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...

  In recounting his own spiritual odyssey, Lewis tells how he was strongly driven by a sensation of desire which, in his autobiography, he terms joy and sometimes uses the German term Sehnsucht.  It is a yearning for something more, something which occasional experiences arouse, but which no experience in this world fully satisfies.  It is a yearning which can only be satisfied by a union with God.  One of the primary effects of reading LWW is to arouse and nourish  in the reader that longing.  As you read, note in how many ways images have this effect.  Lewis presents Narnia (which suggests the realm of the imagination, or something more?) to be a very attractive and inviting realm, but also one fraught with great peril. It is a place of moral values shaped by Christian truths which require careful attention.  The amiable faun right away identifies Lucy as a daughter of Eve and, of course, this suggests her fallen condition. He kindly invites...

  There is a fascinating paradox involved when one considers the nature of the Narnia Chronicles.  As one reads, one can see a great many Christian truths and attitudes shadowed forth in the imagery.  But, in his essay “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said,” Lewis sternly denies that he began with a listing of Christian truths, asked himself how he could communicate them to children, and proceeded to shape the Narnia stories accordingly.  Rather, he began with some images that compellingly presented themselves to his imagination and proceeded to let them shape their own stories in the realm of Faerie.  And he insists that he was not writing exclusively for children, but for adults as well; good fairy tales appeal to all ages.   But, as I say, a fascinating paradox is involved.  While Lewis insists he was not writing to communicate Christian truths, the Narnia stories are powerfully shaped by a Christian view of reality and co...

Aug 29: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Chapters 1 - 6 Sept 5: 7 - 12 12:13 - end 19: The Last Battle: Chapters 1 - 5 26: 6 - 10 October 3: 11- end I intend to make a post by August 29.