Becoming a Dragon

In the book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, a spoiled little boy named Eustace is turned into a creature that resembled very much his own character, a dragon. Of course, he is devastated, but over time, he finds uses for becoming a dragon.

Eustace begins to help people. The Dawn Treader is in need of repairs, so Eustace helps with the heavy lifting. Over the next few days, the crew members of the ship notice a change in character. Eustace has gone from a spoiled, whiney little brat, to a helpful dragon.

When the Dawn Treader is once again ready to put to sea, Eustace decided he didn’t want to be a burden to King Caspian and his crew so he slips away into the forest, with the intention of living on the island for the rest of his dragon life. However, Aslan, the Great Lion shows up and guides him to a lake, where Eustace is supposed to take a bath. But first, Eustace must remove his “clothes”.

“But I’m not wearing any clothes,” Eustace thinks to himself. What Aslan wants him to do is shed his outer dragon skin. Eustace does this, but afterwards the skin is still dry and scaly. So, he proceeds to shed another layer, and another. After a few attempts, the skin doesn’t get any better.

Aslan is the One who must shed the skin. Only the Great Lion can completely remove the dragon skin from the boy. So, with His sharp claws, Aslan claws deep into the dragon skin and tears it with great pain to Eustace until there is nothing left but a naked boy. Eustace points out that he is now without clothes. Aslan responds, “I will dress you”.

I have more to say about this story, but for now, let this sink in…