Religious Symbols and Allusions in the Chronicles of Narnia

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The Chronicles of Narnia are enticing books, which offer a wonderful fictional plot line, but also a deeper philosophical importance if one analyzes the series. Many religious allusions can be found between characters in Narnia and biblical people. Deeper understanding can be found throughout the stories even in many overlooked aspects of everyday life. “The Chronicles of Narnia” is a piece of literature filled with religious symbols and allusions, such as the actions of Aslan and the personality of Peter, that enhance one’s perception and understanding of the books.

Food, a basic need, takes on a superior significance due to the religious associations that one can make based on the provisions. Edmund’s character is suspected of having a connection to Judas Iscariot in the New Testament due to his acceptance of food from the White Witch. As Hinten states, “The witch had won Edmund to her side with Turkish delight” (Hinten, 2005). Edmund accepted the Turkish delights just as Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, accepted blood money. “He represents all mankind who has betrayed Christ from birth… he has also been compared to Judas of the New Testament and Adam in the Garden of Eden” (Selby, 2005). Edmund’s strong association is one made through food, a powerful symbolic tool of temptation, which was also used earlier in Narnia’s history. “In the very center of the Garden of the West is a tree with silver apples, one of which Digory plants the silver apple” (Ford, 2005) Digory, one of the first humans to visit Narnia, was tempted by the witch at the garden to take the apple to his sick mother for her to eat instead of taking it to Aslan as he had be asked. The witch’s temptation was another example of the reference of the story o...

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...005). The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe [Web Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.jonathanselby.com/Narnia.html Hinten, M. D. (2005). The Keys to the Chronicles: Unlocking the Symbols of
C. S. Lewis’s Narnia. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=eQmQFPErSKcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=the+keys+to+the+chronicles+aslan&ots=t5qeLXOg_6&sig=N8Nkb-VjLH473wXmdCDjGOaA_cs#v=onepage&q=the%20keys%20to%20the%20chronicles%20aslan&f=false Ford, P. R. (2005). Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.
Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books?id=oBa0B1b7UBYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=companion+to+narnia,+revised+edition:a+complete+guide+to+the+magical+world+of+c.s.+lewis's+the+chronicles+of+narnia&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fDuNUsvQJ9G24APugIGABg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

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