Everything about Puddleglum totally explained
Puddleglum is a
fictional character in the children's fantasy series
The Chronicles of Narnia by
C. S. Lewis. Puddleglum only appears in
The Silver Chair in which he's a principal character. Puddleglum is an uncommonly cheerful
Marsh-wiggle; however Marsh-wiggles are most well-known for their pessimistic views on life. Thus a Marsh-wiggle's idea of cheerfulness is still a rather gloomy personality, and as such
Eustace and
Jill, fellow protagonists, initially thought of Puddleglum as a "wet blanket".
Name
The name Puddleglum may be a typical Marsh-wiggle name, but it can also be viewed as a concatenation of "Puddle" for the wetland area where Marsh-wiggles live and "glum" which describes their outlook on life.
Biographical summary
Character development
Nothing is known of Puddleglum's life before he appears in chapter 5 of
The Silver Chair, where he first introduces himself by saying, "Puddleglum's my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it." From then on, he's a caricature of
pessimism and a bastion of gloomy fortitude: "I see you're making the best of a bad job. That's right. You've been well brought up, you have. You've learned to put a good face on things." But in the end Lewis gives us a small sign that maybe spending time with Eustace and Jill has had an effect on him. After Jill surprises him with a hug (and a kiss) as they part company Puddleglum remarks, "Well, I wouldn't have dreamt of her doing that. Even though I
am a good-looking chap."
In The Silver Chair
Puddleglum is the companion of Eustace and Jill as they search for
Prince Rilian. He is a somewhat unique character in Lewis's works. He is neither dashing nor charming, neither a great fighter nor a clever strategist. Yet he's instrumental in breaking the
Emerald Witch's spell and releasing the Prince by stomping out her magical fire (badly injuring his foot in the process, though not as much as a normal human would, since his feet are webbed).
Source
Lewis said that his gardener Fred Paxford served as a model for Puddleglum.
Christian elements
Lewis, himself an expert on allegory, didn't consider
The Chronicles of Narnia allegory. He saw them as "suppositional" answering the question, "What might
Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This isn't allegory at all." While not allegorical, Narnia does present significant parallels with elements from
Christianity.
Lewis is perhaps using Puddleglum to give a somewhat
Existential statement of faith when he writes, "Suppose we
have only dreamed, or made up, all of those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and
Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones."
Portrayals
The voice of Puddleglum was provided by Ron Moody on Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's dramatization of The Silver Chair and by Bernard Cribbins in the BBC Radio adaptation of the same story.
Allusions/references from other works
The Christian rock band The Swift were formerly known as Puddleglum.
Quotations
"Puddleglum's my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it. I can always tell you again."
[whiledrunk or pretending to be drunk] "Nothing wrong with me. Not a frog. Nothing frog with me. I'm a respectabiggle [respectableMarsh-wiggle] . . . Reshpeckobiggle."
"Suppose we've only dreamed, or made up, all of those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones."Further Information
Get more info on 'Puddleglum'.
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