The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven high fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis and illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and originally published in London between 1950 and 1956. First we have The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950), Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), The Silver Chair (1953), The Horse and His Boy (1954) The Magician’s Nephew (1955), and lastly The Last Battle (1956). The Chronicles of Narnia are the most popular works of writer C.S. Lewis. They are recognized as the children’s fantasy novels, they are really popular with students and even adults. In The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis focuses on the Biblical Character of Jesus Christ as the character of Aslan the lion. It retells certain some events in Jesus life to children’s in this new context that makes it easier for them to understand. The Chronicles of Narnia were first written by C.S. Lewis with children in mind. The easy dialogue and a sense of reality in the fantasy setting allows all ages to enjoy and fall in love with these books. The reader becomes one with the pages, not wanting to put the book down for fear of the wonderful land of Narnia escaping their minds.
Almost all of the adventure begins with The Magician’s Nephew. The reader is introduced
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Lewis “conveys an unflagging sense of wonder and excitement, certain to captivate a broad range of listeners. Aged 8 and up.” In another article that I found online “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis – Review.” it says that this book taught him/her two important lessons “that looks can be deceiving and that two wrongs don’t make a right… My favourite part in the book was when Aslan was un-stoned the statues and everything can to life.” It also states that it made it seems was the un-stoned animals were right there in front of him/her beckoning to join
“Creatures, I give you yourselves,” said the strong, happy voice of Aslan. “I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself. The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do not so.”- Aslan
For years there has been mass controversy over C.S Lewis's book The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Not only over if the book is a Christian allegory or not, but also over how well the movie captures the book. The book has a very powerful and meaningful message, from the four Pevensie children's triumph over an evil force, the White Witch, to restore peace in Narnia, to all of the adventures in between, but just how well does the movie capture the book (Bell 12)?
In his essay On the Three Ways of Writing for Children, Lewis describes three ways he feels writers use when writing children’s literature. The first he describes as, “ ‘giving the public what it wants.’ Children are, of course, a special public and you find out what they want and give them that, however little you like it yourself.” Writing a children’s story for the sake of writing a children’s story. It’s written strictly for the purpose of selling to a specified audience. You give them what you think they want even if you don’t agree or like what you are writing. The second way Lewis describes as, ““The printed story grows out of a story told to a particular child with the living voice and perhaps ex tempore.”. We know from Lewis himself that Prince Caspian was not written out of a story he told to a child; he wrote this book as part of a series of books based around the Pevensie children, who discover a mysterious and magical land in the back of a wardrobe (Prince Caspian is the second in a series of seven books). Lewis advocates for writing not to impress, but for expression. He does not write children’s books
According to Dictionary.com a leader is “a person who rules, guides or inspires others”. Often a leader is more than that. Leaders care about the group as a whole not just their individual part. They see the big picture and help everyone else to see it too. They are the one the group looks up to and depends on. If the leader is lost almost always a new unlikely leader is bound to emerge. Leaders often do not know who they are until they are put in a position where they must lead for the success of the group. Leaders play a huge role in the book The Hobbit. Jack Welch summarizes the leader’s role in this book perfectly. Bilbo before he is a leader, Bilbo when he is a leader and Gandalf’s actions all relate to the quote Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.--Jack Welch
The plots and settings of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe only further prove that Narnia is an allegory. Edmund betraying Aslan is the same as us betraying God, yet Aslan as does God, rescues Edmund and is prepared to give his life for him. Aslan knowing he has to die to give Edmund life makes a treaty with the White Witch to sacrifice his life over Edmund’s and naturally, the White Witch is overjoyed and readily agrees, forgetting the “deep magic”. Christ was who died on the cross in payment for our sins and Aslan died for Edmund. On the way to Calvary, Jesus remained silent, as did Aslan. It is said that Aslan could have killed them all with one swipe of his paws and it was said that Jesus could have killed
C. S. Lewis was a brilliant author known for his fictional novels as well as his Christian apologetics works. Religion was a large part of his life, and he utilized such themes throughout his fiction books. The first book in The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, exemplifies such overlap. Lewis inserted fundamental Christian themes into this novel, allowing his religion to influence his work.
In C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis emphasizes the three points of philosophy, themes, and symbolism throughout his writing. Lewis was a strong Christian man, and wanted to make children see and understand all the stories of the Bible. Therefore, he put Christian elements through his books, but with fantasy characters as well. Especially in this story, Lewis conveys the differences between good and evil. Aslan is represented as Christ just as the White Witch represents the sense of evil. Lewis wrote several books in this Narnia series, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe became the most famous and recognized of his novels.
Lewis showed honesty and integrity through two different animals. One of the animals is the Faun, and the other is human character called Edmund. Apparently these two characters have the same behaviour in inspiring moral values. This means that both of them stand in the wrong side at first, but in the end decide on being honest in the end. Regardless, they differ in some respects, as the Faun identifies that he is at fault at the start and Edmunds increasingly grows into a just individual slowly. By using animals in his writings, it is often considered as a deliberate and calculated decision from the part of the author. The use of animals allowed Lewis in communicating subtle shades of personality. Given that children have a natural attraction to animals, the use of animals in writing helps in the process of acquiring moral values. The talking animals including Mr Aslan, Mr Beaver and Mr Tumnus, are examples which show that given moral values including self-sacrifice, courage and honesty are acquired from entertainment. The showing of a Faun with parcels and umbrella arouse interest since children have delightful responses to fantasies. More specifically, children express delight to stories on animals acting like human beings. The description given of Mr. Tumnus is an explicit expression of the way in which a Faun looks, and children definitely feel interested in meeting a faun with Lucy.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fiction in which one of the main characters, the sturdy lion Aslan, has the most power and authority. There are tons of images of Aslan from the book and the movie that relate to Jesus in Bible. The most outstanding images are the death of Aslan on top of the stone table which represents the crucifixion of Jesus, Aslan’s rebirth which is similar to the Resurrection of Jesus, and Aslan’s offering the stone statues life just as the figure of God made everything. Shortly, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe includes a number of biblical images that are the details from the Bible which were reflected by the book and the movie.
While he was writing his first book in The Chronicles of Narnia series, he was greatly criticized by his friend, Tolkien. Tolkien was very critical of the book, he gave him grief about the mixed mythology. Lewis stopped writing the book and threw out his first copy. But, Lewis kept dreaming about a lion and later started the book completely over, because of this, it took ten years to finish the first book. Tolkien started to approve of the books when Aslan came into the
C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because he wanted to write a children’s book “as a gift for his godchild” (Palmer). It began for him with a series of pictures that came into his mind. “Lewis stated, ‘Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion” (Kennedy). A fairy tale was forming in his mind and “‘At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord’” (Kennedy), As the story progresses and Lewis’s characters and storyline begin to develop a seemingly clear relationship formed between The Bible and this novel. “Given Lewis’s strong Christian faith, that is not surprising. In fact, once the story was established, Lewis said he ‘...saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood’” (Kennedy.) Even though C.S. Lewis started off writing a children's novel, many people perceive it to be a novel written in parallel to the Bible. Lewis has used Biblical references and a classic storyline to prove that good will alway triumph over evil. Aslan is labeled as a divine figure in the novel; he is also known as the son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan’s death and resurrection is like that of Christ. The four children are all considered important to in the world of Narnia, but in the real world they are
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series written by CS Lewis. The book series was such a great success that in 2008, the first book was turned into a film. What many people may not realize is that CS Lewis wrote the book series with a specific goal in mind: to showcase the word of God to different parts of the world through an artistic lens.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe written by C. S. Lewis is a film adaptation of a fairly fantasy tale. It shows exciting adventures of four English children – Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan - who found the magical land of Narnia by way of a wardrobe that they found out in the house of elderly professor where they were sent by their mother.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a fascinating, adventurous journey about 4 siblings traveling through a magical wardrobe to a land called Narnia. As they explore the land, they learn of its destiny and free it from the evil white witch, with the help of a majestic lion.
Lewis may be suggesting that explorations of metaphysical and spiritual subjects (the Narnias' of our own world) are best suited to open, impartial minds. Second, the obscurity of Narnia's entrance suggests that such journeys cannot be sought out or forced, but rather will present themselves at places and times we least expect. Finally, the use of an ordinary wardrobe as the portal to Narnia makes Lewis's readers consider what fantastic journeys physical or otherwise may lay within the ordinariness of everyday existence.