Narnian Ba'alei Teshuva: Eustace (Part 3)

Eustace’s transformation from a dragon back into a boy is, without question, a quintessential moment of spiritual cleansing modeled after the verse “And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). However, it is as a dragon that Eustace becomes a repentant. True, he has not yet apologized for his misdeeds (a necessary step in attaining forgiveness for sins between man and his fellow), but already as a dragon his character changes significantly. “It was, however, clear to everyone that Eustace's character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon. He was anxious to help.”

Actually, it is as a dragon that Eustace follows the way of a repentant. In our last post on Eustace, we quoted the ways of repentance outlined by Maimonides. Here they are in his words (translated to English):

Among the ways of repentance are, for the penitent to continue to cry out in tearful supplication before the Name, to bestow alms according to his means, and to distance himself exceedingly from the thing wherein he sinned, to have his identity changed, as if saying: "I am now another person, and not that person who perpetrated those misdeeds", to completely change his conduct for the good and straight path, and to exile himself from his place of residence, for exile atones iniquity, because it leads him to submissiveness and to be meek and humble-spirited.

Let’s see how Eustace follows (more or less) these ways:

1. “Cry out in tearful supplication” - Eustace cries when first meeting his comrades as a dragon
2. “To bestow alms according to his means” - Eustace brings back many goat and swine carcasses as provisions for the ship
3. “To distance himself exceedingly from the thing wherein he sinned” - Eustace was ashamed to be with others against whom he had sinned
4. “To have his identity changed” - Eustace was transformed into a dragon
5. “Change his conduct for the good and straight path” - Eustace's character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon
6. “Exile himself from his place of residence” - Eustace is exiled from England into the world of Narnia

And so, partly via a change of heart and partly due to events that were outside of his control, Eustace follows Maimonides’ ways of repentance.

This leaves us a bit of a quandary. While a dragon Eustace is already acting like a penitent. Were the spell such that the moment Eustace repented he would be immediately transformed back into a boy, he would have transformed and become a different, and better, boy. But that’s not what happens, first Eustace needs to meet Aslan. Why?

I wonder if it is here that Judaism and Christianity part ways. Given that all of what we do depends on God's help. Still, how much direct intervention from God is necessary? Was Aslan's direct intervention necessary to change Eustace's heart? It doesn't appear that way. Eustace could have been an evil dragon. He could have sought revenge against Edmund, Caspian, and Reepicheep. But he doesn't because he realizes the error of his ways.

He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now. But the moment he thought this he realized that he didn't want to. He wanted to be friends. He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realized that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race. An appalling loneliness came over him. He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed.

All of this is done without direct intervention by Aslan.

In fact, in Ezekiel, God's intervention allows for a change of heart.  Aslan's direct intervention comes after Eustace's change of heart. 

We'll explore this further in our next post.