Lucy and Edmund are most often the point-of-view characters in the books dealing with the Pevensies. Susan is often placed in contrast to Lucy, and is also given a number of very clear moments where, even though her point of view isn’t centered, we have a good idea of what she’s thinking and feeling. Peter, in contrast, is often almost archetypical. He isn’t the point of view character very often and he doesn’t share his thoughts particularly freely. He is, more than any other major character in the series, defined by his actions. I consider this a deliberate characterization choice on Jack’s part.
Peter’s actions say a lot. Peter is a doer more than a speaker or a feeler. From the first pages of LWW, this is clear. The siblings are going on about bedtime. Susan says that the younger two should go to bed, Edmund basically says “you’re not the boss of me,” Lucy says that maybe they should all go to bed, but it’s Peter who says, “I shall go to bed now” and does, and the others to follow suit. This exchange seems trivial, but it actually sets a strong precedent for how Peter conducts himself: he says what he means to do, often explains his reasoning, and does it.
Peter declares his intention to explore and, when it rains, he quickly decides to explore the house. It’s Peter who makes the decision to go to the Professor about Lucy and Peter who decides to hide from Mrs. Macready in the wardrobe. Peter also decides to explore the wood and says that Lucy should be the leader. It's Peter who makes the final decision to follow the robin, and also to go with Mr. Beaver.
So as not to end up summarizing the whole book, suffice it to say that it is, in effect, Peter’s decisions that propel much of the plot. He’s often less vocal in debates than his siblings, but it’s nearly always Peter who makes the final call and says “Okay, the talking’s over. Here’s what we’re doing.”
Even when Peter’s preferred course of action is not followed, it’s clear that action, not talk, is Peter’s inclination. One of my favorite little Peter moments from LWW is when, after Edmund leaves and can’t be located in the snow, Peter says, “We’d better divide into four search parties and all go in different directions. Whoever finds him must come back here at once and—” (here Mr. Beaver cuts him off). This is endearing because (a) the three remaining Pevensies plus the Beavers is five, meaning that four search parties is three individuals and one group of two (hardly parties) and (b) Peter wastes no time in devising and attempting to implement a course of action, however futile it may be.
Peter, dear Peter, is the first to finally step forward and present himself to Aslan. Everyone is trying to avoid being the first, but it’s Peter who actually does it. Fittingly, it’s Peter whom Aslan calls to step forward and shut the door on Narnia in The Last Battle. The bookends of his kingship involve stepping forward, away from his siblings, to take momentous action.
Peter also steps forward to single combat with Miraz in Prince Caspian with zero hesitation. “The High King in Command” really is an apt chapter title. After the fight with the Hag and Wer-wolf, Peter springs into action very quickly. He observes that Caspian is bleeding, gives instructions for how to dispose of the bodies, they all have breakfast, and then Peter lays out his plan. He’s analyzed Caspian’s position and he’s going to challenge Miraz to single combat. When Caspian and the others ask him questions, Peter answers them, but he brokers no argument. He then implements the plan immediately; Peter dictates his letter to Miraz while still sitting at the breakfast table, decides who to send with it, and the letter goes out. And (again, so as to avoid summarizing) nearly all the action going forward in the Peter/Edmund/Caspian plot thread is instigated or directed by Peter.
Even the moments in which Peter seems to be delaying or avoiding acting actually make very strong cases for his nature as a man of action. Peter sits in the apple orchard and puzzles out that they’re in the ruins of Cair Paravel before he shares with the group. He waits until he has something actionable before sharing with the group, rather than simply sharing his observations as they occur to him. Likewise, Peter hangs back while the group votes on whether to go up or down the gorge. He tries to avoid voting because for once he isn’t sure of what action to take.
The Narnia movies make Peter out to be a reluctant king (much like the LOTR movies do with Aragorn) but in the books this isn’t the case at all. Peter has always been a leader. He is used to making decisions and acting on them. I said earlier that Peter is archetypal: he is the Older Brother archetype of family adventure stories and the Good King of myth and fairytale. In Peter, these archetypes are united; one feeds naturally into the other. Aslan tells Peter, “You are the first-born and you will be High King above the rest.” The latter is intrinsically linked to the former.
The contrast between Lucy and Susan is a clear one throughout the series. We have the caretaker and the dreamer; the great lady and the warrior; the faithful and the doubter; Martha and Mary. I think another part of the reason that Peter can be hard to nail down is that he cannot be as easily defined against Edmund after the second act of LWW. When they are introduced, Peter and Edmund are the leader and the rebel. Yet when Lewis writes about the Golden Age, he says that Peter became “a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior” while Edmund was “a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgement.” What I take from this, more than anything, is that Peter is remembered as a man of action and Edmund as a man of thought. This, at least, continues to be true throughout the series.
(As a side note about Ed: perhaps the Edmund we see as a child is not grave or quiet, but it is not unheard of for children to mellow and grow quieter with age. Certainly I have. The Edmund we see in PC and especially VDT and HHB is absolutely thoughtful, however. He’s introspective in a way that Peter isn’t, at least visibly. He’s also the book-lover of the family. But that’s another post.)
