Freedom and Justice
C. S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy is the story of Shasta, a boy who grows up in the land of Calormen, where slavery is common. When Shasta nearly gets sold into slavery, he instead escapes with a Talking Horse named Bree, beginning an adventure to the north. Shasta has never gone far from the small town where he lives, and he soon learns that other parts of the world have different…
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Bravery vs. Recklessness
Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy is about how Shasta rises from his (seemingly) humble birth to perform great acts of courage. Shasta begins his journey ignorant about the wider world, but he immediately shows bravery by trusting the word of the Talking Horse Bree and risking his life by fleeing rather than accepting being sold into slavery. Shasta continues to rise to challenges throughout his journey, most notably when a lion starts attacking his…
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Christianity
Jesus is never mentioned by name in The Horse and His Boy, but like most of C. S. Lewis’s books, this novel contains numerous references to and allegories for Christianity. The character of Aslan, for example, seems to be Narnia’s equivalent of God, having more authority than mortal kings and intervening in the characters’ lives in mysterious and sometimes invisible ways. For instance, Aslan guides Shasta through a mountain pass when he’s lost…
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Gender Roles
Although Shasta is the main character of The Horse and His Boy, the character of Aravis is also very important to the story, and female characters like her illustrate the significance of gender in the novel’s fictional world. Aravis resents whenever anyone tries to treat her as “just a girl.” She is of high social status in Calormen, but this doesn’t give her any power: she is nearly forced into a marriage with Ahoshta…
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