Ginger

Ginger was an orange-coloured tomcat with green eyes who was a close member in the Ape Shift's council at the Stable Hill. He was described as having a silky voice. After Puzzle the Donkey had been taken by Jill Pole from his forced hiding in the stable, Shift took to drinking, and the plot was mostly carried on by Ginger and Rishda Tarkaan, the Calormene captain. Both Ginger and Rishda were tired of the Ape, and called him a "stupid, greedy brute". But they went along with Shift's schemes and made use of him because many Narnians already believed he was Aslan's mouthpiece.

Ginger did not believe in Aslan or Tash. He understood the meaning of Rishda Tarkaan saying that Aslan meaning no more than Tash to say that neither existed. He continued to pretend to believe in "Tashlan" as it furthered his and Rishda's evil plot, but when Ginger volunteered to enter the stable, things turned out different than either of them expected. Ginger ran out dishevelved and shrieking in terror. He had seen the real Tash in the stable, and Tash had attacked him. For his heresy he was turned into a dumb beast, which shocked the Narnian Talking Beasts. Aslan took back the gift of speech that was given to him, and Ginger became more and more like a wild beast. He disappeared up a tree and was never seen again.

Although this is not mentioned, it is very likely Ginger was among the beasts who did not join Aslan during the destruction of Narnia and consequently passed into his shadow to an unknown fate.

Trivia
Letters to an American Lady, 22 Feb 1958, mentions that one of Lewis' cats was "a huge Tom called Ginger".

Rosso