Eustace Clarence Scrubb is one of the main protagonists C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series.
He is the cousin of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.
He is portrayed by Will Poulter who also portrayed Gally in the Maze Runner series and Adam Warlock in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Biography[]
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader[]
Eustace is introduced at the beginning of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with the opening line, "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." He is the only child of what Lewis describes as "very up-to-date and advanced people," who send him to a progressive mixed school. Eustace calls his parents by their first names (Harold and Alberta); his parents are vegetarians, nonsmokers, teetotallers, pacifists, and wear an unspecified special kind of underclothes.
Much of the narrative of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader concerns the personal growth of Eustace, as he is drawn into Narnia and aboard the eponymous ship along with Lucy and Edmund, and into adventures that bring him to realize how self-centred his attitudes are. Part of the story is told with extracts from his diary, where we see how skewed his point of view is. He describes the ship sailing in perpetual storm (though the weather is fine), and portrays the others as foolishly denying the supposed rough seas and refusing to face the "truth" of the situation. He complains when Lucy is given Caspian's cabin, and comments to the crew that giving girls special treatment is actually "putting them down, and making them weaker". Moreover, he cannot accept that he is in the Narnian world: he imagines that he can "lodge a disposition" (or "bring an action") at a British consulate or a British court; and he is beaten by Reepicheep for treating the mouse as one might a circus animal.
Eustace wanders off by himself when the ship puts ashore on an unexplored island. He falls asleep on a dead dragon hoard and finds himself transformed into a dragon by "greedy, dragonish thoughts" in his heart. He also finds himself in constant pain from Lord Octesian's arm bracelet, which he put on as a boy but is too small for a dragon's leg. Upon return to the Dawn Treader, he is nearly attacked by the crew until Lucy asks if he is Eustace, to which he vigorously nods his head. Being a dragon changes Eustace; instead of behaving like his usual sulky self, he helps the travellers find food, shelter, and a tree to serve as a new mainmast. The problem comes when it is time to leave the island, as the ship cannot hold or maintain a dragon. Reepicheep displays sympathy to Eustace's plight despite the boy's prior cruelty to the mouse and they eventually become friends.
Eventually, Eustace meets Aslan, who returns him to human form by peeling off his dragon skin and sending him into a refreshing bath. Edmund shares his own redemption story with Eustace, observing that "you were only an ass, but I was a traitor." Eustace improves after this, and becomes a valuable member of the expedition. When the ship is in danger of being sunk by a giant sea-serpent, Eustace attacks the monster, using only a sword. When Eustace returns home after his adventures, his mother thinks he has become tiresome and commonplace, blaming the change on the influence of "those Pevensie children" — though everyone else thinks that he has become a much better person.
The Silver Chair[]
Eustace returns to his progressive school where he is now labeled a misfit, due to the changes in him wrought during The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. Where before he was a crony and tale-bearer to the gang of bullies who are given free rein at the school, he is now one of their targets, but has the courage to withstand them. He befriends fellow misfit Jill Pole, and their desire to leave the school draws them into Narnia. This unlikely friendship (given that Eustace had bullied Jill before his experience in Narnia) is strengthened throughout the story. Following the custom of their school, Eustace and Jill address each other by their surnames, "Scrubb" and "Pole".
The two journey to the far north of Narnia, and the world below it, to recover the lost heir to the throne and to thwart the plan of the Lady of the Green Kirtle to overthrow the kingdom. Though he still has faults, mainly stubbornness and rash decision-making, Eustace displays little of his former odiousness, and he and Jill begin to develop affection towards one another. He wholeheartedly rejects the insipid philosophy offered by the Lady in favour of the Narnian life that he has grown to love. He helps Prince Rilian to escape the underworld and return to Narnia, just in time to meet Rilian's aged father before the latter's death. Caspian was now an old man, as 50 years had passed since Eustace had first been in Narnia.
Eustace and Jill return to Aslan's Country, where Caspian is resurrected and restored to the youth and strength that Eustace remembers from his earlier visit to this world. At the end of the story, Caspian is briefly translated into Eustace's world, something that Caspian has wanted ever since he met Eustace's cousins 53 years earlier. Here he and Aslan help the two friends to scare off the school bullies and set in motion a chain of events that leads to the school's becoming a well-managed place of learning.
The Last Battle[]
Eustace and Jill are sent to Narnia shortly before its destruction to help young King Tirian rally supporters for one last battle to save Narnia. The friends show great courage and wisdom but the Narnian forces ultimately go down to defeat.
Meanwhile, a railway accident in England has resulted in the death of Eustace and Jill, along with Lucy, Edmund, and Peter, as well as Polly and Digory. They find themselves in Aslan's country, dressed as royalty. They all look on as Aslan brings the world of Narnia to an end. Thereafter they encounter many of the characters they had known in the old world, as they climb "further up and further in" to live in eternal happiness in the Real Narnia.
 Heroes
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Friends of Narnia The Pevensies Narnian Empire Talking Beasts Archenland Old Narnians Tarkheena Telmar Others | ||