Friendship in Narnia and Till We Have Faces:
Shasta and Bree from The Horse and his Boy of Chronicles of Narnia show an example of Friendship at its finest. The story follows the duo as they escape to Narnia together, showing a relationship where they need each other, and push each other on their journey. "This is the chance for both of us" (Narnia 11), Bree says to Shasta at their first meeting. Alone, they would surely fail, but as a team, the pair could quickly escape without suspect of foul play. After reading Till We Have Faces, I made the connection to the kind of friendship Lewis uses in his stories that Aristotle also describes as mutual appreciation, where true friendship relies on both parties ability to see the intrinsic value of good in the other, and also to push and promote the good doings of their partner in friendship.
In Till We Have Faces, Orual and Bardia share a similar mutual appreciation for each other, like Shasta and Bree's relationship with each other in The Horse and His Boy. Orual and Bardia go on a mystic quest together, similarly on horseback and through a landscape of wilderness, to find Physche's remains on top of the Grey Mountain. Orual was still recovering from her illness, and Bardia was able to provide her with support in lieu of a horse and helping her regain her strength with sword fighting lessons, while on their journey. Bardia, being noble and representing someone pure, thinks going to the Grey Mountain to retrieve Pysche's bones is a great idea, saying that he is "ashamed I have not done it myself"(Faces 92), and his moral duty is what drives him to go with Orual on the journey, using her as an excuse for going himself. Their friendship grows stronger as they travel up the mountain together, another example of Lewis creating characters who display Friendship at its finest.
*I am using this blog post as two entries. One for Narnia and one for Till We Have Faces
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