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C.S. Lewis in Narnia: Allegory, or Not?

 

             Recalling the swinging of my legs in emphasized boredom, I realize that Sunday School held little of my attention when the sun streamed through the window and my best friend passed me notes under the table. So why could I seclude myself in my room with the Chronicles of Narnia, away from my friends on a sunny day, and remain still and content for hours? Weren't his stories all colored allegories to heaven, the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, and the moralistic examples of the rights and wrongs taught in that stifling little room after church? According to the great author himself, such is not the case. He said that "the Chronicles weren't supposed to be an allegory in the true sense of the word, but.they were supposed to remind you of something you've heard before.he wasn't out to recreate the Bible for children; he just wanted to tell a story" (Casey, 1). He told a fifth grade class that:.
             [he] did not say to [him]self "Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia"; [he] said "Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as he became a Man in our world, became a Lion there and then imagine what would happen". (Rilstone 4).
             "Isn't that allegory?" I ask myself. Especially upon continued reading, where Lewis is stated to have written another piece of fan mail that the whole series is fitted into allegorical categories in the fact that:.
             The Magician's Nephew tells the Creation and how evil entered Narnia, The Lion, [the Witch and the Wardrobe] - the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Prince Caspian - restoration of the true religion after a corruption, The Horse and His Boy - the calling and conversion of the heathen, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - the spiritual life.The Silver Chair - the continuing war against the powers of darkness, [and] The Last Battle - the coming of [the] Antichrist (the ape) [representing the] end of the world and the last judgement.


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