The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a superb book and one cherished by many, including myself, from childhood. I was apprehensive to read it again, but it was assigned to our reading group as part of the BBC ‘100 Novels that Shaped our World’, and I was so glad I did.

The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe is the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, but was written first in 1950 by C. S. Lewis, a Belfast born writer and Oxford scholar. It is the magical story of four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, who are evacuated from London during World War Two to the house of an eccentric Professor. There Lucy stumbles through a discovered wardrobe into the secret land of Narnia and meets Mr. Tumnus, a friendly faun. He tells her how Narnia is oppressed by the White Witch who has made it ‘always winter and never Christmas’. Lucy’s story is not believed until all four children find themselves drawn into the magical land together and their real adventures begin.

The children meet wonderful creatures. Lewis describes talking beavers, evil dwarfs and giants. All must choose a side; either that of the White Witch or the magical Lion Aslan who is trying to return the land to Spring. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe contains more than just a children’s adventure. It weaves throughout the book, deep concepts of good and evil, forgiveness and redemption. It is said to reflect Christian philosophy although Lewis maintained that there was more to this book than an allegory of the story of Jesus. However it is read, as a child or as an adult, this book and the others in The Chronicle of Narnia series are wonderful on many levels.

 

Submitted by Tinya