Monday 23 February 2015

C.S. Lewis used an unmistakable allegory in the telling of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. What is it? Be specific and give several examples.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is definitely an allegory.  An allegory is a complete narrative that uses characters and events to represent another abstract idea or event.  Allegories will make use of symbols, but I want to be clear that symbols and symbolism are different than an allegories.  A symbol is a single object that stands for something else.  For example, a heart is symbolic of love.  An allegory is quite different because an allegory will tell a story.  

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a biblical allegory.  The best place to look for this story's biblical links is in the character of Aslan.  Aslan is a Christ figure.  Christians believe that Christ is the savior and king that is sent by God to save mankind from his sins.  In order to do that, Christ must die and take all current and future sin with him.  Christ will also rise from the dead after being killed.


In the novel, all of Narnia looks to Aslan as the king of Narnia, and he is their savior from the White Witch.  



"Aslan?" said Mr Beaver. "Why, don't you know? He's the King. He's the Lord of the whole wood.... He'll settle the White Queen all right.... I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea." 



Then, like Christ, Aslan willingly gives up his life in order to save Edmund.  Aslan takes Edmund's punishment as his own.  Just as Christ is the scapegoat for all of humanity, Aslan is Edmund's scapegoat.  According to Christianity, Christ was completely absent of sin, and that is why he was able to take on humanity's sin and defeat death and Satan.  Lewis's text specifically tells readers that Aslan was innocent of any "treachery."  That fact is what allows Aslan to defeat death at the White Witch's hands.  



"She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards." 



The Stone Table is also part of the allegory.  When Christ died, the curtain in the Tabernacle was torn in half.  Matthew 27:50-51 is the biblical account of this event. 



And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.



In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Stone Table also breaks in half after Aslan's death.  



At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise - a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate. . . The rising of the sun had made everything look so different - all colours and shadows were changed that for a moment they didn't see the important thing. Then they did. The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.



One more allegorical character.  Let's look at Edmund.  Edmund is representative of Judas Iscariot.  In the Bible, Judas is the disciple that betrays Jesus for an earthly reward.  He betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver as told in Matthew 26.  



Then one of the Twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. 



Like Judas, Edmund betrays his family (and Aslan) for an immediate, earthly reward.  The White Witch promises Edmund that she will give him a throne and lots of Turkish Delight if he delivers his brother and sisters to her.  



He did want Turkish Delight and to be a Prince (and later a King)....


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