C.S. Lewis was born in Ireland. He was a close friend of other famous authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote The Lord Of The Rings. He converted to Christianity at age 31 partly due to Tolkien's beliefs. Many of Lewis' works have undertones often related to Christianity including that of The Chronicles of Narnia. A film adaptation of the first part of the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was made and it grossed $745,000,000 US worldwide showing its popularity.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is about four children who enter a magical wardrobe and come out in Narnia. A lion called Aslan who is an important part of the book created Narnia. The capital is Cair Pavavel where at the end of the book the four children are coroneted kings and Queens.
I found the story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe interesting because of the strong but yet hidden Christian influence in the story. Aslan can be compared with Christ as in the Catholic faith for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that Aslan is very kind, companionate and forgiving as evident when he says, “Here is your brother and - there is no need to talk to him about the past”.
Here Aslan is reconciling Edmund as he had collaborated with the White Witch, the protagonist in the story. Another point is that as Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins, Aslan also dies to save Edmund from being taken by the White Witch. He here shows once again forgiveness and pity. Jesus and Aslan both resurrected after being killed and walked once again amongst the living.
The story also has a very living quality and that is another reason why I liked the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis fills the world of Narnia with many different creatures and gives all of these the power to talk, which makes things interesting as the animals can now communicate and have a greater impact on the story. There are many interesting creatures with some listed as Lucy says “...there were Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins there.”
These were some of the animals present at the sacrificing of Aslan. Nature is very important in the story and also gives it a relaxing feeling in some parts and the setting is often described beautifully e.g. "But they all knew that it was her spells which had produced the ended winter; and therefore they had all knew when this magic spring began that something had gone wrong, and badly wrong, with the Witch"s schemes. And after the thaw…' The setting here tells the characters that sometime had gone wrong with the Witch.
This is a very imaginative book and I recommend it to older children and younger teenagers. A beautiful book.
