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[Narnia Content Note: Racism, Violence, Forced Marriage, Misogyny]
Narnia Recap: Aravis and Lasaraleen are alone now that the Tisroc has left the room where they were hiding. Obligatory note about racism, intent, and Lewis is here.
The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 9: Across the Desert
I want to say that I've been really enjoying the comments on how this book was a favorite in the series for many of you since it showed cultures and people within Narnia that weren't Default British Child #58. I really think this illustrates how thirsty many readers are for viewpoints that aren't the mainstream white-cis-straight-western normative we were fed as children.
I don't know if many of you are on Twitter, but the #ownvoices hashtag includes fantasy stories written by people of color and queer folk, and might be right up your alley. I also can't strongly enough recommend "indie" literature (i.e., stuff published outside the mainstream) because the mainstream has a habit of squeezing and changing and filtering things through that white-cis-straight-western viewpoint in an attempt to make everything homogenous for the privileged.
Anyway, there's my soapbox for the day but the short version is that books are great. <3
We come now to Chapter 9, which is a bit of a mess. It feels like a chapter that really doesn't want to be here and yet sorta has to be: In Which They Slog Through a Desert and Nothing Much Happens. (Not to be confused with the bit in Prince Caspian where they slog through a forest and nothing much happens.) Chapters like these are hard to write because there's stuff in them that needs doing, but it's not interesting stuff. (Depending on the reader, ymmv, standard disclaimers apply.)
Shut Up!
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[Narnia Content Note: Racism, Violence, Forced Marriage, Misogyny]
Narnia Recap: Aravis and Lasaraleen end up hiding in a room with the Tisroc. Obligatory note about racism, intent, and Lewis is here.
The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 8: In The House Of The Tisroc
When we last left Aravis and Lasaraleen, they were hiding behind a divan while the Tisroc, his son Rabadash (Susan's suitor), and the vizier Ahoshta (Aravis' suitor) plan an invasion of Narnia. Let's finish up Chapter 8 because there's not much more of it left.
“To hear is to obey,” cried Rabadash, and after kneeling for a moment to kiss his father’s hands he rushed from the room. Greatly to the disappointment of Aravis, who was now horribly cramped, the Tisroc and the Vizier remained.
So Rabadash has left the room. You could even say he dashed out, and I'm increasingly uncomfortable with how much his name resembles "rapid dash" or indeed "rabid dash". Has anyone with more naming knowledge than I been able to pin down the etymology here? Because there's meaningful names and then there's outright insulting racist ones, but I could be way off base.
Anyway. Rabadash is gone, so it's time to make really sure we understand that the Tisroc is evil and not just a doting father giving in to his rash son's demands. Also, did we mention he's not just evil, he's also Oriental-y evil? Because he very definitely is!
Shut Up!
