My INside Look At The Pevensies

I'm sure that if you've read the famous Narnia books written so long ago by a man who I believed knew and understood things that we can't even begin to imagine without help. In fact, I like to imagine him and Aslan sitting down at some pub to have a chat about the book he was writing at the time over a steamy cup of black tea while all the other customers made a speedy stampede out the door and to the police station to report a escaped ferocious lion and a crazy old loon who believed he could talk to the raging beast. Can't you see? Can't you hear it? I imagine that they would say something along the lines of:

"So C, what new thing have you written that I need to fix?"
"Rubbish Aslan, you never fix anything of mine. You help me fix it. and by the way, I've written a new chapter. I got it right here if you'd like to read it." C. S. would pull out a tiny blue notebook out of his shirt pocket and open it up in front of Aslan to read.
Aslan's bright brown eyes would scan the scribbled pages quickly, lap up some more tea and then point out the poor old author's mistakes like a true friend.
"No no, you've got it all wrong here! Remember what I said, Puddleglum isn't a happy fellow, he's a sorrowful pessimistic old marshwiggle that thinks way too much of himself. In this chapter you have him acting as if he was a high cheerleader! No, this will not do at all." Aslan would explain as he licked himself.
C. S. would roll his eyes and scribble something down quickly.
"Alright, you're right, as usual," C.S. would mumble, "I'll fix it. Thanks for the, er, advice."
"Don't mention it. Anytime you need me just knock on the wardrobe." Aslan would remind him as he slowly dissolved into thin air.
Then, the police and no-good-busy-body citizens would show up and look like fools for there was nothing inside the pub unusual except for an old chap who looked perfectly sane and was just taking his leave.
See? doesn't it just seem perfect? So as you can see reading the books is only the surface, you have to looked deeper than those fine printed pages full of cranky old witches and a girl that liked a prince with a mysterious accent who was 1300 years younger. You need to look through someone else's eyes to experience the whole grand picture.
First of all, let's take a look at the Pevensies. There's High (big emphasis on that part) King Peter the Magnificent. Well, below this teenage boys blond wavy hair, killing British accent, and kingly tan skin there's just a boy that is trying to step up to the role that has been thrust upon himself in Narnia's time of need. Peter's like the night that bravely volunteers to kill the dragon that has been destroying his town for eons. So he marches out, all on his own, clad from head to toe in glittering and magnificent (there's that word again, but it describes him so well) armor ready to kick some fiery dragons bahooky until, he stumbles over the first twig that crossed his path, face down into the dirt. Peter's intentions are truly the best, but under that hero mask he's really just a boy from Fincheley who is only trying to keep his family safe and together and already believes he failed with one of them. Of course he's going to make mistakes, and of course he's going to be scared and afraid to call the shots. But you have to look at it through his eyes. Picture it.
You stumble upon a magical and dangerous world in an ancient mansion that is owned by some mad old professor that is hundreds of miles away from home while your dad is off fighting some other man's war thousands of miles away. Wouldn't you feel insecure, unsure, nervous, frightened? So that's how it is being Peter. Now do you understand him better? Maybe?
OK, let's look at Susan.

Susan is at a stage in life where she is leaving childhood much to the grief of her siblings and entering a new chapter full of lipstick, bras, and boys. She's trying to understand the things around her and how everything has changed so quickly, including herself. She doesn't understand but she doesn't want to admit it to anybody. Especially herself. She puts on a mask every morning along with her lippy, a mask and attitude that says 'I know everything and i got it so under control.' She's not willing to realize that she's not in control.
Now that we've said some nasty things about poor Susan let's look at her life through her very own brown eyes.
Picture it, everyday you're in constant fear and trouble. Any day your home and family could be bombed away right in front of you. Then, to make matters worse your mum is sending you and your siblings away to live far out in the country with some hormonal housekeeper and kooky old man with a curly beard. Then to top it, your little sister starts lying, saying that she's found a magical land, in the upstairs wardrobe. Of course she's making it all up, playing with you. That's what little sisters do. Besides, it's not logical! But then low and behold, your stupid little immature brother smashes a hole in a window with a cricket ball and in your getaway you hide in the famous wardrobe. Next thing you know your falling into a pile of snow. SNOW! Now things speed up, the same stupid little immature brother that smashed a hole in the stained glass window betrays you for Turkish delight. Siblings, don't you just love them? You discover that beavers and all animals can speak and now your talking to them?!? So not logical. (Once again.)Then a lion is thrown into the mix who saves you, reunites you with your brother, dies and then comes back to life (OMGosh people, it's not LOGICAL!), kills a cold white witch, and crowns you queen!
Wouldn't you be just a little snippy and dumbstruck after all that happened to you? I think you would. (I know I definitely would!) so now we've justified emotional Susan let's move on to King Edmund the Cute.

That's right, I've renamed him King Edmund the Cute because isn't he? All the girls may think that High King Peter is a High King hottie, but i disagree. Yup, Edmund's my crush, and why wouldn't he be? I know everyone thinks Edmund's a huge brat, and truth be told, he is! Until...he's captured. So at first he was a huge jerk, and then he's a huge hero?!?!? What the hey? Slow down fast boy, you're moving way too fast! But let's look at this like Edmund would before we start slamming him around.
OK, you're a twelve year old boy, whose father is faraway from home, every second in danger. You're mad with worry. He has to come back, come home. He has to! Everyday your town is being bombed, who's going to protect you? Your older brother Peter who thinks he's great and in charge? Fat chance! You can take care of yourself! Who needs the other Pevensies? They don't like you anywho! OK, now that you've convinced yourself that your tough enough to take care of yourself you're deported to the countryside hundreds of miles away from home to live with some strict old man, no doubt! It's so not fair! Besides, you have to protect your mum! So you arrive, you were right, it's a big old stuffy mansion with nothing to do. Is this how your going to spend your summer? Insufferable! All of a sudden your sister is declaring that she found a land in the wooden wardrobe upstairs in the spare room. Yeah, right, Lucy. Suuuuure. But why don't you take advantage of this circumstance, tease her, it'll be loads of fun! After all, there's nothing else to do around this old place. That night you follow her secretly into the wardrobe, and find the magical land yourself? Weird, right? The first person you meet in this freezing cold ice burg of a land is a beautiful lady....that saves you from a psychopath hairy dwarf! Of course your grateful and you want to repay her for her generosity and kindness. The lady offers to feed you your favourite, Turkish delight! of course your not going to refuse! you start chatting with her and she asks you about yourself, so you tell her. You tell her everything eagerly, everything concerning the happenings of the past week or so. She seems fascinated and says that she wants to see you again. You and her agree on a meeting spot, her castle! Yeah, she's a Queen, and she's interested in you! You're hooking up with a Queen! Unreal cool! She tells you that she has a busy schedule and must leave, but she can't wait to see you, hopefully soon. So now your on your own, but not for long, Lucy has found you and she won't shut up! OK, so she tells you that the hot lady you just met is a witch (yeah, a witch with a t not a which, but Lucy doesn't have to know), but Lucy's been wrong before, right? So you go back, lie to Peter and Susan, hurt Lucy's feelings, no big deal. So what? You got to keep to the plan that the clever Queen came up with, no reason ruining everything, right? So you avoid Lucy for the next few days, it's not like your guilty or anything, why should you be guilty?! It's not your fault that Peter and Susan didn't believe the poor lass! OK, maybe you did lie, but it was an OK lie, right? Every thing's going to work out fine. Somehow you'll get Peter, Susan, and Lucy to go back into the wardrobe and then you can innocently suggest that they explore and while you're out 'exploring' you'll lead them to the white witch's castle. Then you, Edmund Pevensie - not Peter - will rule Narnia and your siblings shall be your servants. You'll treat them good, feed them once a day, maybe even give them some Turkish delight for payment. Look, they're just lucky to be working for you. Yeah----oh NO! You've done it! You've broken a window and in your escape you lead your other siblings into the wardrobe. Any minute now and it'll happen, in a few hours you'll be sitting down for a cup of hot cocoa to share with your new mum, her majesty the Queen! Oh great, everyone hates you now because they found out that you had lied to them to make Lucy look bad. Ooohhh, how you hate them! They can just forget about that Turkish delight for payment, they so don't deserve it. Now things are picking up and you can barely breath! Some beaver found you (who could talk!) and led you and your brother and sisters to his wife and his dam. They feed you and while no one notices you sneak away, you have an appointment to keep. The goings cold and rough, but it's worth it. Her castle is in sight and you can just imagine that delicious powdery Turkish delight melting on your tongue. OK, here's the short version because my big sister is whining and will not let me finish. You get captured by the witch, betrayed and hurt. The witch goes after your siblings with her drooling demon dogs. You see that she's a wicked horrible woman and now you understand the full picture of what you've done to yourself, your family, and possibly all of Narnia! Good going Edmund. Great job. You're on the move now, the secrets out, her majesty has found out about Aslan (of course it's not your fault!) and she's out to get him, and in the process stonify all the 'good' animals in Narnia. You break for camp and the next thing you know some humongous man with horse legs is setting you free and carrying you off to somewhere. You're meeting Aslan, and your legs are like jelly! He's probably mad with anger after what you did you deserve to have your head bitten off! But when you're shoved into his tent and all of a sudden your face to face with the most majestic, frightening, biggest lion you had ever seen or even imagined. Your about to die! And yet, there isn't anger in his knowing eyes, there's sadness, and maybe even forgiveness. And is that pity? he's asking you now if you understand what you've done, and you say yes. For some reason your eyes are watering up, but it must be a speck of dust. You're definitely NOT crying! After Aslan says he forgives you and you've said that your sorry about a gazillion times he let's you go, to see your family. What will they say? What will they think? You're sure they hate your guts, and yet, they run up to you and hug you! They still love you and they forgive you! Now your on your way to becoming a hero. You fight in the battle and survive. Your crowned King along with your siblings, together, ruling Narnia together. Your officially a good (great!) guy, a King, a kid, a boy, a hero.

Now, it's Lucy's turn to be examined. But, I really don't think we need to analyze her, after all, it's so obvious what she is feeling and why she acts on those impulses so easily that it is not hard to understand and almost have a connection with her. For Lucy, this whole Narnia business is just complete and utter bliss! Yeah there are a few noses running and some tears being shed, but usually it's because she's ecstatic. It's like a dream come true, she met a faun, became Queen of a land that she discovered, they won a great battle, played with a lion's mane, and wore pretty dresses all in the span of a few days! What more could you want?

I hope my INside look through the eyes of the Pevensies helped you understand them better, sometimes it's difficult to understand children who have just been thrown into a magical land and grew beards all in the span of a few mili-seconds. I also hope that you enjoyed it (even though it did take me over a week to write it!).

Sincerely,
~Indigo