Allegory In Staples The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a children’s fantasy novel by Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis, the second of seven installments in his The Chronicles of Narnia series. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe may seem at first like an intriguing story of sacrifice, heroes, and good overcoming evil. However, upon further review, it is easy to see that C.S. Lewis was trying to tell the story of Jesus Christ through this story. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe can be seen as a religious allegory. In the story, Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, represents Jesus, the evil White Witch represents the devil, and the children represent people like us. C.S. Lewis was one of the biggest defenders of the Christian faith during the 20th Century. Lewis,

These pages are very similar to Jesus’ walk to Calvary. In both Aslan’s and Jesus’ walks, they are jeered, made fun of, and disrespected. Also, both accounts end with the death of each respective person; Jesus on the cross and Aslan on the Stone Table. However, both arise from the dead to save their respective civilizations from eminent doom. Jesus saved the human race from sin and Satan, while Aslan saved Pater’s army from the wretched hands of the White Witch. “Peter’s army- which had their back to her-looked terribly few…The battle was all over a few minutes after their arrival” (193-195). A final parallel between Jesus and Aslan is the final pages of the book. “That night they slept where they were. How Aslan provided food for them all I don’t know: but somehow or other they on the grass to a fine high tea at about eight o’clock” (Lewis 198). This is like how Jesus fed the 5,000 with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish (New American Bible Matthew

and Mrs. Beaver as prophets. The role of prophets in the Christian faith is to announce and prepare the way for Jesus. The beavers do exactly this in the story. Like Isiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Amos, and John the Baptist in the Bible, the beavers prepare the way for Aslan. They tell the children of Aslan’s ways and recites old rhymes about Aslan to the children (“’He’ll put to all rights as it says’…we shall have spring again” (Lewis 85) and “’for that’s another of the old rhymes...will be over and done” (Lewis 87)) The beavers lead the children to Aslan and make sure the path is safe for them, as shown when he first goes to see who is there when Father Christmas arrives (Lewis