A psychoanalytical perspective of C.S. Lewis' The Horse and His Boy

Abstract

[EN] Children’s books may take readers into fantastical worlds of adventure, as well as teach them valuable psychological truths. The heroic figure is significant in fantasy literature, and the hero’s journey is a common story device. It is widely known that in C.S Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia the child’s journey to becoming a hero is considered to be one of the most important facets. This study intends to investigate, firstly, the young hero’s search for his identity and secondly, how the hero and heroine’s journey diverge their paths throughout the book The Horse and His Boy. The second point aims to analyse the differences and tribulations that the two children, Aravis and Shasta, have to endure in their respective heroic journeys. The literature selection for my research illustrates the idea that the hero’s journey toward maturity and success is shaped by several external and internal factors. The plot of C.S. Lewis’ book asserts the essential elements of the folklore of the Hero: a child bound to undertake a certain mission, and their exposure at early age to an unfriendly universe, perilous adventures, and finally a victory. One of the main arguments of this dissertation is based on the book by Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which outlines the three stages of the character’s growth in hero myths using the Hero’s Journey paradigm. This paper uses Shasta and Aravis’ development in The Horse and His Boy as an example of such three phases: separation, initiation, and return. Nevertheless, Shasta’s journey differentiates itself slightly from Aravis’ one because Campbell’s methodology mostly utilises myth applied to the male figure. Consequently, her path will be juxtaposed to the one of our child male hero Shasta. In light of this, even though most young adult fiction contains a coming of age story, the primary objective of this paper is to show Shasta’s and Aravis’ development during their voyage to Narnia.