Digory
Digory is the main character in the novel. He is a boy with
innate curiosity and courage whose firm grasp of right and wrong enables him to
follow Polly into the unknown magical world in order to save her. Digory is
living in London with his aunt and Uncle whilst they take care of his mother
who is very sick, and whilst his father is in India. Digory is frightened and
lonely which is why he becomes very close very quickly with Polly, needing a
friend to anchor him and to take his mind off his current circumstances.
Although a respectful and mannerly child Digory realizes
quickly that his Uncle Andrew is not worthy of respect which gives him the
courage to attempt to stand up to him verbally and also to go after Polly. He
is also willful and prone to assuming he knows more than Polly does just
because he is a boy which leads to some quarreling and also to a couple of bad
decisions, the worst being his decision to ring the bell and bring Queen Jadis
back to life from the sleeping spell she was under. He does, however, learn
from these bad decisions and so next time when faced with the dilemma of both
wanting to know or do something but being confronted with a warning against it,
he makes the correct choice even though at the time he believes there to be
more benefit to giving in to the curiosity.
Digory is really the hero of the hour when he returns with
the fruit that grows into the tree that will protect Aslan and his kingdom. He
also saves Polly by bringing her the green homeward bound ring into the magical
world. Digory believes in magic but is fearful of it and not able to use it
himself, although his faith in it generates positive results such as finding
the cure for his mother' incurable illness.
Polly
Polly is brave, feisty and proves that she is smarter and
more courageous than Digory despite being a girl which at the time the book is
set in was definitely something seen as weaker. She is a good, logical thinker
and far less eager to let her curiosity get the better of her. Polly is
pragmatic and given that the verse by the bell specifically warns of bad things
happening once it is rung, is more than happy to heed this warning and leave,
unlike Digory who allows curiosity to overcome common sense. Polly is a loyal
friend and the fact that she does not make a second attempt at touching the
green ring to go home again without Digory is testament to this. Polly in
character is just as much the novel's hero as Digory.
Uncle
Andrew
Uncle Andrew is a magician, but not as illustrious or
powerful a magician as he views himself to be. His powers extend to
experimentation but rarely to anything else but in his mind he is omnipotent
and very impressive. He descends from magicians and values this heritage. Uncle
Andrew likes to do magic for the sake of proving it can be done rather than for
any specific beneficial use. Although he tries to come across as benevolent he
has a cruel and manipulative expression; whilst pretending to allow Polly to go
home he devises a plan to use her as his guinea pig for travel between
different worlds and this scheming shows on his face. Despite being the person
who causes the entire adventure he is not very brave himself and prefers to
conduct the experiments without participating in them.
Queen
Jadis
The Queen is the personification of evil and reduces anyone
who so much as disagrees with her to dust. Although apparently irritated that
Digory has broken the spell and awoken her she nonetheless relishes future
opportunities to destroy people and places as she has done with the Kingdom of
Charn. Although her powers do not actually work in the earthly world she is
still a physical giant with superhuman strength, able to rip a lamp-post from
the ground so that she can hurl it at a policeman. She has absolutely no
concept of being disagreed with and so does not know how to comprehend the
failure of the Londoners to do as she commands. Jadis is manipulative and once
in Narnia begins to plot Aslan's downfall. She is the Queen who appears in the
later Narnia novels.
Aslan
Alan is the personification of good and is a God-like
creator figure who has often been compared to Jesus by those who recognize the
novel as an allegory of Christianity. He is large and imposing but leads with a
gentle authority and power that is always benevolent. Aslan loves his
"subjects" and places absolute faith and trust in them by allowing
them to be more or less self
governing. He also saves Digory's
mother's life by giving Digory fruit from the newly grown tree that will also
protect him from the evil Queen. Although his authority is never spoken of it
is recognized and assumed by both the animals and humans alike. The Queen finds
him a threat immediately because his goodness threatens her evil. Aslan is
introduced in this novel and is pivotal to the subsequent Narnia books.
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