The Chronicles Of Narnia, Character Aslan
(C.S. Lewis)
In the first two books, according to the modern chronological order,
Aslan creates the world of Narnia in The Magician's Newphew and The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by singing it into creation. This
form of world creation is similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's creation of
middle earth in The Silmarillion, where musical form creates physical
matter. However, there is a striking similarity in Aslan and Jesus
Christ.
Aslan, as found out in the second book, is not the
"God" of the universe, for there is an Emperor whose magic "could not
be broken," as stated by the Witch. Therefore, is it safe to assume
that Aslan is more the son of the creator? Or perhaps he is the first
creation of the creator, for it is also written in the books that he
manages other lands and worlds.
In reading this book as a child, I did not see the
similarity between Aslan dying for Edmund and being reborn to the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but now at an older age it is so
apparent that it strikes me as profound. It was said that Jesus was
afraid of dying, although his faith told him that he was the son of
God, and this goes hand in hand with Aslan feeling sad and needing Lucy
and Susan's company on the night of his death. Both were taunted while
being bound, and endured their torture with little more than sadness on
their face.
How similar did Lewis intend Aslan to be to the
Christ, or perhaps this was a hint at another religion? Is it safe to
connect these books, labeled as mostly children's literature (but
obviously appealing to all ages) with such a strong link to religion?
Perhaps Lewis was intending Narnia to be a recreation of this world in
a fairy tale view, or was this his idea of some sort of utopia that our
world ought to have been? His time in writing these books, of course,
coincided with WWII, so much thought into life and death must have
influenced his writing, as it did with Tolkien's. Evil was somewhat of
a given, to be fought eternally but perhaps never defeated. How can
good exist, anyway, without evil?
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