Many of the books written by C.S. Lewis, a novelist and strong believer in christianity, deal with religious matters including man’s fall from grace and redemption. In his three book series, The Space Trilogy, Lewis lets readers see not only what mankind has become since our fall from grace, but also might have happened had Adam and Eve not fallen to the temptation of the Devil, and how he believes we can be redeemed. In this trilogy, C.S. Lewis uses the characters the Old One and Maleldil the Son as the non terrestrial versions of God and Jesus. Throughout these stories the author displays multiple characters experiencing sudden changes or following guidance from greater powers such as Maleldil. It is through these characters that C.S. Lewis explains how he believes you should live life. C.S. Lewis argues that you should recognize God’s will in your life and choose to obey His guidance. One example we see of a character recognizing and …show more content…
Jane realized that Ransom was not asking her to submit herself to a religion: “The Director never talked about Religion, nor did the Dimbles nor Camilla. They talked about God” (THS, 315). It was not that Jane needed to devote herself to a religion, she just needed to submit to Maleldil. She began to understand that she was created by him and valued for reasons other than those she valued herself for. She was not wholly her own and once she realized that she belonged to Maleldil and submitted herself to him, she experienced a shift: “There was no form nor sound. The mould under the bushes, the moss on the path, and the little brick border were not visibly changed. But they were changed. A boundary had been crossed” (THS, 315). Jane may not have entered the gardens a Christian, but by the time she left she had recognized Maleldil and submitted to him. Henceforth Jane was a
While she was there, she was presented with a proposition that would fulfill her spiritual journey in life. “Jane come with me to India: come as my helpmeet and fellow-labourer...God and nature intended you for a missionary’s wife.” (Bronte, 404 & 405). St. John offered to marry Jane so that she could go with him to preach the word of God and help convert India’s inhabitants. St. John was very influential on Jane, as a result of his strong religious beliefs and compelling rhetoric. Even his cold attitude was transmitted to her. Consequently, Jane greatly contemplated the decision. Ultimately, she decided that she would be willing to go on the trip with him, but as a sister rather than a wife. She did not feel any adoration between her and St. John, only a sense of servitude. Thus, forming the ultimate bond of love would be treacherous and empty. She would not only be without independence, but also the possibility of finding love. When St. John is confronted with this idea, he harshly rejects it, insisting on the necessity of the marriage. After a week of frigidity
The tone of Jane Eyre is direct, perhaps even blunt. There is no prissy little-girl sensibility, but a startlingly independent, even skeptical perspective. At the age of 10, the orphan Jane already sees through the hypocrisy of her self-righteous Christian elders. She tells her bullying Aunt Reed, "People think you a good woman, but you are bad; hard-hearted. You are deceitful!" and "I am glad you are no relative of mine; I will never call you aunt again so long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say that the very thought of you makes me sick." (In fact, when her aunt is elderly and dying, Jane does return to visit her, and forgives her. But that's far in the future.) With the logic of a mature philosopher, in fact rather like Friedrich Nietzsche to come, Jane protests the basic admonitions of Christianity as a schoolgirl: "I must resist those who ... persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel that it is deserved." And this bold declaration, which would have struck readers of 1847 (in fact, of 1947) as radical and "infeminine":
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.
Answer : Everyone had to walk two miles to get to church, where they stayed for 3 hours reciting verses from the Bible. Why was Jane unhappy when seeing Mr. Brocklehurst ? Answer: It reminded her of her miserable stay at Gateshead Hall and the circumstances of her departure of the haunted palace.
... self-worth. She believes that there is a chance for her to change her future. She had to make certain sacrifices in order to discover her strength, true friendships and her self-worth. She sacrifices her love to preserve her self-worth. After realizing her marriage to Rochester cannot be lawful and will mean surrendering her sense of dignity and virtue, she leaves him. When Jane leaves Thornfield she says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Bronte 336). In the end, she finds her happiness, as she is now with the man she loves, she preserves her self-worth without sacrificing her integrity.
C.S Lewis was like a rebellious teenager of the modern time period. He lived only during the modern era and very beginning of the postmodern era, but in his later years Lewis liked to describe himself as "old-fashioned", writing using ideas contrary to the time periods in which he lived. The modern and postmodern time periods began to view religion as a myth, and used reason to perceive the world instead. During his younger years Lewis embraced the ideas of the modern era, but his world-view changed upon his conversion to Christianity. Since he had dabbled in aspects of both modern and pre-modern eras, his later works intertwined the ideas of both literary periods.
Throughout the novel, Jane first develops her faith in God from the influence of Helen Burns. What Jane learns from Helen becomes a life-long influence that affects her behavior, judgment, emotional responses and decisions. The morality of Jane is derived from Christianity, and also gives her a different perspective on life. Jane’s belief in God transforms her from an “insane” rebellious and disobedient child into a “sane” conforming woman with the ability to reason, judge, and make decisions. In the beginning of the novel, Jane is portrayed as an overly passionate child because she does not have any guidance, so she expresses it by rebelling against other people who forcefully controls her.
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it” (Lewis, “Mere Christianity”). C.S. Lewis, a renowned broadcaster, essayist, lecturer, novelist, theologian, and Christian apologist, used his writing to create a significant effect on the Christian movement. During his lifetime, Lewis went through an amazing transformation from an avid Atheist to a strong Christian, and dedicated his career to sharing the truths of Christianity in his writing. Lewis utilized Christian apologetics to explain and defend his views of Christianity, and made the idea of Christianity more accessible to
Jane’s quest to find a sense of belonging follows her from the beginning, to the end of the narrative. Ever since Jane was a child, she was taught that she would never be accepted into society. From the start, she was never considered a member of the Reed family. They belittled her and treated her as if she were a servant, making sure she knew that she was not a part of their family. “They will
“Reality never presents us with an absolutely unavoidable ‘either-or’; that, granted skill and patience and (above all) time enough, some way of embracing both alternatives can always be found” (Preface:VII). Lewis suggests here that time if spent right can bring us to self-realization of our journey, and in effect influence our choices. These choices are dependent on time. As wrong choices are made only in time, no truly rational choices can be made will out of the realm of time. Time is the evil that surrounds us. It is the letting go of this time when we truly feel void of problems. Only by letting go of our problems we will be able to communicate with God, while in the essence of being one with ourselves and finding our true inner self.
The content of Mere Christianity, written by C.S. Lewis, found its beginnings as a radio series in 1942 through 1944. During this time Britain was at the start of another war and the frontlines pushed into their own streets. The situation at hand prompted Lewis to share his thoughts in several wartime broadcasts about the problem with pain, suffering, and evil. These talks were gathered and revised to address a reader audience into the book Mere Christianity. Though there is nothing mere about Christianity when one dives deep into the wonders of God and his work, C.S. Lewis eloquently and clearly presents an apologetic examination of the Christian faith and man’s connection to it.
Jane acknowledges that he does not seek marriage for love, but instead for religious purposes. Therefore, Jane proposes an alternate plan that allows her to serve as a single, independent missionary and co-worker of John. As Heidi Kelchner affirms Jane’s thoughts in her article “Jane Eyre,” “As St. John’s wife, she fears she would be restrained, and always forced to keep the fire of her nature continually low.” She would not be degraded to an object but rather wanted to stand as a strong independent woman. Jane would not accept the humiliated marriage to please St. John’s wishes.
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...
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.