Jill Pole

Jill Pole is a major character from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. She appears in The Silver Chair and in The Last Battle.

Biography

Jill Pole, as portrayed by Camilla Power in 1990 BBC miniseries

Prior story

Very little is known about Jill's family or her life before she becomes friends with Eustace. The only thing that is made clear is that she was bullied (like many other pupils) at her school by a group of truly mean children referred to as Them, and that, when she needed to cry, she often took refuge behind the gym, where we (and Eustace) find her at the beginning of The Silver Chair. It is also shown that she likes horses, and has learned to ride in England.

It is also mentioned that Jill does not like being in small dark places when they are in the under lands of Narnia in the silver chair. It is possible that she is claustrophobic (afraid of small spaces and/or being trapped)

The Silver Chair

Jill is in the same year as Eustace Scrubb in school. It is implied that Jill had been victimised by a gang of bullies. Eustace had been among the bullies until the previous year, after he had returned from his adventure in Narnia as a reformed character.

However, at the start of the story, Eustace and Jill become friends partly because of the change in Eustace's character and behaviour following his experience in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. She works out that the bullies have targeted Eustace as their next victim.

She and Eustace, following the policy of their "experimental" school, address each other by surname throughout The Silver Chair, but develop a genuine affection for each other during the course of the story: near the very end, they address each other as "Jill" and "Eustace". With Eustace, she is called by Aslan into Narnia, and given the task of finding the missing Prince Rilian. Jill's experiences in Narnia make her much better able to cope with the adversities that face her in our world, including apparently overcoming her claustrophobia, and she and Eustace remain close friends through the period of time that lapses prior to her return to Narnia in The Last Battle.

The Last Battle

Jill and Eustace are called into Narnia to help King Tirian in his struggle against the false appearance of Aslan, and a Calormene invasion. They first free the king from where he is tied to a tree. Then the three of them steal away to a Narnian supply garrison where they put on Calormene disguises and return to Stable Hill. When they arrive they free Jewel the Unicorn. Then Jill disobeys the king's orders by entering the Stable, but in doing so, she discovers Puzzle the Donkey, the fake Aslan. Jill becomes Puzzle's friend and saves him from execution by Tirian.

During the battle, Jill fights with her bow and arrow and kills several Calormene soldiers. She later goes through the stable door and comes into Aslan's Country along with the others.

It is not for sure whether Jill and Eustace got to Narnia because they were killed in the train crash that took the lives of everyone else or if Aslan simply brought them there by magic, though the former is more likely.

Skills

It is notable that Jill developed distinctive skill with bow and arrow, learning much during her first experience in Narnia and progressing further after returning home. She was also skilled in "woodcraft" (tracking and moving quietly through forested areas), as noted by King Tirian in The Last Battle; Eustace credits this to her time as a Girl Guide, but no doubt this was supplemented by her travels and experiences in The Silver Chair. Jill knows how to ride and handle horses.

Jill is comparable to the character Eustace: a non-believer who is miserable in the "modern" world but can conceive of nothing else, until she is jolted into a quest for spiritual knowledge. Jill's progression in faith, however, is incremental, as contrasted to the singular event which transforms Eustace.

Portrayal

In the BBC production, Jill Pole was portrayed by Camilla Power.

References

Narnia portal

• Ford, Paul (2005), Jill Pole (in The Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia), HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-079127-6