C. S. Lewis Legacy

His long legacy would comprise of many literary works, but none would be as internationally revered as the series that would soon become an on-screen iteration.

C.S. Lewis was a renowned apologist writer, so his new series in the 1950’s was Christian-based with a variety of Biblical lessons. Lessons that, though may not have been able to be applied in the real-world, were infused with valuable lessons of love, trust, and belief. He had been in England at the time, so the first book in his series, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was not immediately known in the U.S. In fact, it was the birth of one of the most renowned series of literary work and well-known movies and it was called Narnia.

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers

about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it...Only those who have tried to resist temptation know how strong it is...you find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.” ~C.S. Lewis Astoundingly, Lewis had experienced many negative comments from critics and his own colleagues who believed that writing the Narnia books would only make Lewis seem unprofessional. However, this did not stop him and he continued writing the Chronicles of Narnia. His legacy still stands today in the form of screenplays, his original books, and blockbuster movies.

C.S.

Lewis had joined a group called ‘The Inklings’ in the 1920’s and it was through conversations with his group members that he found himself re-embracing Christianity. This was after he had been disillusioned the faith when he was younger. Among the members of the group were Lewis’s brother, Warren, and friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. In the mid-1920’s Lewis started to write on Christian-based subjects, but it wasn’t until the late 1950’s that his career really took off. It was at this time that he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, and it contained beliefs of Christians that were applied very subtly. “There is a character in one of my children’s stories named Aslan, who says, ‘I never tell anyone any story except his own.’ I cannot speak for the way God deals with others; I only know how he deals with me personally. Of course, we are to pray for spiritual awakening, and in various ways we can do something toward it. But we must remember that neither Paul nor Apollos gives the increase. As Charles Williams once said, ‘The altar must often be built in one place so that the fire may come down in another place.’” ~C.S. Lewis. When he first started to write them, there was not much of a support system that he could use, as his producer and friends all discouraged him from writing children’s books. Thankfully, he did not listen to them and continued to write books on classic children’s literature. Although his work was not very well accepted by the critics and reviewers in the

beginning, he continued to write and his work began to gain immense popularity through ‘word of mouth’. Since then, the Narnia books have sold more than 100 million copies and are among the most adored books of children’s literature. His books have also been converted into movies and cartoons such as in the 1979 and 1989 BBC films. In addition to this, in 2005 the first big-screen version of C.S. Lewis’ books were found in movie theaters. Some years after that, in 2008 and 2010, two more Narnia films were produced and shown.

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” ~C.S.Lewis
Lewis, himself, had been on the wrong road and had been straying away from what really mattered to him and in his life. But then he found himself and had newfound faith in God, he found his focus in life to teach others the road to redemption. His writing is still very popular today and his beliefs and thoughts that are gently woven and inflected into his books, are patently discernible.