That tiresome old bother, Eustace, makes a royal nuisance of himself throughout the opening chapters of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But then Aslan gives Eustace a severe mercy: he turns him into a dragon. He shows everyone, including Eustace himself, what is in Eustace’s heart. And that humbling experience begins to change Eustace. He starts to help others instead of sulking and skulking. And Lewis makes this insightful comment about Eustace’s time as a dragon:
“The pleasure (quite new to him) of being liked and, still more, of liking other people, was what kept Eustace from despair.”
There is a pleasure in liking other people. It is enjoyable to love. Lewis is so incredibly insightful.