Have you ever wanted to free yourself from the terrors and troublesome times of modern society and escape to a magical place? Clive Staples Lewis, or C.S. Lewis as he is better known, created such a place, in his extremely popular children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia. In these books, Lewis has an underlying message about Christianity. He represents four key aspects of Christianity in this series: Christ and God, evil in the world, and faith.
In The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis introduces us to a great and powerful lion named Aslan. C.S. Lewis is quoted in saying, “He is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, ‘What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?”(Snyder and Baehr). Aslan is, according to Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, “He’s the Lord of the whole wood……………I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea” (Lewis 78-79 LWW). Aslan is interpreted in the series by many as a Jesus Christ-like figure. The actions that he does and the words that he says would confirm that interpretation for most people. In the very beginning of Narnia there was nothing, just darkness. Then Aslan appeared and created the whole world of Narnia; the plants, the water, and the animals. Also, Aslan picks two animals of the same species (one male and one female) and gives them the power to be talking animals (Lewis 104-125). In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Lucy and Edmund Pevensie have to go back to earth Aslan tells them that he will be there also. “It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you the...
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Works Cited Page
Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Scholastic, 1950. 78-79. Print.
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. New York: Scholastic, 1955. 66-67. Print.
Lewis, C.S. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: Scholastic, 1952. 247. Print.
McGrath, Alister. "The religious symbolism behind the Chronicles of Narnia." BBC. N.p., 21 Nov 2013. Web. 3 Mar 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24865379
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Snyder, Dr. Tom, and Dr. Ted Baehr. "Christian Symbolism in Narnia." The Christian Broadcasting Network. Christian Broadcasting Network, n.d. Web. 3 Mar 2014.
It will be the contention of this paper that much of Tolkien's unique vision was directly shaped by recurring images in the Catholic culture which shaped JRRT, and which are not shared by non-Catholics generally. The expression of these images in Lord of the Rings will then concern us.
...e, is the end; Despite all the odds Lewis highlighted important truths of Christian faith through the story of a demon who is not good at being a demon. Wormwood’s helper shows us those truths in thirty-one irrational letters. A message of light brought forth through darkness.
Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
The analogy breaks down messages that are revealed in the Bible in order for the average person to understand what it being said, similar to how Jesus used parables to explain his teachings to mass audiences. The people listening to Jesus’ sermons weren’t very educated and had little prior knowledge about who Jesus was. He had to make his sermons relatable to the audience, just as C.S. Lewis does with his readers. Within the novel, Lewis also only covers what he considered the “basic teaching of orthodox Christianity.” Many theologists either focused on details that were unimportant to a new believer, or they wrote in ways that were difficult for the average person to understand. Lewis did not see himself as educated enough to provide a detailed theological and historical explanation of the doctrines that he discusses, but because of the lack of simplicity in religious works of literature, he strove to educate people on the basic outline of Christian beliefs (Mueller). Lewis explained his purpose for writing Mere Christianity in an interesting way,
Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of God: Creative Mythology. New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1968.
Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
In conclusion, C.S Lewis symbolizes good and evil into his characters. The good one would be Aslan and the bad one would be the White Witch. They embody their role with characterization. This can be shown with the description of the two characters. Aslan is pure of heart and powerful and the Witch is cruel and terrifying. Also, their actions are key facts to demonstrate their chosen side. Aslan is always doing beneficial action for others, instead of the Witch that wants more and more power, willing to destroy life to achieve her goals. Through this book, the two opposite characters are really well explained and analysed.
“Not only was resurrected from death, but gives life back to the witch’s statues; he represents the good and is quite clearly a figure of Christ” (Source B). Aslan, a mighty lion was a symbol for Jesus Christ, there were many ways that C.S. Lewis uses Aslan to symbolize Jesus, including: Aslan’s death for others, his resurrection, how he brings others back to life as stated above. “The most important character in Narnia is Aslan. Aslan founded and rules the kingdom” (Source G). Just like Jesus Christ founded and rules over the world, Aslan rules over Narnia. Throughout the book Aslan’s name has a certain glow to it that is unlike other names.
C.S. Lewis was the 20th century’s most popular proponent of faith based on reason. As a child, he created an imaginary world where personified animals came to life, and later, he wrote the book, Chronicles of Narnia. How did he transform from a boy fascinated with anthropomorphic animals into a man of immense faith? His transformation to the Christian religion happened as his fame began to flourish. People wrote him, asking him about his claims about the truth of Christianity (Belmonte, Kevin). As I attended the drama of Freud’s Last Session, I was engrossed into the plot of the play and was constantly thinking about how it pertained to the objectives of the World Literature class. I not only connected the content of the play to its context, but I also reached out to apply the context to a discussion on a broader scale. I then discovered why the context of literature is imperative for true understanding of the w...
Aslan is the King of Narnia. Lewis tries to resist any recognition that Aslan is Jesus Christ. When readi...
...Pity 2. Self-sacrifice B. Evil 1. corruption (Gollum) 2. greed (Smaug) II. Characters, Christian and anti-Christian A. Christian 1. Comparing to Christ a. Bilbo b. Gandalf B. Anti-Christian 1. Satan a. Saruman b. The Ring III. Power of the Imagination A. Creates secondary belief B. Escape through imagination
Kaufmann, U. M. (2008). The Wardrobe, the Witch, and the Lion: CS Lewis and Three Mysteries of the Christian Faith. The Dulia et Latria Journal, 1, 47-62.
The Chronicles of Narnia are veritably the most popular writings of C.S. Lewis. They are known as children’s fantasy literature, and have found favor in older students and adults alike, even many Christian theologians enjoy these stories from Lewis; for there are many spiritual truths that one can gleam from them, if familiar with the Bible. However, having said this, it is noteworthy to say that Lewis did not scribe these Chronicles for allegorical didactics of the Christian faith, but wrote them in such a well-knit fashion that young readers might understand Christian doctrine through captivating fantasy and thus gain an appreciation for it. With this in mind, and in the interest of this assignment, the purpose of this paper is an attempt to analyze one of the many doctrines of the Christian faith from The Lion, The Witch, And, The Wardrobe (LWW), namely, temptation and how Lewis illustrates it through an individual character, Edmund.
C.S. Lewis uses a secondary world, Narnia, to convey complex, thought-provoking messages to readers of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. This paper examines the way a selection of Narnia's key characteristics prompt debates over logic and faith, comment on the nature of spiritual and metaphysical journeys, allow readers to broaden their conception of their own capabilities, encourage new reflection on the story of Christ and help to clarify conceptions of good and evil.