Maryanna O’Neill

English 380-50

McGee

December 13, 2005

Traveling to Narnia

While there are conservative elements to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, the books can still be considered relatively progressive books, especially for their time. The books contain many religious references, comments on gender roles and adult-child relationships, all of which are usually considered conservative themes. However, the role of the narrator adds a sarcastic tone to these references and making them progressive commentaries. In each book, the narrator is his own character, referring to himself in first person on countless occasions. Regardless of whether the books were progressive or not, this series has had a profound influence on children’s literature and literature in general since its birth.

Lewis’s life had a lot of influence on his writings. Lewis was born in November of 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His mother died of cancer when he was young, and as he grew older he grew apart from his father, who he was very different from, and closer with his older brother. His mother’s death obviously parallels the sickness Digory’s mother endures in The Magician’s Nephew. In addition, Lewis’s life at the time after his mother’s death also parallels The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was written at the same time as his autobiography, Surprised by Joy. “Just as Lewis’s first chronicle tells how Aslan brings spring to the land of Narnia after a seemingly endless winter, Surprised by Joy describes how God restored Lewis’s feelings and faith, both of which had been frozen after the death of his mother” (Schultz and West 121).

When they were young, Lewis and his brother invented a place called Animal Land, which bordered India, where the animals talked and traded with the Indians. Many believe that this was Narnia in its earliest stages; however, Narnia obviously became a more sophisticated concept in Lewis’s mind. Lewis was born and raised Protestant, but by the time he entered college at the University College in Oxford, he had become atheist. In 1917 he was drafted into the army, but was soon discharged after being injured. Lewis slowly made a return back to Christianity, though he struggled with faith as it was against logic. Once he was firm in his faith, however, this only made him more equipped to convince others that Christianity made sense. This Christian influence is present in the majority of Lewis’s books and, generally, is attributed for the conservative elements in The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Before it is determined what the conservative and progressive elements of the book are and how they move the story, it is first necessary to define what makes a book either conservative or progressive. There are three areas where it is important to find the different conservative or progressive elements. These areas are the content of the book, the style of the book and the books relationship with the reader. In progressive books, the content challenges common views of childhood, viewing childhood as a complicated time of life. The style is experimental and the story is told in playful ways. In progressive books, the text provokes new questions and ideas in the reader, asking ambiguous questions and encouraging the reader to reexamine things taken to be normal.

In conservative books the content preserves, protects and defends common assumptions about childhood, viewing it as a time of innocence that is threatened by the adult world. These books are told in traditional ways with typical, omniscient narration. Conservative books comfort the reader, supplying him or her with easy answers. The child realizes the authority and wisdom of parents and this is never challenged. With these definitions in mind, the progressive and conservative elements can be traced throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, focusing primarily on The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. As stated before, this series can be considered a progressive series, with a few conservative elements.

The presence of gender roles in the series is apparent in the Chronicles of Narnia series. This is generally seen as a conservative theme throughout children’s texts, because it fits in with some common assumptions about childhood. In The Pleasures of Children’s Literature, Perry Nodelman says one common assumption is that “children like books they can relate to: stories about typical childhood experiences. Boys like stories about boys; and girls like stories about girls” (Nodelman 74). This implies that there are major differences between the two sexes that cause them to enjoy different things. While the books may call attention to these differences, it is always a character of one sex generalizing about the other sex, and never are these differences pointed out by the narrator. The differences are also always called attention to in a time of frustration or annoyance with the opposite sex. In The Magician’s Nephew, Digory, in his frustration with Polly, categorizes her as the steryotypical girl. “‘That’s all you know,’ said Digory. ‘It’s just because you’re a girl. Girls never want to know anything but gossip and rot about people getting engaged’” (Lewis, Magician’s Nephew 55). Even though this generalization is made about girls, it is made clear throughout the story, that Polly does not fit this typical little girl mold. In this case, the story itself, and the characterization of Polly keeps the book progressive even with a sweeping statement such as Digory makes. In addition, it is apparent that these assumptions about girls are not main ideas of the book because of the character, Jadis, who is Queen of Charn. Jadis is a strong character throughout the book, and shows many qualities that are generally associated with men. She has warlike tendencies, and has an extremely dominating personality. When explaining to the children the demise of Charn she said, “‘All in one moment one woman blotted it out forever’” (Lewis, Magician’s Nephew 65). She has made sure to include that it was a woman that was the last one standing in the ruined city.

Similarly, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, gender roles are mentioned numerous times, but the context in which it is referred to allows it to remain progressive. Edmund calls attention to the emotional assumptions made about women in his frustrations with Lucy at the beginning of the story. “‘Just like a girl,’ said Edmund to himself, ‘sulking somewhere, and won’t accept an apology’” (Lewis, The Lion 30). Edmund has been interpolated to believe that women are emotional and stubborn. It is obvious throughout the rest of the story, however, that Lucy is an extremely strong character, who does not let her emotions dictate her life. The conservative aspect of the theme of gender roles is undermined by the strength of the characters in the stories. The singular incident where the narrator calls attention to gender roles is after Peter saved Susan from the wolves. “Then, after a bit, Susan came down the tree. She and Peter felt pretty shaky when they met and I won’t say there wasn’t kissing and crying on both sides. But in Narnia no one thinks any worse of you for that” (Lewis, The Lion 132). This quote implies that kissing and crying is an inappropriate behavior for Peter because he is a boy; however, because of the narrator’s additional comment about the exception in Narnia, the conservative element is lost.

This series is undoubtedly child-centered, which is a quality of progressive books. There are many references to the relationships between adults and children throughout the series, but the children remain the dominant characters, who either correct the mistakes of the adults around them, or are encouraged to reexamine and rethink answers to ambiguous questions posed. In The Magician’s Nephew, Digory and Polly are forced to question the authority of the adults around them in order to fix the mistakes made by one such adult. The magician sets himself apart from the rest of society, especially young children saying, “But of course you must understand that rules of that sort, however excellent they may be for little boys – and servants – and women – and even people in general, can’t possibly be expected to apply to profound students and great thinkers and sages” (Lewis, Magician’s Nephew 21). Digory and Polly, despite their age, recognize the faults in Uncle Andrew and challenge what he says throughout the book.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the four children spend much of the book away from adults entirely. What little contact they do have with adults is with the Professor, who is an extremely progressive character in the book. This is because of Lewis’s ideas on teaching and what a teacher’s role should be. In the Professor’s explanation of Lucy’s adventures, he asks them questions that force them to think out the situation for themselves. In addition, when the children return from Narnia and seek an explanation from the Professor, he gives them some advice, closing the story “on two thematic notes characteristic of Lewis: while affirming the paradox that the end may be a beginning, he reminds us that even the professor’s knowledge is open to question” (Hart 84). Characteristic of progressive texts, the children are asked to reexamine things they took to be normal. This makes interpellation of the reader difficult, because they must examine their beliefs and think about what is possible in the world.

The religious references in The Chronicles of Narnia series are impossible to overlook. The Magician’s Nephew contains a long passage detailing Aslan’s creation of Narnia, which essentially parallels the book of Genesis in the Bible, including the temptation with the fruit from the forbidden tree (Lewis, Magician’s Nephew 106-126). Throughout the series humans are referred to as “Sons of Adam” and “Daughters of Eve,” which is probably the most blatant biblical reference. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe parallels the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, most notably during Aslan’s walk to the Stone Table with Susan and Lucy, which “is reminiscent of Christ’s sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane as recounted by the Gospels (see Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46)” (Schultz and West 253).

Although many consider Lewis’s works to be allegories, Lewis calls the books “supposals.” For example, Lewis says, “‘[Aslan] is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question: ‘What might Christ have become like, if there were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He has actually done in ours?’” (Schultz and West 121). However, regardless of whether the books are allegories or “supposals,” they’re religious references are apparent. This is usually categorized as being more conservative because of the moral connotation religion has. This usually comes in the form of the narrator telling the reader what should be taken from the story. This can be argued, however, because these texts are easily read without picking up on the religious references. Many people are unaware that they even exist.

Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia should definitely be considered progressive books. The narrator as a character plays a large role in making them progressive. Character development is another aspect that undermines the conservative elements found in the text. Lewis was able to integrate these conservative themes into progressive books has contributed to a series that has been a favorite for generations.

Works Cited

Hart, Dabney Adams. Through the Open Door. Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1984.

Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1950.

Lewis, C.S. The Magician’s Nephew. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1955.

Schultz, Jeffrey D., and John G. West Jr., eds. The C.S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998.