The Hidden Hero’s Journey: A Literary Review of The Horse and His Boy

“Child, said the Lion, “I am telling you your story, not her’s. No one is told any story but their own.” -C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy, written in 1950 but not published until 1954, was the fifth novel about Narnia that Clive Staples or “Jack” Lewis wrote, although the book is now considered the third in the fantasy series.

Shasta, an orphan boy who has spent his life as the adopted son of a cruel, hardhearted fisherman unexpectedly meets Bree, a talking horse from a magical country, Narnia. The two decide to escape from the oppressive, tyrannical land of Calorman together, making for the free north. On their arduous journey, they join another unlikely pair, the runaway princess Aravis, and her loyal Narnian steed, Hwin. The book narrates the triumphs and trials of their quest, as they race to save the unwitting northern people from a great and terrible danger.

Lewis explores some of the most profound ideologies and theories of Christianity throughout The Chronicles of Narnia, especially in The Horse and His Boy. The longing, exhibited by Shasta and his friends, for a better country, mirrors the longing and hope of eternity found in the hearts of human beings as they go through life. Lewis highlights the struggles that face the characters on their adventure, exposing them to the corrupt, gluttonous world of the Calorman nobles, the barren desert they must cross in order to reach the fertile, green hills of Narnia, the inner growth and gradual enlightenment of the four heroes. We read the story of an orphan boy, an arrogant princess, a foolish stallion, and a gentle mare, and through this, we read of our own life journey as Christians, constantly hoping, striving for the rest and transcendent life that awaits us just beyond the “desert”.