The Magician’s Nephew

by

C. S. Lewis

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The Magician’s Nephew: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
When the children emerge once again in the Wood between the Worlds, they discover that the Queen is still with them, clutching Polly’s hair. Now they realize that it’s not actually necessary to wear a magic ring in order to jump from one world to another; one simply has to be touching a ring, or touching someone who is—the rings work rather like magnets.
The children continue to learn more about the way magic works. Both the practicality and the ethics of magic are complex and only discoverable through the experience of trial and error.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
In the wood, the Queen looks pale and struggles for breath. The children struggle with the Queen, and she finally lets go of Polly’s hair. The Queen looks terrified; she begs for mercy, asking the children to take her home with them. Polly feels spiteful toward the Queen, while Digory feels a little sorry for her. But Polly prevails upon him to jump together into the home pool. As they do, Digory feels the grip of the Queen’s fingers on his ear.
Interestingly, this place that’s filled with life—the wood between the worlds—seems lethal to the queen, suggesting that the type of magic by which she operates is incompatible with the magic at work here.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Creation, Creator, and the Dignity of Life Theme Icon
The children find themselves and the Queen back in Uncle Andrew’s study. Uncle Andrew stares in wonder at the Queen, who has now recovered her strength. In the midst of the ordinary world, the Queen looks more breathtaking than ever. She is huge, for one thing—as indeed there is rumored to be “giantish” blood in the Charn royal family. She is also beautiful and wild, looking more alive than an average person.
Here is a major clash between ordinary and magical. In the ordinary world, the Queen is no longer at a disadvantage. Her magic stands out sharply against the comparative dullness of London.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
Quotes
Beside the Witch, Uncle Andrew “seemed a little shrimp of a creature.” Nevertheless, there is something similar about the two: “the look that all wicked Magicians have, the ‘Mark’” which was lacking in Digory’s face. Compared to Jadis, Uncle Andrew no longer appears scary to the children.
Though Uncle Andrew is nowhere near the Witch’s power, there is a similarity in their inclination to certain types of magic, as well as the effects that said magic has on them.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Human Selfishness vs. Divine Selflessness  Theme Icon
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Queen Jadis demands to meet the Magician who summoned her to this world. Uncle Andrew, bowing and babbling, approaches the Queen, who seizes his hair and studies him appraisingly. Finally she releases him, calling him “a Magician—of a sort,” but also a “dog” who obviously lacks royal blood.
Uncle Andrew gets more than he bargained for when Queen Jadis enters his world, and she feels she’s getting rather less than she’d hoped for.
Themes
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
The Witch goes on to call Uncle Andrew “a little, peddling Magician who works by rules and books” and has “no real Magic in your blood and heart.” But he’s suitable, she says, to be her servant. She demands first that he acquire a noble conveyance for her—something like a flying carpet or a dragon. He must also take her shopping for suitable clothes and jewels. Tomorrow she will begin taking over the world.
To the Queen, magic is innate and shouldn’t require adherence to written rules. Her insult of Uncle Andrew is ironic, since he has boasted his supposed lack of accountability to rules. Meanwhile, the Queen expects this world to bend to her expectations, showing her self-centeredness.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Human Selfishness vs. Divine Selflessness  Theme Icon
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
As Uncle Andrew scurries off, the children fear that Jadis will scold them for the tussle in the wood. However, she says nothing about it. Digory later thinks that the Queen’s mind is such that she cannot remember or understand a place like the wood, no matter how much time she spent there. And now she takes no notice of the children, because they’re no longer of any use to her.
Unlike the children, who felt embraced by the lush environment of the wood, it has no apparent effect on Jadis. This suggests that her magic—and her character—are at odds with such a life-filled place. Jadis only notices things and people that she can use in some way.
Themes
Creative Magic vs. Destructive Magic Theme Icon
Human Selfishness vs. Divine Selflessness  Theme Icon
Creation, Creator, and the Dignity of Life Theme Icon
Quotes
Eventually, the Queen impatiently goes off in pursuit of Uncle Andrew. Polly heads home for dinner, for which she’s terribly late. To Digory’s protests, she says that if he wanted her help, he’d better apologize for getting them into this mess in the first place, by overruling Polly and setting the Queen loose on them and their world. Digory is surprised and apologizes.
The “ordinary” remains important and pressing, even when magic intrudes—Polly, still an ordinary English child, has to go home for dinner, Witch or no Witch. In contrast to his selfish uncle, Digory quickly acknowledges and apologizes for his poor behavior.
Themes
Human Selfishness vs. Divine Selflessness  Theme Icon
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
Meanwhile, Uncle Andrew, upon getting his orders from the Witch, goes directly to his bedroom and pours himself a drink. Then he begins putting on his very best clothes and tall hat, even sticking a flower in his button-hole—“Uncle Andrew was beginning to be silly in a very grown-up way,” forgetting how frightening the Witch is and focusing only on her beauty. He calls her “a dem fine woman” and feels as if he summoned her from the magical realm himself.
Uncle Andrew, meanwhile, short-sightedly forgets the Witch’s nature and the danger she poses to others and thinks only of a highly unlikely match between the two of them. In a way, though, it’s also an indication that Andrew still thinks according to the values of the ordinary world.
Themes
Human Selfishness vs. Divine Selflessness  Theme Icon
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon
Uncle Andrew goes downstairs and finds Aunt Letty mending a mattress. He sends Sarah the housemaid to fetch a hansom cab. He asks Aunt Letty to lend him five pounds, which she flatly refuses—Uncle Andrew has mismanaged her money in the past. She doesn’t buy his story that he has a special guest to entertain. Just then, the Witch bursts into the room.
A hansom cab is a horse-drawn carriage, first developed in the mid-1800s. They could be hired much like automobile taxis today. Aunt Letty’s reactions to Uncle Andrew show that she doesn’t put up with nonsense from anyone.
Themes
Magic, the Ordinary, and Innate Goodness Theme Icon