It’s Narnia Business

I have a close friend with whom I have discussed my views on the Harry Potter series.  He inquired as to my views on the Lord of The Rings anthology and then on the Land of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.  If you have read my articles on Harry Potter and witchcraft know my attitude on them.  But while I had a general view of the fantasy genre, I could not give a fully informed opinion of the Narnia stories because I had not read any of them.

My friend openly challenged me to read “The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.”  And while he did not say so, I could tell by his tone that this was a Double-Dog-Dare.  I am generally careful to pick my battles, but this sounded like a challenge that I could not (and should not) refuse. 

I found the book in a local library and did read it.  With that under my belt, I will share my impressions.  I will include for your information (or entertainment) my pre-conceptions and then my post-conceptions, if you will.

The Story

Just briefly, the story is about four kids who are sent to a country house for safety during the war.  The house they are sent to is apparently huge.  The kids find a room with nothing but a wardrobe in it.  They find that the back of the wardrobe is not a wood panel, but the land of Narnia.

In Narnia, a witch has cast a spell and the land is ever winter and never Christmas.  A prophecy tells that four children will arrive in Narnia to become the kings and queens.  The witch does not want the children to fulfill this prophecy, as it will be the end of her power.  One of the boys falls for her tricks and is captured.

Meanwhile, Aslan, the King (and lion) has come to Narnia.  The children are to meet him.  The three go to him and tell him of the fourth.  The remainder of the story is concerned with the events that lead to the fourth child’s release and the ultimate battle to destroy the witch.

The Allegory

About a third of the way through the book, I became aware of the allegory of the Gospel.  The witch could be associated with Satan, the children with mankind, and the lion, with Jesus.  For his crime of betrayal, the one child is committed to death.  But the lion makes a deal with the witch and trades his own life for that of the child.

The lion, however, is resurrected and leads the battle to ultimately overthrow the witch and her minions.

What I liked

About half way into the book, I became engrossed in the story and wanted to stay in the book.  Since I was well versed with the Gospel, I was intrigued by the allegory.  I did enjoy reading a story that encapsulated several aspects the Gospel message.  I was able to find Biblical analogies in many of the events and characters.

The story is fairly short (not a novel) and is written in British vernacular, which made for some entertaining reading.

What I didn’t like

The story includes nearly every kind of mythological character except the Loch Ness monster.  Even the witch is said to be the daughter of Lilith and a Jinn (like a genie).  The children are called “Daughters of Eve” and “Sons of Adam” in Narnia, which made the reference to the witch as the “Daughter of Lilith” kind of annoying.  It felt like a sexually explicit scene in the middle of a G-rated movie.  I don’t have time to go into all of it here, but “Lilith” is a mythical female, said to be Adam’s first wife.  (Based on my research of this mythical character, this became a major issue for me.)  The majority of information about Lilith is derived from the Zohar and other Cabalistic writings.

The lion was resurrected, and in his own words, this was due to magic.

“The Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.”[i]

I don’t like the power of God being called magic.

In general, I don’t like mixing factual information with fantasy.  While I did like the way the allegory was woven into the story, it could easily be lost among all of the fantasy.  This is like the song of the “Little Drummer Boy:” while a touching gesture and a quaint illustration, it has no basis in fact.  A person familiar with the Gospel could read this story and easily ascertain the Gospel allegory.  But a person who was not familiar with the Gospel might not catch it. 

Further, if someone was reading the story with the desire to understand God, they might have a hard time understanding what parts of the story were illustrative of Jesus’ ministry, and what was superfluous make-believe.

And when the kids told their whole story to the professor (who owned the house), he encouraged them not to talk about it.  Their lives had been saved and they had just been made royalty by the lion (Jesus) and they were not to talk about it.

Conclusion

If I were asked if I thought the stories were good or bad, I would remain neutral.  I was pleased and enjoyed the allegory of the lion to Jesus, how he gave himself on our behalf.  But I felt like the author spent too much time on the mythical creatures.  In my opinion, that seemed to reduce the whole story to fantasy – including the marvelous analogy of the redemption of Christ.

In defense of Mr. Lewis, this story was intended to be a fantasy story, and if taken as such, becomes as innocuous as “Tommy the Tank Engine.”  However, other stories by Mr. Lewis utilize fantastic allegories, such as “The Great Divorce” which did not leave me with any uncomfortable feelings. 

Mr. Lewis is generally considered insightful and theologically sound.  Also, I am strongly swayed by the attitude of authors in considering the wholesomeness of their work.  Contrast Lewis’ work, for instance, with the writings of Henry David Thoreau.  While Mr. Thoreau’s works are interesting reading about life and society, one could hardly consider him an evangelical Christian.  C. S. Lewis, on the other hand, has not been silent about his Christian convictions.