The children and Puddleglum tread the perilous paths of the Dark Realm. More important themes emerge: (1) The vital role of encouraging fellowship (Only through bearing one another's burdens and encouraging one another are the children and Puddleglum able to continue); (2) Scripture and layers of meaning (As the children are tempted to disbelieve the Signs, Puddleglum encourages them to remember that Aslan as eternal speaks through the Signs with many layers of meaning); (3) What is reality—Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (As the children and Puddleglum spend what seems to be an endless succession of days in the Dark Realm, their view of Reality begins to change and they begin to doubt the existence of Aslan and the world above); and (4) Trusting Aslan and the Signs (Even when filled with doubts and fears, the children and Puddleglum make the hard choice to believe and follow Aslan's Signs).