bravado.)

I think this where it gets controversial regarding not only racism but sexism. One would think that the female would be the weaker ones, but it would seem that some females are participating in what normally males would do (notably Lucy at the Battle of Anvard and Jill at the Battle of Stable Hill). One could argue that Aravis is bit more of a tomboy than a proper lady that she was raised to be.

Posted by: @col-klink

 (Unlike Rishda, he's not just out to increase his power and security. He's capable of devoting himself to something higher.)

I actually didn't think about that. Rishda is out to increase power by using manipulation and brute force (it could be argued that Shift uses brains, Ginger uses words, and Rishda uses brute force. That could be discussed in another thread, though).

It could be argued that Rishda is more like Miraz and Lady of the Green Kirtle, where he is fixated on gaining more power and what is seen; Emeth is fixated on the unseen and something higher.

Posted by: @col-klink

I'm pretty sure the answer is no, they were not. Emeth describes Rishda as someone he knows only professionally and, even granted that, not well. (He's surprised to realize Rishda doesn't really believe in Tash.) And their personalities make it hard for me to believe they could have been close. 

I don't think CS Lewis ever specified how Rishda and Emeth knew each other, whether professionally or well. And yes, Emeth is surprised that Rishda doesn't believe in any of the supernatural (he had obviously kept his identity as an atheist a secret). But it could be possible that Emeth just join in the Calormene army, and Rishda happens to be the captain.

Posted by: @jasminetarkheena

But it could be possible that Emeth just join in the Calormene army, and Rishda happens to be the captain.

That's the impression I always got. Emeth was lower ranking than Rishda, so they wouldn't have talked much. (And I got the impression Rishda didn't even necessarily tell his own soldiers everything.)

Posted by: @col-klink

That's the impression I always got. Emeth was lower ranking than Rishda, so they wouldn't have talked much. (And I got the impression Rishda didn't even necessarily tell his own soldiers everything.)

"Thou and I must provide for all things in secret and make the ape do our will."

It's likely he didn't even told his own men everything (So much for being a captain). Wonder if he ever qouted Calormene poetry-

Application to business
is the root of prosperity
but those who ask questions
that do not concern them
are steering the ship of folly
towards the rock of indigence.

Natural affection is stronger than soup
and offspring more precious than carbuncles.

He who attempts to deceive the judicious
is already baring his back for the scourge.

Swords can be kept off with shields
but the Eye of Wisdom pierces through every defence.

Deep draughts from the fountain of reason are desirable
in order to extinguish the fire of youthful love

@jasminetarkheena I meant that Emeth was of a lower rank in the army than Rishda. (Remember how he addresses him as father?) I feel like if they had a relationship outside their jobs, Emeth would have mentioned it when telling his story. (I don't get the impression he would have felt like hiding it in The Real Narnia.)

@col-klink Oh yeah. I've written a scene on that in @rose's thread about Scripting a Scene For Narnia Movies. I added Eustace and Jill asking Tirian if Rishda was really Emeth's father, and Tirian explains how in Calormen, young officers referred to their senior officers as father.

Maybe CS Lewis thought it was best to leave out outside relation between Rishda and Emeth, and leave it to our own imaginations. Maybe Netflix will touch on that.

As we've mentioned that Emeth referred to Rishda as "my father" (though not really his father). I wonder if that was part of the culture. Obviously, Rishda is older than Emeth (though I don't know how many years).

As far as we know, Aravis and Emeth were the only Calormenes that were allowed into Aslan's country. There may have been some other ones that we don't know about.

I'm also a little uncomfortable with the idea that Aravis and Emeth are "different" from all the other Calormenes. We don't meet a huge number of Calormene people throughout the Chronicles — they in fact only feature in person in The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle (with a mention in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as participants in the slave trade). Both times, they're essentially cast in the role of the "exotic other" in relation to Narnia — a heavily materialistic and hierarchical society with rulers and warlords who are determined to take over the much smaller kingdoms of Narnia and Archenland out of their own sheer greed. But we see very little of Calormen and the Calormenes apart from those in the ruling class and warrior class, who seem to be largely governed by their desires for power and wealth. We're not given any real insight into the lives and thoughts of ordinary, middle- and lower-class Calormene men and women (except for the brief cameo of Arsheesh), let alone any good basis to judge them from.

For all we know, there could be many thousands, even millions, of Calormenes over the centuries who were accepted into Aslan's country after their deaths. After all, it's made very clear in The Last Battle that the criterion for entrance into that country isn't whether or not one personally claimed allegiance to Aslan in one's earthly life. It's where one's heart and mind truly are — on the side of goodness and truth-seeking, or on the side of evil and self-seeking — and whether, on meeting the Lion Himself face to face, one responds to Him with hatred or with love. One's race, culture, skin colour or social status — and perhaps most significantly, even one's professed religious beliefs — clearly don't enter into it. On that basis, even though we're not told specifically of any others, I can't believe Aravis and Emeth could have been the only Calormenes in history who ever entered Aslan's country.

@courtenay 

As you've mentioned by where heart truly lies- on the side of truth seeking, some readers found it pretty controversial that Emeth, who sought after Tash, that he was really seeking Aslan. Some might even argue that Lewis wasn't treating his characters fairly. I don't think I'd quite agree with that. I think he was trying to get at that Aslan wants to reach out to those who seek Him, regardless of what nationality.

Posted by: @courtenay

For all we know, there could be many thousands, even millions, of Calormenes over the centuries who were accepted into Aslan's country after their deaths

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...Yes, I would like to think so. I think there are probably a lot of virtuous Calormens, and Lewis just stuck to mentioning the ones we'd met - for that matter, most of the decent folk in Calormen probably didn't interact much with Narnia and thus our story because of not being in an invading army!

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Oh dear, I can't seem to get out of the quote-box.

@silverlily 

I suppose we'll never know. I think CS Lewis kind of left it to your own imagination. Emeth could have found out for himself that Rishda didn't believe in Tash (I think that would be something for a movie or series to touch on).

(*ahem*) The officer who perished of starvation to keep Shasta/Cor alive.