53 pages • 1 hour read
Till We Have Faces
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Chapters 4-6
Part 1
Chapter 4 Summary
The common people of Glome return to the palace gates a few days later, this time, demanding food. They blame the King for the bad harvests, with one man shouting that “barren king makes barren land” (16).The King has the man killed, turning the people against him even more.
Redival tells Orual that she has seen Psyche walking in the town by herself, and Orual is further distressed by new rumors that Psyche caused, rather than cured, the fever. When Psyche returns that evening she tells Orual that people have started calling her “the accursed” (17) and that a boy spat at her and men threw stones while accusing her of making herself a goddess.
Orual wants to report this to the King, but Psyche stops her. She tells Orual that she looks just like their father when she’s angry, and Orual is hurt. The present day Orual then tells us that the only things the gods haven’t taken from her are her memories of Psyche.
Despite the fact that the sickness seems to be coming to an end, the situation in Glome is deteriorating. The Priest of Ungit has contracted the fever twice and recovered from it both times. He arrives at the castle with “half an army” (19) and demands to see the King. The King lets the Priest enter accompanied by two temple girls and then orders the palace gates to be closed. Orual is excited by the prospect of a fight between the two men and tells us that the atmosphere in the palace “became very holy” (19).
Chapter 5 Summary
Orual tells us that the Priest speaks to the King with the “voice of Ungit and the voice of all the people and elders and nobles of Glome” (20). He lists Glome’s troubles and includes the King’s lack of sons among them, but the King rejects this, blaming Ungit for his failure to produce a male heir.
According to the Priest, Glome’s troubles are a result of Ungit’s anger, which is never without cause. He gives historical examples of those he calls the “accursed,” people who brought the goddess’s wrath down on Glome in the form of the Brute. The Brute is a mysterious creature; it is either Ungit herself, Ungit’s son, the god of the mountain, or both. The only way to appease Ungit is to sacrifice the accursed to the Brute on the grey mountain, who will both devour and marry the accursed.
When the Priest mentions “mortals aping the gods and stealing the worship due to the gods” (21), they both realize that he thinks Psyche is the accursed, and Orual blames Redival for spreading the idea that their sister thinks she is a goddess. The Fox makes a number of objections to the Priest’s ideas, trying to provide rational explanations for reported sightings of the Brute. At first, Orual is encouraged by these but when he calls the Priest’s talk “nonsense” (22), she knows that he can be of no help.
When the Priest tells the King that the accursed is a member of his household, the King thinks the Priest wants to sacrifice him to the Brute and take control of Glome. The King accuses the Priest of treason and orders Bardia, the captain of his guards, to kill him. However, Bardia refuses to interfere in a fight between the King and the gods. The King then presses his dagger to the Priest’s heart, but the Priest is not scared. In fact, the Priest’s stillness and faith in Ungit convinces Orual that, despite the Fox’s teachings, the goddess is real. Orual is overwhelmed by “the horror of holiness” (24).
When the King learns that it is his daughter Istra (Psyche) who is the accursed, he is relieved and agrees that she should be sacrificed. Orual, however, falls at her father’s feet and begs for Psyche’s life. He beats her and flings her violently away. In a daze, she overhears the King and the Priest make plans for Psyche’s sacrifice, then she is lost “in darkness and a roaring noise” (25).
Chapter 6 Summary
Orual wakes from her faint to find the King and the Fox lifting her into a chair. The King seems ashamed of himself and acts kindly towards her, even as he explains that men can’t have women interfering in their affairs.
The Fox tries to persuade the King not to go ahead with the sacrifice by telling him the story of Medea and suggesting ways they might delay it. Similarly, Orual begs him to reconsider, but he tells her that the sacrifice will go ahead tomorrow. She asks her father if it is not shameful to take “shelter behind a girl to save your own life” (27). The King doesn’t seem to believe that Orual and the Fox really love Psyche and claims that he can do what he wants with his own daughter: “It’s I who have a right to rage and blubber if anyone has. What did I beget her for if I can’t do what I think best with my own” (27). Orual offers to take Psyche’s place as the sacrifice, but the King makes her look at her reflection in a mirror and tells her that they can’t offer Ungit’s son “that” (28).
The King sends Orual away and she meets Redival, crying in the corridor. Redival is horrified that, by telling stories, she has brought about the death of her sister and insists that she “didn’t mean any harm” (28). Orual is unmoved by her sister’s grief and tells her that “when I am queen of Glome, or even mistress of this house, I’ll hang you by the thumbs over a slow fire till you die” (28).
Moving slowly because of the injuries she sustained from the King’s beating, Orual goes to the tower room where Psyche is being kept. Bardia is guarding the door and tells her that no one is allowed in. Orual then takes a sword from the King’s own room and attacks Bardia. He pities her grief and praises her swordsmanship. Crying, Orual wishes for death.
Bardia, moved by her grief and his affection for Psyche, agrees to let Orual into the tower room on the condition that she will leave when he knocks three times. She swears an oath on his sword and enters the room.
Chapters 4 – Chapter 6 Analysis
The situation in Glome is rapidly deteriorating, and the kingdom turns to religion to provide a reason. According to the Priest, Ungit has been made angry by a mortal pretending to be a god and must be sacrificed to the Brute—a mysterious figure that seems to be the personification of the gods’ darkest aspects. The change in people’s behavior towards Psyche—from adoration to abhorrence—suggests the fine line between love and hate and the power of their fear. They not only fear famine and plague but also Ungit, the goddess they worship. The Priest gives examples of past transgressions that have angered the goddess—such as incest and cursing the gods—actions that a number of people might be guilty of. The people’s enthusiastic denunciation of Psyche suggests their desire to identify a scapegoat, a cause of their troubles and a solution to them; it also suggests their relief that they are not the one being sacrificed for the good of Glome.
The King’s reaction to the news that Psyche is the accursed and must be sacrificed is largely one of relief too. This underlines the fact that he is a weak man who is only willing to stand up to the Priest or denounce Ungit if it will save his own life. His proprietary attitude towards his daughters also highlights the patriarchal nature of society in Glome: his daughters belong to him, are his property, and he can beat, sacrifice, or marry them off as he sees fit.
Orual and the Fox, on the other hand, are motivated by their love of Psyche. However, the Fox’s attempts to rationalize sightings of the Brute are useless in the face of the Priest’s faith and the people’s fear. Orual’s own belief in the Fox’s philosophy is shaken by the Priest’s unwavering faith in Ungit, even as she rejects the terrible price of that faith, which demands that her beloved sister, Psyche, be sacrificed.
Her repeated defiance of her father suggests that Orual is a character to be reckoned with. She does not seem afraid of violence—either that inflicted upon her by the King or that with which she threatens Redival and Bardia. When Psyche remarks that Orual resembles their father when she’s angry, Orual is hurt, but this comparison suggests that she might, someday, be like the King in other ways too. Combined with the references to her ugliness, which make her an unsuitable bride for the Brute, Orual’s resemblance to her father suggests that she might transcend the limited opportunities available to women in Glome and, instead, become its ruler.
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By C. S. Lewis
