A Narnian Character that Won My Heart

While reading The Chronicles of Narnia, I encountered a character that quickly found a way into my heart and entered my top list of favorite literary characters. Perhaps (if you've read the books), you're wondering if I fell in literary love with Lucy or Aslan or dear Mr. Tumnus or Digory or any other number of fine characters you meet on your reading journey through Narnia. The answer to all the above is "No, that's not the one." This post is dedicated to my personal favorite Narnian figure: Puddleglum.

First, how could you not have at least a little crush on someone with a name like Puddleglum? Say it out loud a few times, and maybe you'll feel the same whimsical attachment I feel for the name alone. Then add to that a character whose appearance is so awkward that he has to be lovable, and you've got the makings of a memorable character.

Puddleglum, as created by Donna Sims

Puddleglum's name and appearance aside, his character is unassuming, yet valiant. Though he thinks nothing of himself (he is the humblest of humbles), he is the first to step into a dangerous situation to protect those he's with. While his motives for doing so are often along the lines of "It doesn't matter if anything bad happens to me," I felt a certain fierce loyalty he had for his traveling companions--even when he himself was scared beyond scared, he took care of his friends. I won't get into describing too many of the situations he and his friends find themselves in because there may be readers out there who haven't yet read the books but plan on reading them sometime in the future--I don't want to give away all the good stuff from the story Puddleglum plays a part in.

Puddleglum, as drawn by Dawn D. Davidson

Along with Puddleglum's character is his language. As his name suggests, Puddleglum is a glum character, and how he chooses to state things had me laughing and yearning to reach through the pages to give him a big hug. Here are some of the choice quotes I pulled from the story that helped to engrave Puddleglum on my literary heart:

Quote 1 (taken from page 581):

“Can you help us find Prince Rilian?”

The Marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. “Well, I don’t know that you’d call it help,” he said. “I don’t know that anyone can exactly help. It stands to reason we’re not likely to get very far on a journey to the north, not at this time of the year, with the winter coming on soon and all. And an early winter too, by the look of things. But you mustn’t let that make you down-hearted. Very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we’ll hardly notice the weather. And if we don’t get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry.”

Quote 2 (taken from page 583):

“… They all say — I mean, the other wiggles all say — that I’m too flighty; don’t take life seriously enough. If they’ve said it once, they’ve said it a thousand times. ‘Puddleglum,’ they’ve said, ‘you’re altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. You’ve got to learn that life isn’t all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want something to sober you down a bit. We’re only saying it for your own good, Puddleglum.’ That’s what they say. Now a job like this — a journey up north just as winter’s beginning, looking for a prince who probably isn’t there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen — will be just the thing. If that doesn’t steady a chap, I don’t know what will.”

Quote 3 (taken from page 647 and said while the characters were trapped underground):

“Courage, friends,” came Prince Rilian’s voice. “Whether we live or die Aslan will be our good lord.”

“That’s right, Sir,” said Puddleglum’s voice. “And you must always remember there’s one good thing about being trapped down here: it’ll save funeral expenses.”

Quote 4 (taken from page 658):

“Now, speaking of funerals,” began Puddleglum, but Jill, who heard the Centaurs tapping with their hoofs behind her, surprised him very much by flinging her arms around his thin neck and kissing his muddy-looking face, while Eustace wrung his hand. Then they both rushed away tot he centaurs, and the Marsh-wiggle, sinking back on his bed, remarked to himself, “Well, I wouldn’t have dreamt of her doing that. Even though I am a good-looking chap.”

The quotations show how gloomy, yet endearing, Puddleglum can be. When I write my own stories, I hope I can create such a character that will make readers want to jump into the stories themselves, if for no other reason than to meet a single character face-to-face. And, Puddleglum, I'd jump into Narnia just for you.

Happy reading!

Unread Book Challenge: CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia--all seven books in the series. Now that I have finished reading the books, I have a confession to make: I was dreading reading The Chronicles of Narnia.

I never read the books when I was younger because I didn't much enjoy fantasy books. I remember watching a movie based on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was younger, and the story didn't appeal to me. I think my sister had the books on her bookshelf (she can correct me if I'm wrong, but I know I remember seeing them on someone's bookshelf...), and I remember thinking, "Why would anyone want to read books about talking animals?" At the time, I just didn't get it. It took me a while to come around to reading fantasy; in fact, I was in college before a friend convinced me to read The Complete Book of Swords, my first foray into fantasy. It wouldn't be until I read Harry Potter, though, that the true magnificence of fantasy would finally open my eyes to a genre I had been largely ignoring most of my life.

And so, it was with a bit of trepidation that I included The Chronicles of Narnia in my Book to Read Next Poll because I figured that would be the winner. My underlying motive was to read it early on in the Unread Books Challenge, though, so that I could get it out of the way.

I had started reading the books right after my son was born (a little over 4 years ago), and I still had my small paper bookmark, showing the place where I had stopped reading (right after the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). So I had made it through the first book in the series, but I couldn't remember a single thing about what I had read (which I find odd, seeing as how I can leave off for several years in the middle of other books and have no problems picking the storyline up again). I began at the beginning.

I flew through the series--not because I was skimming to get to the end but because I was so intrigued that I had to keep going. I wish I had read the books when I was younger because I'd like to know what I would have thought of the books as a younger reader; as an adult, I found I wanted to get out my red editor's pen and mark places that could have used a bit more detail (I've read that J.R.R. Tolkien, a friend of C.S. Lewis, felt the same way about the books), yet I still adored the stories. I adored the stories so much that I'll be dedicating at least two upcoming posts to stories of Narnia.

And so I thank my readers for giving me a gentle push toward finally reading the classic Narnia books by voting that book as the winner of the BTRN poll. In the next couple days, I'll post the next BTRN poll and continue reading my way through my own bookshelves.

Happy reading!