Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bravery
Christianity
Growing Up and Selflessness
Temptation
Summary
Analysis
Eustace Clarence Scrubb is a boy with no friends because he wants to be a bully but isn’t strong enough. He likes animals but doesn’t like his cousins: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. While Peter is busy studying for an exam and Susan is off in the United States, Edmund and Lucy reluctantly go to visit Eustace and his parents, Harold and Alberta. Edmund and Lucy spend much of their time talking about Narnia, a secret country they’ve been to twice before.
Although this is the third book in the Narnia series (going by order of publication), each book has a mostly self-contained story. That’s why this book introduces the new character of Eustace, who is a cousin of returning characters Lucy and Edmund. Eustace is selfish and can be unpleasant, which in some ways makes him an atypical hero, but it also makes him a fitting candidate for a story about growing up and gaining experience and perspective.
Themes
In Alberta’s room, there’s a picture of a ship that looks like it’s sailing right out of the frame. Lucy and Edmund agree that the ship looks Narnian. They both long to someday return to Narnia. Eustace, who is eavesdropping, interrupts the two of them, and all of a sudden, the painting of the ship looks like it’s actually moving. Eustace threatens to smash the painting, and Edmund and Lucy try to stop him. The three of them all fall into the sea in the painting.
This portal to the fantasy world of Narnia symbolizes how the real world can have unexpected mystery and wonder in it, particularly for children with strong imaginations. Eustace’s resistance to the moving painting suggests that he is stuck in his ways and doesn’t want to expand his horizons.
Themes
Lucy and Edmund can swim in the water, but Eustace flails around. Eventually, they all get pulled onto the ship. Edmund and Lucy are surprised to see Caspian, the boy king of Narnia. Caspian is glad to see them again and asks who Eustace is. But Eustace is crying and wants to leave. Time in Narnia passes at a different rate than in the real world: a week in the real world might equal a thousand years in Narnia or no time at all.
Eustace’s inability to swim emphasizes how helpless he is—and how he depends on people around him whether he likes it or not. Although Caspian is a king, he is still young, showing that Eustace’s youth is no excuse for his irresponsibility. Caspian represents the opposite of Eustace, but also perhaps an ideal that Eustace could approach as he matures.
Themes
Eustace continues to complain on Caspian’s ship and is particularly disgusted by Reepicheep, a mouse with a sword and a gold band on his head who is the bravest Talking Beast in Narnia. Caspian apologizes to his guests for leaving them in their wet clothes so long and offers them a place to change. There are no women’s clothes on board, so Lucy has to wear one of Caspian’s outfits.
Eustace continues to show how he refuses to accept new ideas, like a talking mouse. The lack of basic amenities on the ship, like extra clothes, shows how life on this ship will be different from the privileged lives that the three children live back in Britain.
Themes
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