Reading Log 6: The Silver Chair

The Chapter 6: The Wild Waste Lands of the North

Comprehension Questions

1. What were the giants doing when Jill first saw them? Why were they throwing boulders?

• They (40–50 of them) were reclining to the edge of the gorge and throwing boulders to the cairn placed in a distance, which was a game called cock-shies that they play on fine days.

2. What did the giants do when they were quarreling? What made them stop?

• During the quarrel, they were shouting and throwing some meaningless words with long syllables (around 20) to each other. They were so enraged and jumped as the ground were shaking as if a bomb dropped, and hitting each other’s head with a brutal hammer made from stone continuously. After some time, the giants stopped beating each other, instead, they began crying like children because they were hurt so badly at the end of all the fights.

3. What did they see when they came to the northern edge of the moor?

• They saw a cliff and beyond it, there was a place, surrounded and filled with steep and dark mountains, precipices and deep stony valleys with waterfalls, therefore, there was no sunrise coming through.

4. What did the bridge look like?

• It was an old bridge that is made of stone and has only one arch which connects the two cliffs together. They thought it would be fragile, yet, it was solid enough to carry them.

5. What did the two strangers and their horses look like?

• These two strangers looked like an ordinary human beings, and one was a knight on a black horse, with his visor down so his face was not recognizable. The other person was a woman with a shining green dress and riding a lovely white horse.

6. Where did the road lead? Why did the lady advise them to stop there for the winter?

• As the lady said, the road would lead to the castle of Harfang where the “gentle” giants lived. She recommended this place for their rest because there would be plenty of scrumptious food and hot bath and soft beds, anything they want.

7. How did things get worse after the talk with the lady?

• Firstly, the road to the Harfang seemed endless and a torturous stony ground and cold wind that was hitting their faces were making it harder. Also, what the Lady told them about a great food and accommodation was the only thing swirling around the kids’ mind instead of their mission to follow the signs of Aslan and to save the Prince. And, all the thinking of pleasant place made them weaker and angrier to overcome the harsh journey.

Reflection

I thought that the lady in a green dress was a new villain appearing in the story of Narnia, but I now think she is the same villain appeared as a White Witch before, which disappointed me a bit, because I was hoping to see a whole different antagonist. Even if she disguised her look or was resurrected in another form, whatever that is, the way she tricks the kids and how she talks were not changed at all. When she started mentioning delicious foods and acting too kind, I just recognized her. It was the same scheme she used to trick one of the siblings of the Susan before in the first series (I forgot his name). Although I agree that the food is the best for tricking the kids, I think there could have been different ideas for that. For example, disguising as someone they know or important such as Aslan, King Caspian, or Prince Rilian, etc or letting them see some illusions to guide them to her place.

What made this chapter interesting was the silent knight riding with the green lady. He was probably a Prince Rilian who was mesmerized or hypnotized by the witch lady.