The Sound of Silence: Escape

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence

• Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence”

There was a tiny speck of light ahead, and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship. It did not alter the surrounding darkness, but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight.

• C.S. Lewis, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”

How does the Dawn Treader escape from the Dark Island?

On a practical level, the ship escapes because they saw a beam of light indicating the way out. They then followed an albatross (which looked like a cross) out of the darkness.

But what caused the beam of light to appear? Why was it not there the whole time? 

The answer is Lucy. Lucy throughout the Chronicles has the most intimate relationship with Aslan. It is she who has a premonition to Aslan's death in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is she who first sees Aslan when the Pevensie children return to Narnia. It is she who cries bitter tears over never meeting Aslan again when informed she will not return to Narnia. And it is only Lucy who can keep a connection to Aslan through the darkness and silence. 

Only Lucy is not consumed by the visions and dreams. Only Lucy can reach through the darkness and silence and pray to Aslan. The prayer itself makes her feel a little better. After all, nothing has happened yet, the visions are not real! But the prayer also makes a small hole in the darkness and a beam of light shines through. The crew is hypnotized, blinded by the light. Caspian looks and sees the crew in a trance. Only Lucy looks ‘along the beam’ and sees the cross, the albatross, and hears the voice of Aslan.

Aslan does the rest. He guides the ship and then destroys the island. But Lucy takes the first step. Lucy’s prayer makes the hole letting a beam of light through, and while everyone else simply sees some light, Lucy looks through the hole, along the beam, and sees God. Lucy holds on and Aslan pulls the entire ship out of the darkness through that hole made by Lucy’s prayer.

Lucy’s first step, making a hole though only the size of a needle, demonstrates an important rabbinic principle: God says to Israel open even a small door for me, even the size of the point of a needle, in repentance, and I will enlarge it so that even wagons and coaches can go through. On our own, however, we cannot break through the silence and repel the darkness, only God can. As Lucy says after the darkness is destroyed and Lord Rhoop attributes this victory to them, “I don’t think it was us.” Correct, but we need to take the first step, no matter how small it might be.

Lewis tells the story from a Christian perspective. Judaism provides an alternative escape. One that does not destroy the silence but transforms it. This method, perhaps cast aside in Christianity, is highlighted in Jew in the City’s contrast between “The Sound of Silence,” and “Lekhah Dodi,” the ritual song that ushers in the Sabbath. On the Sabbath (or Shabbat) Jews are commanded to stop. No work must be implemented, no creative actions are to be performed, and no electricity is to be used. For one day a week, communication is no longer instantaneous and social media is not a means of socializing. All Jews thus escape from the self-worship of the neon gods.

Without work, without cars, and with no devices it may seem that, on the Sabbath, Silence reigns supreme. It does, but it is not the silence of absence, it is Silence to hear other sounds: our spouses, our children, our God - the music of the spheres.

Paul the Apostle abrogated the Mosaic and rabbinic law in favor of faith in Christ. The only means of repentance are through God Himself. Lucy, but only Lucy, has the loving relationship that allows her to call out to Him. Without her the Dawn Treader could never have escaped and certainly could not destroy the darkness. Judaism understands that the rituals and practices of the law are not sterile or without purpose. Rather, they are the path of life, through which we will see light and hear the music of the spheres. God already provided man with the means of transforming darkness and silence. Turn off the Sound of Silence, Turn on the Silence of the Sabbath.