Whitney Lewis
January 26, 2012
English 102 (B0Z3)
R. Mullins
Eustace’s Journey to Becoming a Better Person Many processes take place in the novel The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One of these processes is the steps leading up to Eustace Scrubb changing his attitude and the way he treats others. Although we’re not given the details of Eustace’s upbringing, I believe the reason he behaves the way he does is because of his parents. He called them by them their first names and most people see this as a sign of disrespect. This could be why we had no respect for other people as well. He had no friends because he liked to bully and boss others around. In the beginning, Eustace is an irritating and selfish person. As the story progresses, he experiences life-changing events that lead him to change the way he behaves and thinks. When Eustace learns that his cousins Edmund and Lucy are coming to stay, he is glad even though he dislikes both of them. He is glad they are coming to stay because he wanted to give them a bad time since they were visitors in his home. One evening Eustace decides to eavesdrop on Edmund and Lucy’s conversation about Narnia. A few moments after he rudely interrupts their conversation, all three children find themselves being transported to Narnia through the painting. Once aboard the Dawn Treader, Eustace begins to cry and demands he be taken ashore. With this being impossible, all three children become members of the ship’s company. Eustace does so grudgingly. As the Dawn Treader makes its way toward the three Lone Islands, Eustace decides to use his bigger size to torment Reepicheep the mouse. He soon finds out that Reepicheep may be small, but fights with ferocity and honor. Eustace’s cowardice causes him to back down from the mouse; Reepicheep makes it clear that the confrontation will end in a sword fight. Upon arriving at the three Lone Islands, they run into slave traders. Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, Caspian, and Reepicheep are kidnapped. Caspian is sold at once, but is bought by one of the seven Lords he is looking for. They quickly devise a plan to save the others and ban slave trading on the islands. They then set sail to find the other Lords and get caught up in a storm. At this point in the novel, Eustace writes in his diary for a few days. In becomes clear that he is a person who always believes he is always right and doesn’t take into consideration that he could be wrong. His diary entries show that he is very selfish and that he doesn’t care for others. Eustace believes he is better than the other members aboard the ship. He refers to them as “fiends in human form.” He accuses Caspian and Edmund of being brutal to him because they force him to work like everyone else. After the storm, a great deal of the food and water supply was destroyed. Even though everyone is given equal water rations, Eustace attempts to steal water; Reepicheep catches him before he has a chance to fill his cup. Finally they arrive at
