Summary
Chapter 9: The Founding of Narnia
The Lion's song has changed, and now it seems to be causing the trees, grasses, and plants to grow. Digory observes that little sticks with leaves seem to be growing up out of the ground; when he looks closer he sees they are miniature trees, quickly growing larger and larger, and becoming taller than Digory. The Lion comes closer and closer to the group. The Witch tries to attack the Lion by throwing a lamp-post bar (which she brought from London) at the Lion's head, but it does not hurt him. Instead, it falls the ground and begins grows up into a new lamp-post, similar to how the trees are growing. Frightened, the Witch runs in the other direction, out of sight.
The children are impressed by the Lion; rather than being frightened, they are in awe of him. While the children follow the Lion and watch him create the plant life of this world, Uncle Andrew begins to talk of how to take advantage of the qualities of this world. Uncle Andrew calls the world the "land of youth" and thinks of starting a sanitarium there. Digory remembers hearing those words, "land of youth," mentioned by Aunt Letty in regards to a magical cure for Digory's mother, and so Digory wonders if this world holds the key to curing her.
The children and Uncle Andrew continue to follow the Lion, and the song begins to change again. Now, the song is creating animals: the earth seems to bubble up, with some small lumps forming raised up from the earth, and other quite large lumps of earth, and finally, full-grown animals burst forth from the earth bubbles. All of the animals start to make noise and behave like the animals they are: the dogs bark, the bees search for pollen, the big cats sharpen their claws. The noise of the animals overpowers the song. Next, the children watch as the Lion becomes silent. The animals do not seem to fear the Lion. The children watch in wonder as the Lion approaches the animals, and appears to be selecting pairs of animals, one male and one female of each species. The selected pairs then gather in a circle around the Lion. The non-chosen animals wander off. The Lion brings himself to standing in the middle of the circle of chosen animals. Then the Lion speaks, saying, "Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
Chapter 10: The First Joke and Other Matters
The chosen animals are joined by gods and goddess, as well as nymphs and dwarfs. All of the chosen animals and other creatures then hail Aslan, the Lion, as they would hail a divine being or a trusted leader. Aslan asks the animals to promise to use their higher intelligence for good in this land, known as Narnia.
As all the animals speak their assent, the Jackdaw accidentally speaks loudly after everyone has already finished speaking. All the animals begin to laugh, but try to suppress it, for fear their response is wrong. However, Aslan informs them that with the gift of speech, the animals also have the ability to joke. They all laugh.
Aslan then asks a few specific creatures to a form a council with him. In this council, they will discuss the "evil" that has already entered their world. Aslan and the council leave to discuss how to keep Narnia safe from evil.
After Aslan and the council leave, the children and the Cabby observe the talking animals. The Cabby and the children are pleased to see that Strawberry, the London cab horse, is among the chosen animals who can talk. They all approach Strawberry to talk with him. Strawberry at first does not recognize the Cabby, nor remember his life in London, but little by little it comes back to him. Strawberry agrees to carry Digory closer to Aslan because Digory would like to ask Aslan if Aslan can provide something to help his mother.
Meanwhile, Uncle Andrew is having a completely different experience. He has convinced himself that Aslan's singing is really just roaring; likewise, he does not hear the animals talking, but rather he thinks they are making animal noises. He worries that the animals will eat the children and the rings, and he will get stuck there. After the children and the Cabby go off to see Aslan, the animals come to meet Uncle Andrew because they are curious about what he is. Terrified, Uncle Andrew runs away from them. Once the animals catch up with Uncle Andrew, the Bulldog tries to ask Uncle Andrew what he is. However, Uncle Andrew does not hear the Bulldog speak words, but rather only hears growling.
Analysis
The creation of Narnia is furthered developed in Chapters Nine and Ten. In many ways, Aslan’s creation of the world is an allusion to Genesis in the New Testament of the Bible. Aslan is a symbol of Good, and his actions demonstrate the theme of creation. As a representation of good, Aslan inspires love and obedience. He is also the source of knowledge for the creatures he rules. The combination of his role as creator and his wealth of knowledge makes him a respected leader.
Aslan’s magic in the creation of Narnia expands on the themes of magic, goodness, creation, and nature and growth. Aslan’s song has sound imagery as well as visual imagery. The plants, stars, and lights take on human qualities, “running” and “creeping” up hills and slopes (121). Polly feels she can see the connection between the song and the way things are growing: deep low notes create fir trees, lighter notes create primroses. In the motif of the existence of other worlds, Digory and Polly have been able to see beauty, goodness, and magic.
Finally, once Aslan has created this new world, he speaks to his new creations. In Aslan’s speech the literary device of parallelism is used: the construction of the sentences are similar throughout the speech, as well as in the responses of the animals. Parallelism highlights the power of the words Aslan uses, making them similar to prayer, and offering the animals faith in Aslan.
Aslan’s choosing a pair of each animal alludes to Noah, of the Bible, who took two of each animal onto the Ark to create a new future for their kind. Like Noah, Aslan is choosing these pairs of animals to make up a special population of a new world. Anthropomorphism is granted to the chosen animals by Aslan. These animals will carry out their duty and uphold the responsibility that goes along with being given higher intelligence and the ability to speak. Aslan reminds the animals that higher intelligence isn’t just for serious matters; hence, the humor of the “first joke.” Aslan’s encouragement of humor and laughter is part of what helps to characterize him as a kind and all-loving divine being.
Lewis also employs the use of humor in Uncle Andrew's reactions to Narnia. Although Uncle Andrew urges Digory to leave, Digory asks, “I thought you wanted to know about other worlds? Don’t you like it now that you are here?” (127). But, Uncle Andrew does not. Uncle Andrew decides not to hear the animals speaking or singing. His perception is closed to that type of magic. The narrator states, “What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are” (147). Much as Aunt Letty rejects the idea of magic in her reception of Queen Jadis (see Analysis Chapter 7 - 8) due to her extreme practicality, Uncle Andrew does not believe that animals could be more than just dumb creatures. He is not a person open to the goodness and beauty of magic. Uncle Andrew can only see opportunities for power, such as how wonderful it would be to shoot the lion, or how he could profit off the youth-giving qualities of Narnia. As a result, Uncle Andrew is full of fear and loathing for Narnia. In Chapter Two Digory foreshadowed Uncle Andrew’s punishment for being a cruel magician, stating “I’ve never read a story in which people of that sort weren’t paid out in the end, and I bet you will be” (28).
