Good and Evil in The Chronicles of Narnia: Theological Themes in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis Earl Palmer Evil is not portrayed as a formless, mindless force, or as simply human avarice or human wrath. Nor does Lewis see it as a natural disaster, like earthquakes or fire. Lewis accepts the Biblical portrayal of evil as a moral, cosmic, personal will against the will of God. C. S. Lewis was a theologian as well The Chronicles real-world story, that depiction of a as a storyteller. The moment we dare Three grand themes are present crisis and of its harm to the charac­ to say, "I believe," or endeavor to in every one of Lewis's Chronicles, ters is at the heart of every adventure explain to someone what we believe, and each is theological in the way it and every scene of danger. we are then doing theology. Clive looks at the possibility of the exist­ The third grand theme is the Staples Lewis played that role in just ence of God. portrayal of the good that emerges in about everything he wrote---evenin The first theme is the affirmation the story. Even in a pessimistic tale, his personal correspondence. of life seen in Lewis's respect for the where tragedy is the end line of the When asked why he wrote earth itself and for the human beings final chapter, there nevertheless children's stories, Lewis answered, who become characters in the story. must be a counterpoint of good that "I turned to fairy tales, because that The characters are made in God's stands in contrast against the seemed to be the form that certain image and are given freedom to wrongness that seems to win because ideas and images in my mind choose, in small and large ways, just of the author's artistic decision. seemed to demand, as a man might as God has freedomto choose. Great In every great story these turn to fugues because the musical stories respect that goodness in cre­ three themes need to appear, phrases in his head seemed to him ation. Without that fundamental re­ and this means that a battle of to be good fugal subjects. When I spect, there would be no possibili­ epic consequences between good wrote Lion I had no notion of writing ties for a story where love happens, and evil is under way. When or for heartbreak and crises to hap­ we read The Chronicles of Narnia, the others. Writing children's stories the seven stories that C. S. Lewis pen. It is this first ground rule that modified my habits of composition. wrote for us, we find that the It imposed strict limitson my vocabu­ makes all adventure (or even roman­ contain all three of these grand lary; it excluded erotic love; it cut tic) stories possible. themes. They begin with the down reflective and analytical pas­ The second theme in every great innocence of children exploring an sages; it led me to produce chapters story is the understanding and real­ old house and then, because of a of nearly equal length for conve­ istic portrayal of the crises of bad game of hide and seek, the youngest nience in reading aloud. All those choices and harmful decisions. of the children stumbles into a won­ restrictions did me great good." Whether the story is a fantasy or a drous, beautiful new world of snow, Radix 14 a glowing larnppost, a friendly Faun, and an act of protective kindness toward this little girl Lucy by that Faun named Mr. Tumnus. She meets up with a strange kind of goodness, but soon in the story when herbrother Edmund enters that charmed world, the second theme ap­ pears. It is not the problems of youth getting lost in a forest, but of something more omi­ nous and threatening. The children meet up with a grave danger-with evil. The expert storyteller that Lewis is gradually draws us along with the four English children into that danger in Narnia. What is it they find? First they find the beauty of Narnia, but soon a second theme unfolds: the reality of evil. Evil is not portrayed as a formless, mindless force, or as simply human avarice or human wrath. Nor does Lewis see it as a natural disaster, like earthquakes or fire. Levvis accepts the Biblical portrayal of evil as a moral, cosmic, persona1 will against the will of God. Cos­ mic (that is to say, spiritual) and moral (not just natural, as in tornadoes), it is per- sonal will intentionally against Lewis used an image of coldness and A second way in which evil is the will of God." C. S. Lewis in the ice to refer to the devil, whereas it is portrayed by Lewis in these novels 1960 preface to Screwtape Letters says: common to think of the devil with is its role in the winter Queen as the "Now; if by the 'devil' you mean the language of fire. Even in Dante one who is the tempter. Evil tempts a power opposite to God and like the devil is encased in ice. So per­ by deception. In The Silver Chair, in God, self-existed for all eternity, the haps Lewis was influencedby Dante. one incredible scene the Emerald answer is certainly no. God has no In The Magici.an's NepherD, the deplor­ Queen tempts the children, trying to opposite ... the proper question is able world is cold, and in The Lion, make them think that what they whether I believe in devils. I do. That the Witch and the Wardrobe, when the knew in the above ground world as is to say, I believe in angels, and I children firstcome into Narnia,they the real sun is not the sun. Rather believe that some of these, by the learn that for many, many years it the sphere she holds and sways be­ abuse of their free will, have become has been winter without Clu-istmas, fore them is the real sun. She tempts enemies of God." and everything is cold. When we them by deception. In The Last Battle, We need to ask what character think about that coldness we find we have the most blatant temptation, istics of evil are portrayed by Lewis. that it makes things work well for where a donkey has a lion's skin put In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the winter Queen. Her castle is a vast over him by his master. This false and in The Magician's Nephew, ice sculpture. Sleighs work well on Aslan is marched before the people evil is cold. It is interesting that the cold snow. who are directed to bow and to wor- Radix 15 of the Rings by J. R. R. ship him. Tolkien, the Harry Potter Evil tempts with desire. series by J. K. Rowling, or The first temptation in The even a book like The Shack? Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Should we encourage youth is when the winter Queen to read books that feature tempts Edmund with Turkish the battle between good and Delight. He gets a taste of it evil in the territory of hu­ man imagination? Yes, I be­ with one delicious piece that lieve that they are a part of magically appears but he never a healthy diet of every gets any more. His desire is reader, including children. made intense because of the There are always age- memory of that one taste. In appropriate questions but The Screwtape Letters, Lewis children who are deprived portrays temptation as "an of healthy fantasy will ever increasing appetite for nevertheless still be fascinated with fantasy. The an ever decreasing pleasure." key is not to ask if fantasy Edmund hears the promise of should be in their reading more Turkish Delight, but he diet, but rather what kind never receives it. of fantasy, good or bad. There is also the temptation to The third theme is also virtue. This temptation is perhaps evil and the true reality of good. present in the stories of C.S. Lewis. the most subtle of all. We see that in Evil is portrayed by Lewis as Lewis believed in the existence of The Magician's Nephew. Digory was powerful, but not permanently pow­ ultimate good, and that became sent on a mission byAsian to bring erful. This is an important and con­ the major theme in a11 of his him an apple froma hidden garden tinuous theme. There is a cumulative writings. The sense of ultimate power and growth of power in That good is present in the "space in the north of Namia. At that gar­ trilogy" -Perelandra, Out of the den he is tempted by the witch Jadis Hideous Strength. Evil gets stronger Silent Planet, and That Hideous to take the apple and not to bring it and stronger over Mark, a young sci­ Strength- a more hidden sense. In toAslan. entist who falls more and more un­ Tolkien's marvelous trilogy, the He is told by the witch that, were der its control. We watch how, in ultimate good is also hidden he to keep the apple, it would help single steps, evil gathers momentum. yet present. In The Chronicles of his mother get well. The witch tells But in the end, evil suffers from inner Narnia, Lewis dared to show him, "If you'll take the apple, it will collapse. In That Hideous Strength, the ultimate good as really knowable cure your mother." So Digory is marvelous surprise happens at the by mere men and women, boys tempted to distrust Asian in order banquet, when chaos begins to de­ and girls.