The story of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is one that is told as a simple children’s book and beloved film to people all around the world. While this is true, C.S. Lewis, the author, hid a much deeper meaning to his story in the pages of his book. In short, C.S. Lewis, a renowned Christian in his time, presented a Christian worldview through a mystic tale. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe have many Christian themes, the danger of gluttony, the power of Satan, and humankind’s redemption, as well as many symbols, including the seasons, Aslan, the stone table, and the sea.
The story takes place in Narnia, a world of magic. In Narnia, almost every fairy tale or mythical creature imaginable comes alive. But unlike many other fantasy
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novels, such as the realm of Harry Potter, Narnia is another world that is a separate creation from ours. In Narnia, what we would call “magic” is simply part of the created order, thus, the mythic elements are used as a way to tell the bigger story and not to promote a falsehood in the real world. Many people think that each of the seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia series addresses one of the seven deadly sins stated in the bible. Whether or not this is true, it is certainly the case in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, which specifically focuses on the danger of gluttony. Edmund, the third youngest child in the Pevensie family, begins his descent into the Witch’s service during his frantic consumption of the magic Turkish Delight that the White Witch has made for him. Since this is an enchanted dessert, Edmund cannot be held accountable for his gluttony as if he were overindulging in ordinary candy. Edmund’s real sin is that he allows himself to become fixated on the Turkish Delight long after he leaves the Witch in the forest of Narnia. Edmund’s consumption of the Turkish Delight is a reference by C.S. Lewis to the original sin of Adam and Eve, when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve also committed the sin of consumption, and God punished them for it. Edmund’s gluttony for the Turkish Delight that the White Witch gives him alludes to Adam and Eve’s desire to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The power of Satan and his servants is a very important theme in this story as the Pevensies and the warriors of Aslan’s army fight to destroy the power of the White Witch. According to the Old Magic or laws of Narnia, every traitor must forfeit his or her life to the White Witch in order to maintain balance in the world. After Edmund betrays his family, he is labeled as a traitor, and therefore his life must be given over to the White Witch, just as any sinner’s life is given over to Satan after death without the intervention of God. Although the White Witch may not be an exact representation of Satan, as the imagery that surrounds her does not quite fit that of the devil himself, she may be a servant of Satan and an overlord of Narnia. Either way, the Witch claims the lives of all Narnians who sin, an allusion to Satan’s claim on the souls of sinners in the real world. One of the most important themes, not just in this story, but in the Christian faith itself, it that, although human’s sin and fall away from God, he offers redemption to his people.
Although not everything in Narnia directly parallels the story of Jesus Christ, the similarities are too striking to ignore. In The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Aslan sacrifices his life to save Edmund’s, just like Jesus Christ gave his life to save all people. Through Aslan’s death, Edmund’s sin is wiped away, and Edmund is permitted to live. Similarly, humans are allowed to live in heaven now that Christ’s death has wiped away Adam’s original sin when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. It does not matter that it was not on a cross that Aslan dies or that some elements are separated or out of order from the original story in the bible. What matters is that the picture is correct, and it is. In The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe Aslan willingly humiliated himself and died for the sons of Adam, Edmund specifically, who sin and cause the White Witch to have a right to take his life due to the “deep magic” of Narnia. But Aslan rises again, accompanied by an earthquake and is discovered by two girls. His resurrection destroys the power of the deep magic over mankind. Aslan then goes on to breathe life into his warriors so that they may wage war with him against the White Witch and her armies. Aslan ultimately wins, bringing in a re-created world. Similarly, Christ died for all men to …show more content…
free them from their sin and from death itself. Christ rose from the dead in the presence of the two Marys. Christ’s resurrection destroys the power of Satan and death over all men. Christ then sends the Holy Spirit to his followers so that they may continue on with the spiritual warfare against the evils of this world. Ultimately Christ will come again and bring about a new heaven and a new Earth. One of the less noticeable, but not less important, symbols in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is the seasons themselves.
At the beginning of the story the Witch has creates an enchanted, eternal winter on Narnia, symbolizing a dead, stagnant time. Nothing grows, animals hibernate, and people crouch around fires rather than enjoy the outdoors. The Witch’s winter destroys the beauty and the life in Narnia. The season of winter represents that Narnia has fallen under an evil power. As snow falls, so does the land of Narnia. The Witch’s snow hides all traces of Aslan or the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Narnia becomes bleak and grim. The spring that occurs when Aslan arrives in Narnia is much more wondrous. Of course, Christmas must occur before spring can come, because Christmas is the birth of Christ. It is Christmas that signals hope for mankind, with the birth of Christ, we are given the hope of new life. Spring follows Christmas and all the sudden the woods are completely alive. This is no ordinary winter, just as the Witch’s winter was no ordinary winter. The spring is just as enchanted as the winter, only now Narnia is experiencing life and beauty as oppose to death and
darkness. In the allegory of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Aslan represents Christ. Aslan’s death to save Edmund from the White Witch and his ensuing resurrection are clear allusions to Christ. Although, Lewis made some changes to the figure of Christ so that Aslan would be more relatable to children than the Christ they learn about in church. Even the change from a man to a lion is very significant. Jesus Christ is completely human, just as he is completely God, which can be quite confusing to a child who does not understand the intricacies of Christian theology. This confusion can make is very hard for a child to relate to Christ. The beauty of the figure of a lion, is that a child would have no problems showing reverence and affection for a lion. A lion, as king of the forest, is fearful and intimidating. The lion is also just a just cat, and Lewis highlights this side of Aslan by portraying frolicking and playing happily with the children. By giving Aslan the ability to speak, he, all at once, inspires love and respect, as well as magic and mystery. Lewis adapted the figure of Jesus Christ for children while still maintaining all the essential features of Christ. The Stone Table in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe on which Aslan was killed by the White Witch actually refer to two things. The first are the stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai that had the Ten Commandments from God written on them. These tablets represent the older and stricter form of religion from before the resurrection. In the time when the Ten Commandments were brought down from Mount Sanai, sins against God would be punishable by death. When Aslan rises from the dead, the Stone Table is broken in two, representing the end of an older, crueler time and the beginning of a newer, kinder era. The breaking of the Stone Table in two also refers to the huge curtain that was kept in the old temple to separate man from God. Back then, no one was allowed into the place where God was, except for the High Priest, and even that was only once a year. When Christ breathed his last on the cross, there was a massive earthquake and the curtain that separated man from God was torn in half, right through the middle, just like the Stone Table. After his resurrection, Aslan has defeated death by rising again, signaling the end of the old and cruel religion that was before. There is another symbol that appears in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and that is the sea. There are only a few passing references to the sea in this particular story, but it is important because of the context of the rest of the series. In the other stories we know learn that the Emperor-Over-The-Sea, Aslan’s father, is God himself. The sea becomes a boundary between Narnia, the Earth, and Aslan’s country, which can be assumed to be heaven. C. S. Lewis explains in later novels, that it is actually possible to physically sail across the sea to Aslan’s country. Furthermore, the sea is a boundary between Narnia and our world. In traditional imagery, the sea often represents death, which would make sense here. Although the death that this sea represents is not the dread inducing sense of death that we have come to know, but rather it is death that is life, death as rebirth in heaven.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit, has sold over 100 million copies and is translated into about 50 different languages, in about 17 years. Another popular book that was written by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, has also sold over 100 million copies and has been translated into around 47 languages, since it was published in the 1950’s. These two amazing authors have written many other popular books, but the connection between The Hobbit and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is rare. The two novels were loved by so many people that they were made into movies and are part of a sequel. The discoveries that can be made about the two authors, novels, and the connections between the books are extraordinary.
Their are also many trees that the children first use as hiding places. This becomes the middle ground for the adventure that they go on. Narnia in this book is being created by Aslan. It is created by the tune that Aslan sung. It is here where their are many different types of animals that can talk.
...n” is a great example of an old myth or tale reconstructed and adapted for a modern audience in a new medium. It is a progression on one hand in its use of modern language, setting, and style but it is also the product of the old myths in that it is essentially the same on the thematic level. In addition, the level of self-awareness on the part of the narrator and, by extension, the author marks it out as an illustration of the very notion of evolutionary changes of myths and fairy tales. Adaptation is the solution to the fairy tale, and fairy tales have been endlessly changing themselves throughout history and, by some strange transforming or enchanting power endlessly staying the same.”
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
There is a picture of a ship on the wall and as Eustace calls Narnia, fake water begins coming into the room out of the picture. The next thing they know is they are in the ocean and the ship is on their side. The ship is a group of Narnians sailing east looking for the seven lost lords of Narnia. Caspain, the king of Narnia, leads the search group along with Ripecheep, the leader of the talking mice. In Narnia, animals talk and walk around like humans: Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace.
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.
Within The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis creates a question in the reader's mind on whether or not the story was meant to symbolize a Christian allegory. Throughout the story, Lewis utilizes the use of symbolism through his characters, their actions, and the places they travel. All of the main characters in the novel symbolize something within the Holy Bible. The Pevensie children are evacuated from war-torn London and sent to live in the country with Professor Kirke, an eccentric old man. While playing hide and seek on a rainy day, Lucy, the youngest Pevensie, discovers a colossal wardrobe in an empty room. She decides to hide inside, but "she had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe" (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis, 7). She discovers that the wardrobe has no ending and it leads to a world full of snow and strange creatures. Lucy meets a faun, Mr. Tumnus, and she follows him back to his home. Mr. Tumnus confesses that he is a servant of the White Witch, Queen Jadis. He states, "I had orders from the White Witch that if I ever saw a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve in the wood, I was to catch them and hand them over to her" (Lewis, 21). This is when the reader sees the first sign of symbolism. Lucy is extremely trusting. She represents children and their absolute innocence. When she enters back into the real world, she starts yelling that she is back and she is alright. However, her siblings have no idea what she is talking about. After they hear her story, the three eldest Pevensie children f...
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.
Fairy tales are one of the longest lasting forms of literature. Though now they bring to mind classic movies engendered by Disney, many of these stories were first passed on in an oral manner, meant to convey a message, moral, or lesson. Alison Lurie’s “What Fairy Tales Tell Us” covers a broad range of classic tales, discussing how under the guise of an entertaining story comes life lessons we would all do well to follow. To begin this paper, some of the tales Lurie examines in her article will be looked at and critically examined beyond what she discusses. This will then move the text towards its remaining sections, which will take Lurie’s ideas and have them applied to folk and fairy tales that have not yet been contemplated; for the purpose
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.
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.