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 …show more content…
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…
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
Aslan is the King of Narnia. Lewis tries to resist any recognition that Aslan is Jesus Christ. When readi...
...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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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...
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.
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.
...itch was evil, because the Witch asked him to. He also goes on to tell her that the Beavers said Aslan will soon return (Lewis, 107). Thus, Edmond is named a traitor by the White Witch. "You have a traitor there, Aslan… Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?" (Lewis, 155). The White Witch asks Aslan if he remembers that the Deep Magic engraved on the Great Stone Table by the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, Aslan's father, says that "every traitor belongs to me (Jadis) as my lawful prey and for every treachery I have a right to a kill (Lewis, 155). Aslan asks the Witch to take a walk with him and they go off to have a private conversation. This is where the next Christian symbol comes in. Aslan sacrifices himself on the Stone Table to save Edmund from his treachery. The parallel in the Bible is that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on the cross to save humanity from their sins.
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
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.
Many people believe that Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’s storyline and plot are based off of a Christian-based allegory; however, it is not. With the early childhood and teenage years of C.S. Lewis, the author of Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the story could be a reflection of his life. Lewis also had a fascination with mythology, which plays a key role in the making of the characters. Many think that Lewis’s Christian conversion is what inspired him to write Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Without the Christian conversion of C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’s content would not change but the focus on the meaning would change from a Christian allegory to a children’s fantasy novel. The first fact that would support this theory is Lewis’s childhood.