The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Christian Themes Essay

After reading this chapter I came to the conclusion that Aslan is “Jesus”. He took his life just as Jesus did for the people. He cares more about the people them himself just like Jesus. After Aslan died he came back alive just as Jesus did. This story was more than just a regular story, it was telling the story of god in a different form.

The books have Christian themes and describe the adventures of a group of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first published and the most popular book of the series. Lewis is said to have stated that he wrote the novels when he wondered what it would be like if Jesus Christ was incarnated on another planet or world to save the souls of those inhabitants”.

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

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.

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.

Aslan is portrayed as an all-knowing, perfect, and above all else, brave lion, but when when he decides to forfeit his life in order to deliver Edmund from death, the grief is crushing. He is overcome with sorrow even though he knows he will rise again; one could even compare his suffering to the death of the historical figure Jesus Christ who is depicted weeping about his sacrifice. “Presently he stumbled and gave a low moan…’I am sad and lonely”’( ) After his death and Edmund’s and everyone else’s crimes were atoned for, he was reborn with more strength than before, and he was so elated that he was literally jumping for joy. Aslan was so jubilant, so vital, that he led the girls in a game of chase before saving Narnia from the Witch. “There shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen them before, shaking his mane, stood Aslan himself… ‘Oh, children,’ said the Lion, ‘I feel my strength coming back to me, Oh, children, catch me if you can!’”(162-163) the fore loaning and

C.S. Lewis often includes various religious allegories in many of novels but especially in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Throughout The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe we see many situations in which Aslan is representative of Jesus Christ. From the other characters’ descriptions of him, to the Pevensie children’s first encounter with him, to his torture, death and resurrection, Aslan is clearly meant to serve as the Jesus Christ of an alternate universe. He is the one who saves Narnia from the cold tyranny of Jadis and brings together the Pevensie children as the new kings and queens of Narnia.

“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe functions as a spiritual allegory. The major characters parallel the central figures of the Christian religion, including Christ and Judas”(http://www.shmoop.com). In the book Christ is portrayed as Aslan and Judas as The white witch. There are many similarities between peter (The oldest brother) and St. Peter (one of Jesus’

The act of resurrecting from the dead, breathing life in those that were recently trapped in the eternal imprisonment of death, and expressing redemptive love through giving up one?s life to save another are only some of the similarities that are present between characters in ?The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? and religious figures such as Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. In the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, written by C.S. Lewis, four kids - Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan ? enter into a magical wardrobe and find themselves in a new world, the Land of Narnia. The four children, with the help of Aslan, suppress the power of the Witch and restore Narnia?s former state of

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

Aslan represents the hero archetype in the novel just as Jesus does in the Bible. His willingness to die for sinners and others who are unworthy beings imitates Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and that is the big reveal of his character

The similar, overarching central messages in both texts are about the ability to compassionately self-sacrifice yourself and forgive those who have committed treachery or sin. Aslan, the noble, golden lion, the king of Narnia, is seen as a literary Christ figure in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He humanely chooses to forfeit his life for Edmund’s sin and betrayal and miraculously resurrects after death which corresponds to Jesus’ death and bodily resurrection for the sins of mankind. Sinful beings were forgiven and saved in both texts even though the sacrifices were performed differently, Jesus was crucified and Aslan was instead tied, beaten, shaved and executed by the White Witch with a stone knife. Aslan’s sacrifice and restoration to life saved Edmund, destroyed the power of deep magic over Narnia, banished the eternal age of winter, redeemed the world from evil and essentially saved all Narnians.

Aslan is a mythical creature base upon Jesus. He is a great representation of Jesus`s crusifiction and resurrection (“What are….1). Aslan died for Edmund`s sins just as Jesus died for ours (“What are…2). Aslan is used to help children as well as adults to better understand the as well as adults to better understand the role of Jesus. Him being a lion also helps better understand how powerful Jesus is considering lions are kings of the jungle and the top of the food chain. Not only was a lion used for this major character the author wrote Aslan to be the son of the sea. Jesus is the son of God both major religious figures in different worlds (Jaegar). The white witch is a fun and appropriate character to understand the devil. It is not frightening to children or as hard to comprehend. She wants to rule the lands by over throwing the Aslan just as the devil did to God. Edmund`s need for turkish delight is an appropriate sin for the novel but can represent anything such as drugs or sex. It represents anything that is addictive and hard to not given to. The white witch tries to tempt Edmund into is need for power over his brother and his want for turkish delight. She does this to keep power over Aslan. His Novel is a mythical tale that helps children to understand the Bible in fun and moving

C.S. Lewis’s the lion the witch and the wardrobe is one of the highest rated and top selling novels ever produced. It follows the story of four siblings; Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy (born in that order) and their journey across Narnia to fight evil. Along the way they encounter several lovable and not so lovable characters as well as deal with interpersonal problems questioning their morals that they must overcome. Although this children's fantasy novel seems like the basic story of good vs evil it actually has a lot of hidden messages and morals. While adapting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to a picture book, the theme thought to be most prevalent and best to adapt was C.S. Lewis’s ideology; a person who succumbs to sin will never live a good and prosperous life.

This is where Tolkien stepped in, and taught Lewis how to balance these two seemingly different styles in one piece of writing. With this knowledge, Lewis produced “The Chronicles of Narnia”, in which he was able to communicate Christianity in an imaginative and entertaining way. Without Tolkien’s influence, Lewis never would have learned how to integrate rationalism and imagination, and millions of people never would have had the chance to read “The Chronicles of