C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe"

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Recommended: The lion witch and wardrobe literary criticism

C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland, which is now Northern Ireland, on November 29, 1892. In 1916 he was accepted to University College, which is the oldest college at Oxford University. After enrolling he volunteered for active duty in World War I. Following the end of the war he returned to Oxford and graduated with first-class honors in Greek and Latin literature, Philosopy, Ancient History, and English Literature. After graduation, he taught at Oxford for 29 years before he became a professor of Mideval and Rennaissance literature in 1955. In addition to teaching, Lewis began to write and published his first major work, The Pilgrim’s Regress, in 1933. Following his first work was a series of children’s books known as The Chronicles of Narnia. Since then, the series has sold over 100 million copies. He published the first in the series, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, in 1950. Although it was often criticized for clashing elements, it remains a perfect mixture of courage and Christian symbolism.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe illustrates a strong theme of courage. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, or pain with fearlessness. Aslan shows courageous behavior by showing bravery in the face of death, rather than simply killing the Witch right away. "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly." (Lewis 64) Aslan is so awe-inspiring that most creatures find him intimidating. Being brave enough to face Aslan wouldn't necessarily mean legitimacy. It might just mean that someone was too foolish to understand how great he really is. Aslan is not the only one with courage in the stor...

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...unded Narnians and her brother Edmund. It is similar to how Christ’s blood heals.

In conclusion, C.S. Lewis’ The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is not only a children’s story filled with creatures that are only of imagination, but an allegorical representation of biblical history and a quest to find one’s strength. Although author like J.R.R Tolkein once criticized his Narnia books, they remain among the most beloved books of classic Children’s Literature selling over 100 million copies.

WORKS CITED

Imboroni, Ann-Marie. “C.S. Lewis: The Creator of Narnia-Biography.” FactMonster.com.

Pearson Education, publishing by FactMonster. Web. 29 Mar. 2011.

Lewis, C.S. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York, New York. The Macmillan

Company. 1950. Print.

Kristi Simonson. “Character Connections: Peter… and Peter.” The Lion’s Call. Np. Nd.

Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

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