Close Reading the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

A marking of excellent children's literature is that it appeals to adults. My children insist that I read to them on a daily basis and I insist on reading them books that I too enjoy. Fortunately, information technology is not very difficult to find such books: ones that I genuinely enjoy reading and that they genuinely enjoy listening to. Close to the top of the list are the seven books by C.S. Lewis that chronicle the adventures of English children in the state of Narnia. My children love the adventure stories of other children and I enjoy the audio practical lessons and theology woven by Lewis throughout the stories. I offer here three noteworthy lessons from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first installment of the Narnia series.

Judgment
In ane of the more memorable capacity in the book, Peter and Susan go to seek council from Professor Kirk concerning the irregular behavior of Lucy. The two older children are completely taken aback past the Professor's reading of the situation. He tells them they are going against logic to assume that Lucy is lying about the magic wardrobe that leads to the magical state of Narnia even though Peter and Susan made a failed endeavour to reach Narnia in the wardrobe themselves. "There are only three possibilities," the Professor says. "Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any farther evidence turns upward, nosotros must assume that she is telling the truth." In that location is a wonderful jab in this scene at the mistaken yet prevalent thought that scientific noesis reigns supreme, with the Professor giving more credence to the specific and non-scientific knowledge they accept of their sister rather than to the empirical experiment they conducted in the wardrobe.

And then Professor Kirk is teaching the children something about what it means to judge rightly. This is not the mistaken notion that we should non approximate at all merely rather it is teaching how to judge as Saint Joseph did to Mary when she was found to be with child. The Mosaic Law would have condemned Mary as a sinner, and indeed, what farther proof would one require that she was non? She was not married, yet she was pregnant. Ane can only imagine that Joseph applied his personal knowledge of her and was apprehensive enough to realize that hither were things afoot that he did not encompass. He decided to interruption off the betrothal quietly and for this the Bible labels him as 'but.' Based on what Joseph knew of the facts, he did the reasonable thing to exercise. This is exactly the logic the Professor applied to Lucy. It tin at get-go announced to be a denial of logic or of the facts. Merely the aforementioned could be said of Saint Joseph. Lewis uses this episode to introduce children to the difficulties inherent in judging the actions of others. Lewis also in this story teaches us how to cope with the concept of wonders, even invisible and incomprehensible ones.

Religion
The showtime talking animal the children encounter in Narnia is a Beaver, who brings them to his dam. Mr. Beaver is a believer in Aslan, the Son of the Male monarch over the Sea and the true ruler of Narnia. Aslan, withal, is only a retentivity at this point. He has not been seen in Narnia for generations. The last one hundred years have been ones of tyranny and persecution in Narnia under the despotic and severe rule of the White Witch. Many creatures have given their allegiance to the Witch who certainly has power on her side, even if she is not the legitimate ruler of Narnia. Many animals, however, have remained loyal to the true Rex and the belief that He volition come up and set all to rights.

Mr. Beaver is an example of one of the true-blue animals and he keeps his religion live through the knowledge and recitation of lilliputian poems, quondam rhymes equally he calls them.

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more than,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

Mr. Beaver has a quiet and confident faith that Aslan will return, as the songs say. He focuses on the promised return of Aslan rather than the horrible times in which he finds himself. The Beaver is ready for Aslan because he has been anxiously expecting him for his whole life. But Mr. Beaver has been expecting him in large part because of his religion in, and noesis of, the old songs and sayings. In the same fashion we must know the "old sayings" and seemingly elementary rhymes of our faith, the wisdom woven into rote prayers and canon questions, and let these humble guides lead us through the difficult and dark times in our lives. By following the example of Mr. Beaver, children and adults tin can learn to find the forcefulness and endurance gained through faith.

Sin and Responsibility
The steady just rapid reject of Edmund is wonderfully portrayed by Lewis. Edmund is a bad boy, only he is non thoroughly wicked. He serves as a morality tale to those who would flirt with sin. At the beginning of the volume he is pointedly interested in finding snakes and Peter alludes to Edmund existence a bully at school. And so Edmund is already somewhat inclined to evil. When he first sees the White Witch, nonetheless, he is agape of her. It is only after he has snuggled up to her and eaten her food that he becomes more comfortable. His desire for her approval and her sweetmeats makes him overcome his lament conscience. And once he tastes it he must take more, even if that means consorting with the Witch.

Edmund'south journey to evil reaches a climax when he sneaks away from the Beavers' dam, setting out alone for the Witch's business firm. He knows quite well he is doing incorrect. The land itself attempts to restrain him, his path to the palace being a very difficult and painful i. The merely way he perseveres is through the idea of being a King and "paying out" Peter for being angry with him. Edmund starts with gluttony, just that i sin quickly metastasizes into lying, pride, and an ultimate expose of his siblings and Aslan. The lesson here is obvious: we might call up we can command ourselves, but sin inevitably leads to more and worse sin. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe provides its readers with an intense and accessible analogy of how easy it is to fall and how chop-chop the fallen state can become 1 of enslavement, equally information technology quite literally does for poor Edmund.

Another interesting signal in the fall of Edmund is Peter's surprising complicity. Lewis wants his readers to realize that Edmund would probably not have gone through with the expose if he did not have the spur of vengeance against Peter to drive him on. Perchance if Peter had been more patient with Edmund, things would take been different, equally Peter himself confesses to Aslan upon meeting him. Our sins (and our skilful actions too) have far-reaching and unintended consequences.

A Final Thought
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is often cited every bit a archetype example of the literary device called apologue: where the characters and situations in a story directly represent someone or something else. But I think this characterization may be misapplied. For instance, Aslan does not stand for Christ. Aslan is Christ. This is strongly suggested several times throughout the series (at the cease of Prince Caspian when Aslan is talking to Peter, when Aslan talks to the cabby in The Magician'southward Nephew, when Aslan appears as a lamb in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). It is a helpful first step to see the similarities betwixt Christ's sacrifice and Aslan'south. Encountering a familiar story dressed in strange robes often enhances the understanding or illumines some hitherto nighttime attribute of the story. But I think Lewis meant for his story to be deeper than allegory. The story of Alsan's cede, death, and resurrection in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is not emblematic, rather it is archetypal. Lewis is unfolding something profound virtually the God who is self-diffusing honey and who shows that honey perfectly on the cross.

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Source: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/lessons-lewis-lion-witch-wardrobe

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