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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Horse and His Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom and Justice
Bravery vs. Recklessness
Christianity
Gender Roles
Summary
Analysis
During Peter’s reign as king of Narnia, a boy named Shasta lives in the land of Calormen (located in the south of Narnia). He is the son of a poor fisherman named Arsheesh, who treats Shasta cruelly. People in Calormen, particularly to the south, usually wear turbans and have beards and dark skin. Shasta is interested in going north, where no one he knows ever goes.
Peter was one of the main characters in C. S. Lewis’s first published Narnia book (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe), and so this opening quickly establishes how the book fits into the overall chronology of the series. Nevertheless, each Narnia book is also a standalone story, and the new character of Shasta gives the audience a new way to become familiar with the fantasy world. Shasta’s humble origins set up the classic coming-of-age story of a hero who learns to grow into the role.
Active
Themes
One day, a stranger with armor and a dappled horse rides into Shasta’s town. Arsheesh recognizes the stranger as a Tarkaan (a type of great lord). The Tarkaan says he wants to buy Shasta. He claims Shasta can’t be Arsheesh’s son because unlike the other people of Calormen, Shasta has pale skin, like a Narnian from the north. Arsheesh admits that he never married and instead found Shasta as a baby. Shasta was in a small lifeboat with an adult man who recently died.
The discovery of Shasta floating in a boat recalls the Biblical story of Moses (who was adopted after being discovered floating down the Nile in a basket). The Tarkaan’s offer to buy and enslave Shasta introduces the concept of freedom into the story, as Shasta learns just how little freedom he seemingly has to determine the course of his life.
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Themes
The Tarkaan offers a price for Shasta, but Arsheesh asks for one much higher. Shasta overhears them bartering and is curious, particularly because he has always found it hard to love his adoptive father. He imagines his biological father might be a Tarkaan or even a god.
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Themes
Shasta wonders what sort of man the Tarkaan is and hopes he would be a kind master. He goes over to see the Tarkaan’s marvelous horse, wishing it could talk, and the Horse replies that actually, he can talk. The Horse explains that he’s from Narnia, where most animals can talk, but he was kidnapped and has been forced to live in Calormen. The Horse hasn’t told anyone else he can talk because he doesn’t want them to know his true value.
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The Horse warns Shasta that the Tarkaan, whose name is Anradin, is a bad man, and that Shasta would be better off dead than enslaved by him. The Horse suggests that Shasta should run away with him. Shasta has never ridden a horse before, just donkeys, so the Horse volunteers to teach him. The Horse thinks they should go north, since the Tarkaan still thinks the Horse is dumb, and a dumb horse would just go south back to its stable.
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Themes
Shasta and the Horse prepare to leave. The Horse tells Shasta that he will lead the way, so Shasta should hold on with his feet, never trying to pull the reins or grab the Horse’s mane. The two of them sneak away at night. When it’s clear, the Horse wants to gallop, but Shasta still feels he isn’t skilled enough at riding. The Horse says that his name is Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah, but he reluctantly allows Shasta to just call him “Bree.” They head north for Narnia.
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Themes
