Mike Zang - Eustace Inside the Belly of the Beast

I noticed a recurrent theme within Eustace's journey into the dragon's lair. A theme that pervades myth throughout the age - that is the concept of transformation. In most instances, this transformation occurs on a concrete physical level in order to better illstrate and more clearly portray how the character has undergone some significant evolution. Joseph Campbell, in The Man With 1,000 Faces, dubs this literary phenomena diving into the "belly of the whale" (90).

"The idea that the passage of the magical threshold is a transit into a sphere of rebirth is symbolized in the worldwide womb image of the belly of the whale. The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, is swallowed into the unknown, and would appear to have died" (90).

This citation conflates several critical aspects of Lewis's myth. It appears pervasively throughout the Chronicles. Here we have this notion of the "Unknown," (Faerie) a space void of "traditional" rationality, into which the focused character pioneers. In Eustace's case, he mistakenly trudges into a deep, dark valley and finds the cave of a dragon.

"The temple interior, the belly of the whale, and the heavenly land beyond, above, and below the confines of the world, are one and the same. That is why the approaches and entrances to temples are flanked and defended by colossal gargoyles: dragons, lions, devil-slayers. . ." (92).

Thus the dragon, in this sense, "dragonifies" (I mean personify, really) Eustace's ugly stubbornness and cruelty. His entrance into the cave, and the subsequent transformation into a dragon depicts an overexaggerated form of his actual self. The process as a whole however, his later encounter with Aslan, reveals the true motive of self-annihilation, which Eustace accomplishes. Therefore, with the escape from the cave and the reverse transmutation back into human form, Eustace overcomes the obstacle that was himself, his personal identity.

"The hero goes inward, to be born again" (91).

Thereafter, we witness a change in mood for Eustace. Although he retains his whiny propensity, his attitude towards the "fantasy" world and their values drastically alters because of his venture into the belly of the beast. This is a highly symbolic act and can be observed through other stories such as the Bibical tales of Joseph in the Well, the Entombment of Christ, and Jonah and the Whale. Each inward event leads to a personal, heroic metamorphosis of shedding previous "skin" and achieveing rebirth.

What other events occur throughout the Chronicles of Narnia that embody this common mythical theme? What sort of metamorphosis do they represent?