The Last Battle, Chapters 6 - 10

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 “filled with dead Narnians and living Calormenes,”  

The group sets out for Stable Hill where so much of the final battle between good and evil–the counter part to the biblical Armageddon–takes place.  Lewis’s narrative skill is expertly manifested in these chapters as the gradual intensifying of the emotions of dread combined with determination is depicted without in the least boring the reader, but rather steadily increasing one’s desire to keep reading.

Also to be noted is the fact that, although the reader expects Aslan to appear, he never does during the battle itself.  There is no counterpart at this point to the biblical teaching of the Second Coming of Christ.  Rather, the group is determined to put all of their effort into whatever adventures Aslan sends.  There is a sense of complete trust in Aslan’s sovereignty, together with his overseeing presence, but the obligation to fight the battle is entirely upon the characters themselves.   The important truth is that God throughout this age chooses to work exclusively through people.

The ape’s cunning revelation to the Narnian’s–given to the amazement of Tirian and his group–is that what they assumed was Aslan was really a donkey dressed in a lion’s skin, Lewis thereby underscores in the reader’s mind the exceeding cleverness of evil in mixing some truth with error.  The Bible has many warnings against being deceived by such a mixture.  The teachings on the part of some that all religions in their own ways really serve the same God is a good example.

WHAT IMPRESSES YOU MOST ABOUT THIS READING?