Growing With My Garden

As the story continues, Tirian and his party free Jewel, and then with Jill’s daring they are able to free the donkey Puzzle.  The group then sets out to confront the dwarfs. The dwarfs typify skepticism, entirely self-dependent, completely denying supernatural reality.  Their counterpart is present in so much of present-day attitudes.  They boast: “We’re on our own now.  No more Aslan, no more Kings, no more silly stories about other worlds. . . .”  One of them, Poggin, is the exception, joining with Tirian and his cohorts.  Certainly one of the main impressions  the Chronicles of Narnia make upon readers is the need to oppose evil in all its forms.  It is depicted as very powerful and very deceitful, fooling a great many. The group sees a grotesque appearance of Tash–who embodies evil and the spirit of anti-Christ--as he passes by on his way to Narnia.  Then Farsight the eagle appears with the startling news that Cair Paravel is now ...

  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was published in 1950, after which six other stories followed detailing as many returns to and adventures in Narnia for the four Pervensie children, now kings and queens.  The Last Battle, the final one, was published in 1956.  It ends with a sense of final triumph and pure joy that, to me, has no rival in literature. Certainly one of the effects of reading the Narnia tales is to instill within one a strong sense of repugnance for evil and the subtle ways it works to ensare a person.  That purpose is especially apparent in The Last Battle. There are as well several characteristics pointing to the end of an age. The first chapter does an excellent job of setting the tone of the tale.  Shift the ape is a master of deceit, and Puzzle the donkey eptomizes innocence and naivate.  Note how the reader is instilled with both fascination and disgust with Shift’s clever manipulation of Puzzle, and both wonder and sympathy...

LLW, 13 - end Our reading begins with Edmund.  Central to Lewis’s intentions in writing this fantasy is to instill within a child an awe at the nature of Christ’s crucifixion and of the revolting nature of the evil that prompted it, and that’s the main concern of this section.  The reader cannot but be both disgusted with Edmund for his treachery but also feel pity for him in the utter disillusionment that he experiences from giving his allegiance to the White Witch. Because of the prophecy that four kings shall rule from Cair Paravel, the witch is determined to kill the Pervensie children, but while Edmund is being prepared for slaughter he is suddenly rescued by a party of creatures that Aslan sent.  Aslan then meets privately with Edmund.  We read: “There is no need to tell you (and no one ever heard) what Aslan was saying, but it was conversation which Edmund never forgot)” After which, Edmund meets with each of his siblings to say he was sorry. WHY DOES LEWI...

 LWW 7 - 12 One very basic difference between prose writing and imaginative writing is that the former strives for clear, direct, and precise statement, whereas the latter seeks to work by indirection.  I very much like Emily Dickinson’s poem that makes the point: Tell all the truth But tell it slant Success in circuit lies. Like lightning to children eased By explanation kind, The truth must dazzle gradually, Or all the world be blind. Imaginative writing appeals strongly to the senses, and one of the means by which the LWW achieves the effects that it does is by vivid descriptive images that appeal not  only to sight, but to sound and taste, smell and feeling. The scene in the beavers’ home as they prepare and partake of a meal is an excellent example of this range of appeal.  LWW is an excellent example of such indirection and its profound effectiveness.  Lewis obviously wants to instill within his readers very positive...