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C.s. lewis the lion the witch and the wardrobe symbolism
Allegories in the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe
C.s. lewis the lion the witch and the wardrobe symbolism
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The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis created a story of a fictional world called Narnia that was inside of a wardrobe. There were four siblings who found this world, once inside they saw numerous creatures like witches and centaurs that were symbols for something bigger. C. S. Lewis uses Christian symbolism in The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe through the characters of Aslan, Edmund, and the White Witch.
“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.
Peter feels brave and adventurous after he hears Aslan's name because Peter is a
courageous person. Susan has a sweet and gentle nature, and she reacts to Aslan's name
as if it is a beautiful, sensual
…show more content…
pleasure. Lucy—kind, honest and gay—feels the deep excitement and joy that only a child can understand… The childrens' reactions also express the effect that faith in God, or Aslan, will have on each of them throughout the story. (Source A) As all three siblings hear his name they all have different reasons to it but they're all the same as what we would have to hearing Jesus’ name when we are here on earth. The White Witch symbolizes Satan through many different ways.
She turns people to stone, she uses temptation to get her ways, and even cursed the land with a magical winter, but never Christmas causing everybody in Narnia to start losing hope. One occurrence that she tempts somebody was when she tempted Edmund with Turkish Delight multiple times, which lead him to desire nothing else. The Witch does not take over Narnia peacefully, but with brute force. “The witch is merciless, cruel, power-hungry, and sadistic” (Source A). Just as Satan is, merciless and cruel so is the witch. She is only weakened by Aslan when he returns to the kingdom, just as Satan is nothing in the presence of Jesus
Christ. Edmund the child that was always mean-spirited, fell into the White Witch’s temptation of Turkish Delight. “…The magical candy causes an insatiable greed for more in the unfortunate eater…” (source A). Edmund is so concerned with when he will be able to have more of the Turkish Delight he does not even care that he handed over his own brother and sisters to the witch. The witch proceeds to turn things into stone, that is when Edmund starts to see past the witch’s temptation and see everything for how it really was. It is clear that Edmund wants power that the witch promises to give him, but when he does not receive power and is treated like a slave instead of the prince he was suppose to be, he starts his transformation into a more honorable boy. Edmund can relate to Judas in the Bible because Judas betrayed Jesus and Edmund betrayed the ones he loved so dearly. Edmund was the most dynamic character in the whole entire book. He changes from being a mean kid who picked on his sisters to a honorable boy by the end. That transformation from being a traitor to being brave and courageous was not done easily, it took work for him to find his freedom from temptation as it does for us with sin.
After his conversion, C.S. Lewis' writings became less modernistic. Many of his most famous writings, such as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Chronicles of Narnia series contain his Christian worldview (Stewart 1), which was completely opposite of the mode...
Since the beginning of man’s first ability to articulate his thoughts into words, he began traditions that exceeded all written text. These traditions included passing on stories from one generation to the next with the hopes of conveying some hidden moral principle to our children in a memorable and entertaining fashion. As society has progressed and developed over the years, and as thoughts became words, words turned into stories, and stories in some cases. became novels. In modern life, novels can be transformed using symbolism and archetypes through the art of film making. In the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, just before Lucy’s first discovery of the magical land of Narnia, she is seen opening the door of a beautiful wardrobe. As the door opens three white marbles roll out, symbolizing the path of good, the free will of mankind, and evil. Through the use of symbolism, most predominately the three white marbles, the film portrays the choice of all humans regarding whether to follow the path of the free will of mankind by choosing to become more Christ-like, or to follow the wicked and be shrouded in darkness.
...c child who is an innocent and has no place in the world of the wicked. His troubled self’s resolution comes at the end after Edmund has spoken to Aslan, the true ruler and god of Narnia. Both Edmunds own initiative and, less directly, religion lead Edmund back to before he was spoiled by the school he went to and the enchantment of the witch’s candy. Lewis therefore is following the Romantic tradition of innocence as a part of childhood since it was not Edmund’s fault he performed the incorrect behavior and was drawn to the side of evil.
The symbolism between C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, and the New Testament in the Bible, particularly the account of Jesus’ death is not merely coincidental because The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is, in fact, an allegory. An allegory is a story with morals in which characters, plots and settings are used as symbols. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis is rich with Christian symbolism even though the allegorical nature of it is the subject of much controversy. Nonetheless, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is an allegory. In this tale, four ordinary children find a wardrobe that leads them into Narnia, an extraordinary land parallel to our universe with talking animal and fantasy creatures. An evil witch has cast a spell of eternal winter over the land and has lured one of the children into betraying the others for enchanted Turkish Delights. Meanwhile, a magical lion, the nemesis of the witch, has arrived after a 100-year absence because of the betrayal of Edmund and ancient prophecies. Soon the children find themselves as involved in the battle as the other creatures and the lion must free Narnia from the clutches of the evil witch and atones for Edmund’s betrayal. The symbolism in the characters, plots, setting, miscellaneous things and themes prove Narnia is, indeed, allegorical
... getting punished for what she has done. Effectively, after the battle, good prevails. At the end of the story, Aslan fight and defeat the White Witch. Consequently, this is really a classic children book that covers good against evil.
Through the use of Christian symbolism, conflicts, and imagery, C. S. Lewis implements his religious background into his literary works.
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...
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.
Fiction has always been used as a way to relay different types of messages throughout time. In many cases authors use fiction to make political commentary, use stories to bring out the major flaws that society has, as well as a way to spread different types of beliefs or ideals. C.S. Lewis’s used his work, “The Chronicles of Narnia”, to reiterate the messages of the Bible to those who might have gotten lost during their lifetime. Though his whole series was full of connections the book that have the most prevalent connections are The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In both there are places that are very similar to and very different books in the Bible. Taking into context when Lewis wrote this series is extremely important to see what some of his motivations might have been. These stories were started soon after World War II had ended. These stories were a way to teach the next generation some of the morals that the Bible was teaching. By creating these fantastical stories Lewis was able to make connections to help bridge the learning gap between the two generations. Also by using children as a target audience Lewis was able to remind adults as well, instead of being ignored because of the recent war. Lewis was able to address these lessons and morals in a way that both taught the children the way of the Bible, as well as to put a new spin on old tales so that adults were able to come back to religion, after losing some faith during the brutal war.
The Chronicles of Narnia are wonderful to read whether one be six or thirty-six; they relate to childhood as well as life in a general sense. While the Chronicles tell the story of an imaginary land full of talking animals and heroic princes/princesses, I tend to look further into it in order to grasp the symbolism and relation to life. Symbolism plays an important role in the chronicles by being the background and foundation of a character. I get the impression that in some ways the characters were constructed around their symbolic purpose, and not the opposite way.
The Narnia Chronicles have already established themselves as timeless works of literature. They appeal to both the atheists and the God-fearing, to both the uneducated and to scholars; to children and adults. An understanding of the Biblical allegory in these books is not essential to their appreciation. A critical analysis of these works, however, does allow the reader to more fully appreciate Lewis' unique gift to simplify complex narratives and craft beautiful children's fantasies. This, in turn, allows the reader to gain both a deeper understanding of Lewis as a skilled creative writer, and a deeper satisfaction of his art. To be able to appreciate C.S. Lewis as such an artisan can only add to one's enjoyment of his works.
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.
In King Lear. Shakespeare uses imagery of great imaginative depth and resonance to convey his major themes and to heighten the readers experience of the play. There are some predominant image patterns.
Humans spend their lives searching and creating meaning to their lives, Beckett, however, takes a stand against this way of living in his novel ‘Waiting for Godot’. He questions this ideal of wasting our lives by searching for a reason for our existence when there is not one to find. In his play, he showcases this ideology through a simplistic and absence of setting and repetitious dialogue. Beckett’s ability to use these key features are imperative to his ability of conveying his message of human entrapment and existence.