Eustace’s Un-Dragoning : Part 1 : Being afraid

One of the most powerful and memorable scenes of the entire series is the un-dragoning of Eustace. It occurs during VDT which is third in published order and is one of the most popular books in the series. It tells the story of King Caspian after 3 years reign, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, their cousin Eustace Scrubb, and our friend Reepicheep the mouse, who together embark on a voyage to find the seven lost lords and the end of the earth. During the journey, the friends each face an internal problem that they must conquer with Aslan's help.
It's important that you don't refer to your experience of this scene in the movie, but focus on the book version only. It is one of the many moments that really cannot be done justice cinematically. 

The scene is recollected by Eustace and told to Edmund early in the morning, before anyone else knows that Eustace has been changed back into a boy. In case you don't remember how Eustace became a dragon, or you simply don't know since the movie wasn't clear on this, among other things; after the crew lands on Dragon Island, Eustace wanders off alone to get out of working and comes across a cave filled with treasure which he takes a nap in. Then, as the book reads, "He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep. Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself."
I’ve divided this story and response into three parts. This is the first part, concerning Eustace’s reaction when he first met Aslan.

Uncle Andrew & Making Yourself Stupider

I have often interpreted the world around me in terms of things that happened in Narnia. One of those that I frequently internally reference is from The Magician's Nephew.
It is the sixth book in published order, but chronically occurs first, as it is an answer to how the world of Narnia came to be. I believe that it should still be read after LWW, a subject on which I will perhaps blog about at a later time. This particular scene from MN occurs during the creation of Narnia and the granting of the gift of speech to the beasts, but from the point of view of one of the antagonists, Uncle Andrew.

My First Visit to Narnia

I've been re-reading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series since I first read them in Jr. High. I would have read them, as most people do, long before that, but I grew up in a conservative Christian home and witches were evil. Since the title of the first book contains "witch" I assumed I wasn't allowed to read them. I've always loved to read; I visited the library constantly as a child. During one of those visits as a teenager, I was having trouble finding a good book; I felt I'd already read all the good ones. I asked my mom for advice, and she pointed out the Narnia series. I didn't question it; the fact that she recommended it was good enough for me. Once I started, I couldn't put the books down. I was, at first, embarrassed to be reading a children's book. It was really the worst period of life to begin them because it's when one is terribly concerned about growing up. As I brought my book with me everywhere I went, I was always careful to lay it face down so no one would notice I was reading a children's fairy tale. I was caught once when a boy noticed it and told me "That's a good book." I blushed and nodded. But as Lewis wrote in his dedication of LWW, "Some day you'll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."  By the time I was in High School, I minded less and less that people knew I was a Narnia nerd, until it became my go-to "What's something unique about yourself?" answer. Recently, when I told a friend I wanted to start a blog but needed an idea and his advice was "The possibilities are endless, but you have to do it because you love it and because it flows from your essence," this was the idea I came up with. I believe we love the books we love because we relate to them in some way. We are able to see a part of ourselves in them, and at the same time be challenged by them. The purpose of this blog is to show how the goings-on in the world of Narnia relates to my life, and can relate to yours. So tell me, what was your first experience in Narnia?