Polly Plummer is a major fictional character from C. S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. She appears in two of the seven books: The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle.
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Transcription
This is a story about a boy named Digory and a girl named Polly who are neighbors in London. Digory lives with his Uncle Andrew, a self-proclaimed magician, because his mother is very sick. Uncle Andrew shows the children some rings that contain magical powers. After touching one of the rings, Polly suddenly disappears. Digory grabs a ring and goes after her. Digory and Polly appear in a peaceful forest with several puddles. They discover that the puddles are doorways to other worlds and so they begin exploring. The children then find themselves in a crumbling world called Charn. After ringing a magical bell, the Queen, Jadis, awakens. They learn that Jadis is an evil witch, but as they try to leave the world, Jadis grabs them, travelling with them. Eventually, Jadis returns to London with the children and wants to rule the world. The children manage to transport Jadis back into another world, but bring along Uncle Andrew, a cabby, and a horse. At first, this new world is dark, but the group hears a song and suddenly life begins to appear. The source of the singing is a lion and as he nears them, Jadis panics and throws a lamppost at the lion. Seeing that the lion is not hurt, Jadis runs. The lion's name is Aslan and soon he creates other creatures in the world called Narnia. He designates some of the creatures as delegates, giving them the power of speech. Aslan acknowledges the children and requests that Digory travel over the hills to retrieve a magical apple. Digory travels with Polly and a flying horse. In the mountains, the apple trees are protected by a gate and Digory is the only one who ventures through. He picks an apple and is tempted to take a bite, but resists. There, Jadis, who has eaten an apple herself, continues to tempt him to eat it or at least give it to his dying mother. Confidently, Digory refuses. The group returns to Aslan and Digory plants the apple in the ground. A tree soon emerges with apples and Aslan explains that the tree will protect Narnia from Jadis. Digory is allowed to pick one apple for his mother. The cabby and his wife are made king and queen of Narnia and Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew return to London. Digory gives his mother the magic apple and she recovers. He buries the remains of the apple and the magic rings in a secret location. In the end, Digory inherits a mansion in the countryside and builds a wardrobe out of the apple tree that he had planted. Through Jadis and Aslan, readers see the contrast between magic and nature. Jadis, who is magically gifted from a non-Devine source, uses her powers for evil and the manner in which she uses her magic is aggressive and forceful. On the other hand, Aslan, who possesses magic from a Devine and almost mythical source, uses his powers for good, highlighted by a calm and majestic manner. In essence, evil magic, or self-proclaimed magic, is the exact opposite of natural magic. While there is Christian allegory throughout not just this story, but the entire Narnia series, there is a special focus on creationism and the Garden of Eden in this story. Both biblical events are portrayed in this story. Readers see that the world of Narnia is created through the spoken word, as is depicted in the Bible, as well as the garden scene with Digory being tempted to eat the apple. The author alludes to the destruction that humans can bring upon themselves, much like the world of Charn. Aslan warns Digory that humans are capable of producing the same destruction that came about because of the Deplorable Word.
Biography
In The Magician's Nephew
Polly is introduced in The Magician's Nephew—which is the sixth book in the series to be published, but is the first in the internal chronology of Narnia.
In 1900, she is an 11-year-old girl who lives in London, England. She is the neighbor of Digory Kirke's aunt, with whom Digory and his gravely ill mother are staying. Polly befriends Digory, and one of the places they play together is her house's attic room, which leads into an inner-roof space that connects to the attic rooms in all the houses in their row of terrace houses. Polly uses the attic as a hide-out where she drinks ginger beer and is gradually writing a private story that she does not share with Digory.
One day, while exploring the inner roof space in the row of terrace houses, the children accidentally enter the study of Digory's Uncle Andrew. He is initially an alarming person in his own domain, but he successfully ingratiates himself with Polly and offers her a yellow ring as a gift which causes her to vanish as soon as she touches it. Uncle Andrew believes Polly has now been sent to another world and blackmails Digory into following her with another ring in order to bring her back. He wants to hear about what is occurring in the 'other place.' Digory is forced to comply, resulting in him finding himself (with Polly) in the other place. However, this is not a place as Uncle Andrew had imagined, and between Digory's sharp mind and inquisitiveness and Polly's practical caution and concern for safety, they realize that if they are careful, they can use this Wood between the Worlds in the same way as the inner roof space in the terrace houses; linking to all the worlds. The Wood is scattered with large pools as far as they can see, and they have emerged from just one. Polly and Digory come to realize that Digory's Uncle Andrew has no inkling of this reality as he is just an ignorant dabbler in arcane arts, with only pretensions to be a magician, and is not prepared to take his own risks.
After working this out, Polly and Digory decided to try a nearby pool and travel to the ruined city of Charn on a dead world that has a dying sun. There, against Polly's advice, Digory breaks an enchantment that releases Jadis, the future White Witch. Jadis follows the children back through the Wood to London. After returning home and being confined to her room for missing dinner and having wet shoes and stockings from jumping in puddles, Polly helps Digory return Jadis to the Wood, and they attempt to return her to Charn. Instead, the pool they choose takes them to the new world of Narnia, where they witness its first dawning and the creation of life by Aslan. Polly, Digory, and a cabby and his horse (who were brought along by mistake) are the only ones not alarmed by Aslan or his singing. Jadis and Uncle Andrew are both terrified; Jadis because she knows what he is and Andrew because he has no idea. After the world is created, the children and the flying talking horse Fledge (Strawberry, the Cabby's roan horse who has been transformed) fly to a walled garden in the Western Wild to retrieve a magical apple. This apple, when planted, grows into a tree that serves to protect the young land of Narnia. Aslan gave Digory an apple from the newly planted tree to heal his sick mother. Polly and Digory then return to England, where he heals his mother and buries the apple core and the rings around it.
Digory later moves away to a great house that his parents inherited from a great uncle. Polly spends nearly every holiday at their house in the country, and she and Digory remain close friends all their lives.
Polly's stolidity, friendship, morality, and sense of caution counterbalance Digory's drive, aggression, and grief. Polly's role is one of emotional and moral support (and challenge) to Digory, who is written as the protagonist. Her own sense of adventure, discovery, and wonder are no less than Digory's, however, and her experience of Narnia and the spiritual enlightenment and security that their encounter with Aslan provides give both her and Digory the basis for a significant platonic friendship throughout their lives.
In The Last Battle
In The Last Battle, the final book in the series (both chronologically and in order of publication), Polly is an adult of 60. She remains in contact with the other British "friends of Narnia" and is present with them when the apparition of Narnia's King Tirian appears to request their help. She seems like a very cheery, friendly, and wise adult; the children refer to her as "Aunt Polly". She is later killed in a railway accident and is transported to Aslan's country along with the other friends of Narnia. Once she arrives in Narnia, she and Digory become young again, and they are both dressed as royalty (and referred to as Lady Polly and Lord Digory).
References
- Ford, Paul F. (2005). The Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. ISBN 0-06-079127-6.
This page was last edited on 6 March 2024, at 03:51