Gripping Dialogues: The Tarkaan and the Cat in C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle

Picture taken from Harper Collins

Every now and then, we encounter gripping dialogues that just leave lasting impressions. One that I’d like to share in this post is a dialogue from the last installment of C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. Generally, I often take a liking to dialogues with great messages. But this dialogue in The Last Battle caught my eye because of how cunning and careful its participants are.

‘Noble Tarkaan,’ said the Cat in that silky voice of his, ‘I just wanted to know exactly what we both meant today about Aslan meaning no more than Tash.’

‘Doubtless, most sagacious of cats,’ says the other, ‘you have perceived my meaning.’

‘You mean,’ says Ginger, ‘that there’s no such person as either.’

‘All who are enlightened know that,’ said the Tarkaan.

‘Then we can understand one another,’ purrs the Cat.

Chapter 7: Mainly about Dwarfs

The dialogue above involving Ginger the Narnian Cat and the Calormene Tarkaan happens in the middle of a delicate political situation. The Calormenes are trying to take control of Narnia by manipulating their belief in Aslan. In fact, the Tarkaan had publicly claimed that Aslan is “no more than Tash”, to which the Cat agrees. Ginger then seeks the Tarkaan at night to clarify his words. It is in this meeting that the Narnian Cat and the Calormene Tarkaan find themselves sharing the same view: Aslan and Tash do not exist.

The exchange is a display of the Tarkaan’s and the Cat’s careful approach to each other. First, the Cat and the Tarkaan make sure to praise the other party (perhaps rather excessively). Ginger calls the Tarkaan a noble Tarkaan, while the Tarkaan calls Ginger the “most sagacious of cats”. Moreover, by saying “All who are enlightened know that”, the Tarkaan is effectively calling the Cat enlightened. As we can see, both parties in this conversation ascribe positive qualities to the other.

The Cat and the Tarkaan also exhibit carefulness by not giving away too much about themselves initially. Ginger starts by asking the Tarkaan about “…exactly what we both meant today”. Although Ginger agreed with the Tarkaan earlier that day, here he does not reveal what he himself meant by that agreement. The Cat wants the Tarkaan to be the one doing the explaining instead. But the Tarkaan does not easily give in. By simply saying that Ginger has understood his words, the Tarkaan excuses himself from giving explanations. Both parties, then, are unwilling to clarify their intentions.

A depiction of Ginger, taken from the Narnia wiki.

Nevertheless, the Cat is not deterred. Ginger chooses to reveal some information in his next reply. But instead of disclosing his own intentions, Ginger offers his interpretation of the Tarkaan’s words. Ginger thinks the Tarkaan is saying that “there is no such person as either”. Here, I don’t think Ginger is immediately revealing that he agreed with that interpretation. The Cat clearly signals agreement only after the Tarkaan affirms the interpretation to be correct. Said agreement is found in the last line of the quotation above: “Then we can understand one another”. Ginger, then, is careful enough to only disclose his intentions after fully making sure that the Tarkaan is not against him.

Now, why would Ginger and the Tarkaan be so careful in the conversation above? With the Calormenes invading Narnia, Ginger and the Tarkaan are each other’s perceived enemies. Provoking the enemy would do no good – hence the praises. Revealing possibly vital information would do no good either – hence the effort to minimize giving away too much information. Instead, the Cat and the Tarkaan seem to be trying to coax the other into revealing his own cards first.

At the end of the day, you can never be too careful, can you?