So I started reading the first book. One passage with the kids and the beavers is a good example of the way Aslan is portrayed as someone you fear yet desire.
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "...Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good..."
"I'm longing to see him," said Peter, "even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point."
I like the friendly tone of Lewis' writing, too. I enjoy authors who "talk" to the reader. I suppose it could be done badly but I like it when Lewis does it.
It's interesting that these books and another series I love, The Lord of the Rings, have quite a bit of violence and killing. I just read the part about Peter using his sword for the first time, killing the wolf. In Lewis' science fiction book Perelandra Ransom, the main character, realizes that he has to kill the bad guy (can't remember his name). He fights the bad guy several times and wounds him, but slowly he realizes it will never end unless he actually kills him. I think that might be a reference to killing sin in your life, being dead to your old self.
More re-reading to go.
3 comments:
Well, it is partly about spiritual warfare, but both Tolkien and Lewis were not pacifists and thought pacifism untenable. They thought that sometimes you don't want to fight or go to war but sometimes you have to.
They were both WWI vets. After WWI, because trench warfare was so horrible, and such large swathes of the population of young men in Europe had died in that war, pacifism became a movement in England, America, and probably also the rest of Europe (I don't know).
You've read the biographies of Winston Churchill, how even to the very eve of WWII, some people were trying to get England to disarm completely. In the between the war years, there was a group in England that took an oath that under no circumstances would they fight for King and Country.
Most did fight, from what I understand, finding that actually they would fight if the circumstances included an imminent German invasion.
Anyway, both Tolkien and Lewis thought the pacifists were wrong. Both portray people going to battle willingly and courageously when necessary. Tolkien dwells more on the price paid. Even though your world will never be the same, you still have to fight evil. The Lord of the Rings has a heavy theme of the necessity and destruction of some wars.
The Narnia Chronicles are not as deep or insightful as LotR (IMO), but have some simlar themes. But Lewis always tries to end on a happy note, the good things that come of courage, not just the price paid. Lewis looks ahead to heaven and resurrection, Tolkien stays in this vale of tears.
BTW, Mave (or should I say Luney?), I think you should open your comments, instead of having them wait until you approve them, because I think that encourages more comments. And tell your book club about your blog, so they can comment, too, if they want. Not doing moderation doesn't mean you can't delete if some troll comes by and leaves bad messages. You still can.
Now perhaps my comment is longer than your post. :-) Love, your blabby sister.
Hi Jan,
Good points. I'm sure you're right that the references to war are more direct than a reference to spiritual warfare.
Good comparison with Lord of the Rings. I like that.
And I turned off the moderation of comments. I had actually forgotten that was turned on and then when I saw it was I meant to change it but hadn't gotten to it.
"Mave" is fine. :)
P.S. I have told my book club about the blog. I don't know yet if anyone's reading it or not!
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