The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe Deception Essay

Deception in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

How many times can one be lied to or deceived in a short period of time? In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Clive Staples Lewis, he writes a story about four children and their adventures in Narnia. These four children are deceived to many times throughout the novel. The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, Lewis used the symbol of the Great White Stag, the archetype of the evil figure with the ultimate good heart, and the symbol of the Turkish Delight to convey to his readers’ deception in the novel.

The Great White Stag represents a child’s imagination in the book, but it represents something very different according to Mary Jones and Melanie Reid. According to Mary Jones, “The

White Stag came to symbolize Christ” (Jones). However, Melanie Reid wrote, “… the Stag is a creature that can never be caught...pursuit of him represents mankind’s quest for spiritual knowledge… the White Stag is fabled to grant wishes to anyone who catches him. The children in Narnia hunt the Stag deep into the forest, only to find themselves back in their own world again”(Reid). Jones believed the Stag represents Christ but Reid believes it represents spiritual knowledge and she referred to the children, Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy in the novel following the Great White Stag into the woods where they found the lamppost and found their way back into their world again. The novel deceives its readers by depicting the Great White Stag as a child’s imagination and it was also said that it couldn’t be caught yet the “children” in the novel were chasing it into the woods trying to catch it, the Stag can be represented and can and cannot do many different things according to the novel, Jones, and Reid.
Secondly, although Tumnus ends up good in the end, he first tricks Lucy when he led her into his cave without her knowing the plans he had once he got her into his cave.

Mr. Tumnus said,”… I’m such a bad faun.” he explained, “Taken service under the White Witch…I’m a kidnapper for her, that’s what I am” (Lewis19, 20). Mr. Tumnus led her to his cave to lore her to sleep and then tell the White Witch that Lucy was in Narnia with him. Tumnus deceived Lucy by thinking he’s a good faun, but he was really just kidnapping Lucy for the White Witch. When he said he was a bad faun he showed he felt guilty for what he’d done to Lucy. When Edmond followed Lucy into Narnia Edmond met the White Witch; the Witch made him believe that she was good and the others in Narnia were bad if they were not on her side. When he came into Narnia, the second time, he left his siblings at the Beavers home and went to see the White Witch to tell her his brother and two sisters were there in Narnia with the Beavers. When Mr. Beaver was telling his story of Aslan, Edmond had slipped away into the bitter cold night. Mr. Beaver knew where he was going he said, “… he has already met the White Witch and joined her side, and been told where she lives” (Lewis92).Edmond betrayed his siblings and the Narnian’s, they thought Edmond was on aslant and his siblings’ side when he was truly on the White Witch’s side. After Alan’s army rescued Edmond from the Witch he turned his back on the White Witch and joined Aslan

and his siblings’ side of the fight. He proved his allegiance to Aslan and the Narnian’s in the battle of the good versus evil by breaking the White Witch’s wand.
Lastly, the White Witch seems to be friendly, she acts like she cares about Edmond when she let him on her sledge to get warm under her coat and when she offers him a hot drink and something to eat.

She is doing this to get Edmond to trust and like her so he will do something for her. “When the malevolent White Witch, fearful of a prophecy telling of four children who will destroy her power, meets grumpy Edmond Pevensie, she offers him anything he wants if he delivers his siblings to her palace. He asks for Turkish Delight” (Feargus O’Sullivan). The Witch only offers him food and a hot drink so he would trust her and like her enough so that she can trick him into bringing his siblings to her. The White Witch deceives Edmond by making him think she was kind and caring, but she only cared about one thing, meeting the four children, Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy, and destroying the prophecy of the four chairs at Cair

Paravel.
A child is always thinking about those details in a story which a grown up regards as indifferent. If when you first told the tale your hero was warned by three little men appearing on the left of the road, and when you tell it again you introduce one little man on the right side of the road, the child protests. And the child is right. You think it makes no difference because you are not living the story at all. If you were, you would know better (Michael Ward).
Lewis uses many different creatures that he places in different spots in his novel, which if read by a child would confuse and deceive them by them thinking of these creatures as good or bad, more so than the White Witch and Aslan. A child can get confused when there is more than one evil creature or being. In this novel there are several evil creatures that C.S. Lewis mentions including the White Witch’s Secret Police which are wolfs with the leader Maugrim and her Sledge driver who is a Dwarf. A child could read this book and have a different reaction to these creatures than teenagers or adults would. A child could read this and believe the most evil could be the secret police wolf, Maugrim or maybe even the dwarf. Lewis does a fantastic job conveying many different depictions of deceit in The lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by using the symbol of the Great White Stag, the Archetype of the evil figure with the ultimate good heart, and the symbol of Turkish Delight.