Shasta's Relationship In The Horse And His Boy

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When a friend is taken captive, when there is a long journey ahead, should another wait for the friend to come back or keep going? When a friend is left behind to be eaten by a lion, should another turn back and risk their life to save them? These questions were answered by Aravis, Hwin, Bree, and Shasta with no hesitation. Their answer was to put the other person before themselves. The crew in The Horse and His Boy show endless amounts of loyal companionship throughout their merciless journey. Their friendship is shown by never leaving anyone behind, risking their own lives for one another, and remaining selfless through all of their merciless trials. Aravis, Hwin, and Bree first showed their companionship while Shasta was mistakenly taken …show more content…

Towards the beginning of their journey, Shasta was mistaken for a prince of of Archenland, named Corin. The Narnian royals took him in and treated him as a prince, keeping him overnight. Shasta eventually escapes but worried that Aravis, Hwin, and Bree would leave him behind due to his delay. Shasta did not have high expectations for his friends at first, as he illustrated by saying, “He was a little worried about Aravis and Bree waiting for him at the Tombs. But then he said to himself, ‘Well, how can they help it?’ and, ‘Anyway, Aravis thinks she is too good to go about with me, so she can jolly well go alone,” (Lewis, 77). Shasta had no hope in Aravis and was not expecting her to have cared for him. Nevertheless, the author explains, “In this idea about Aravis Shasta was one more quite wrong. She was proud and could be hard enough but she was true as steel and would never have deserted a companion, whether she liked him or not,” (Lewis 85-86). Aravis may have seemed unreliable on the exterior, due to her ignorance toward Shasta, but on the inside, she truly …show more content…

The crew was just about to reach Archenland, their final destination, which was when they heard a snarl from behind them. Shasta was riding on Bree and Aravis on Hwin. Shasta and Bree were in front, just about to escape the lion. However, they turned back to see that their dear companions were about to be lion dinner. Shasta immediately jumped off of Bree, turned around, and went back for Hwin and Aravis, who were about to be killed. He described the moment by explaining, “It hurt horribly and nearly winded him; but before he knew how it hurt him he was staggering back to help Aravis. He had never done anything like this in his life and hardly knew why he was doing it now,” (Lewis 143-144). Shasta was brave in doing this ,considering he had never done anything brave before in his life until this trip. This is a selfless act that his companions will never forget. Next, the narrator explains his actions by saying, “Shasta, half mad with horror, managed to lurch toward the brute. He had no weapon, not even a stick or a stone” (Lewis, 144). This is where the risking their lives for one another comes into play. Shasta literally dove into a lion, with no weapons, all to save his friends. Shasta was selfless and courageous for his companions. After the leap, Shasta screamed at the lion to go away. The lion listened, and fled. Shasta somehow managed to save his friends

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