<<

ABSTRACT

A GREAT DIVIDE: RELIGION IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF AND J. K. ROWLING’S THE SERIES

Religion has always played an important role in children’s literature. Traditionally, authors incorporated religion into their literature for children in order to teach young audiences what to believe. However, over the last 200 years the incorporation of religion in children’s literature has changed, and many authors began to use religion to explore issues surrounding their own doubt, fear and anxiety. The changes in the use of religion in children’s literature, and how society has reacted to this change, can be explored through the respective works of C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling. C. S. Lewis took a traditional approach to his incorporation of religion by using to teach various aspects of to his readers. J. K. Rowling, on the other hand, takes a more modern approach by using the Harry Potter series to explore her own struggles concerning her faith. As a result, C. S. Lewis has been widely supported by Christian groups, while J. K. Rowling has been widely criticized. This thesis will explore how and why religion was incorporated in the work of these two authors, and how society has responded to their work.

Camion Jerene Dunnicliff-Vizthum May 2016

A GREAT DIVIDE: RELIGION IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA AND J. K. ROWLING’S THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

by Camion Jerene Dunnicliff-Vizthum

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts English in the College of Arts and Humanities California State University, Fresno May 2016 APPROVED For the Department of English:

We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree.

Camion Jerene Dunnicliff-Vizthum Thesis Author

Ruth Jenkins (Chair) English

Steve Adisasmito-Smith English

Laurel Hendrix English

For the University Graduate Committee:

Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS

X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship.

Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me.

Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin by thanking my parents, George and Stacy Dunnicliff, the first people to instill in me a love for both literature and learning. I remember spending hours in their classrooms before school, after school, and even on the weekends. I remember watching my father read the newspaper every day over breakfast, while my mother would often spend her free time reading novels. I can honestly say that I would never have pursued an advanced degree or a teaching career if it hadn’t been for the example they set for me from the very beginning. I would also like to thank my Thesis Committee for helping me through the process of creating this thesis, I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you to Dr. Laurel Hendrix for agreeing to help me with this project, and making the time to give me meaningful feedback and suggestions. Thank you to Dr. Steve Adisasmito-Smith for posing challenging questions which forced me to think critically about my writing, your recommendations helped me to strengthen and clarify my argument. An especially big and heartfelt thank you to Dr. Ruth Jenkins who stood by me for the last two years: thank you for standing with me when many others wouldn’t have done so, thank you for encouraging me to continue when I was ready to give up, and thank you for helping and encouraging me to create this thesis. Your help, support and guidance over the last two years mean more to me than you will ever know. Finally, I would like to thank the most important person in my life, my husband, Taylor Vizthum. Thank you for encouraging me to pursue this goal, even when it meant putting other plans on hold. Thank you for all the times you sat up with me through the long nights when we were both exhausted, but I still had work to do. Thank you for refusing to allow me to give up when I was ready vi vi to quit, and thank you for standing by my side when things got difficult. Thank you for always supporting my goals and dreams, even when some of them haven’t made sense to you. Thank you for supporting and loving the person I am. I love you. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THE USE OF CHRISTIAN THEMES AND SYMBOLS IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA AND J. K. ROWLING’S THE HARRY POTTER SERIES ...... 1 CHAPTER 2: FROM OF NARNIA TO OF NAZARETH: PROPAGATING RELIGION IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA ...... 7 CHAPTER 3: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOLDEN SNITCH: SEEKING TO RECLAIM LOST FAITH IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES ...... 41 CHAPTER 4: A TALE OF TWO CHRISTS, IT WAS THE BEST OF CHRIST, IT WAS THE WORST OF CHRIST: CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA AND THE HARRY POTTER SERIES ...... 67 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...... 91 WORKS CITED ...... 94

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THE USE OF CHRISTIAN THEMES AND SYMBOLS IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA AND J. K. ROWLING’S THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – 22: 6

“…A children’s story is the best art-form for something you have to say” – C. S. Lewis, “On Three Ways of Writing for Children” ( 31).

Religion has always been closely intertwined with literature, particularly children’s literature. Naomi Wood explains that religion has played a part in children’s literature, writing that “Ever since the Puritans codified the doctrine that children, no less than adults, need to read the Bible and understand what it says, religion and religious issues have been part of children's literature,” adding that, “Indeed, it could be argued that children's literature as we know it here in the West grew out of the Puritan revolution” (“Children’s Literature and Religion” 1). Wood similarly explains that religion in children’s literature has been used “as a mechanism of social ordering, of setting up hermeneutic categories with which to view the world” (“Children’s Literature and Religion” 1). However, the use of religion in children’s literature has changed over the last 200 years. Craig Werner and Frank P. Riga discuss this change in their article, “The Persistence of Religion in Children's Literature,” noting that in terms of religion, “the questions asked in children's literature have not always been the same”; specifically, they write that “During that long age of didactic children's books,” the questions had “searchable answers” such as “What must I do to enter the kingdom of God?” or “How should I pray?” and the “answers they gave were 2 2 meant to be incontrovertible” (2). Werner and Riga argue, however, that this is no longer true with children’s literature. “Nowadays,” they assert, “the questions raised . . . are of a most disturbing nature, revealing a generous measure of disquiet and skepticism,” such as “Is there a Kingdom of God?” or “Does it do any good to pray?” (2). Today’s questions are “dilemmas they explore” (2). Consequently, they contend that the “questioning modality has shifted radically from the searchable to the searching. The answers modern authors come up with are partial ones, not the full-blown declarations of faith that characterized earlier religious writings for children” (2). The focus is no longer on being didactic, and ensuring, like the Puritans, that children are raised to believe a particular doctrine. Instead, many modern authors readily admit to their young readers that they do not know all of the answers. Werner and Riga further explain this , “Once we thought we knew the answers; now we are not so sure,” that is, “many of today's writers share not only the anxieties of their heroes and heroines, but they also admit fears which authors of an earlier time would never have dreamed of imparting to young minds in need of secure instruction” (2). The biggest change in this shift, according to Werner and Riga, concerns how children are taught to understand themselves, that is “the self:” “Formerly, a person knew himself if he knew his relationship to God . . . This somewhat humbling self-image is nowadays undergoing a transformation;” today, children are “as eager to figure out their own identity as they are to fathom their place in the divine economy” (2). When modern authors incorporate religion in their respective works, they are not necessarily showing or teaching their readers that they must first explore and understand their relationship with God. Rather, many of today’s writers are encouraging their readers to discover their own identity, possibly apart from any belief in God. Whereas “Didactic tales of pious children 3 3 were written to urge the child to grapple with the ways of God and to learn something form that struggle,” today’s religious stories use religion to “promote growth and maturation of a certain kind . . . [while] redefining the understanding and mission of the self” (Werner and Riga 3). It is important to study this shift, and how religion continues to be used in literature. After all, as Jennifer Miskec explains, “when religious imagery is introduced into a story, the story inherits layers of meaning that point back to cultural notions of religion and religious images, power, and adulthood”; that is, “Religion becomes a sign to be read: a symbol of something concrete, abstract, and utilitarian, all at the same time” (257). Wood also argues that “studying [the] ideology” used in literature “can [create] a clearer understanding of values that inform others and that we ourselves are informed by. At the same time, attempting to understand the religious motivations of others can give historical context” (“Children’s Literature and Religion” 2). Studying a piece of literature, and the religious themes and symbolism incorporated within that literature, helps us not only understand authorial intent but also the cultural context of that piece of literature. As Alice Templeton explains in her article, “Literature: Theories for Cultural Criticism,” “literature both expresses existing cultural values and carries them into a new context where they can be understood and evaluated differently. Cultural criticism is alert to the ways in which literary works can appear to reinforce dominant ideology and yet . . . disrupt it” (18 – 19). Templeton further explains that “The experience of a literary text is ‘cultural’ in the sense that it is a dynamic moment which mediates between the individual and social, and between the past and the future;” she continues, “At that moment, existing social relations may be carried forward, critically rejected, or given new expression in various ways” (21). 4 4

One significant example of the shift in the use of religion in children’s literature, and the cultural impact as a result of this shift, can be found when considering the works of C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling. C. S. Lewis used his best-known piece of literary fiction, The Chronicles of Narnia, to teach his young readers about his Christian beliefs. C. S. Lewis followed the didactic approach of his predecessors, in order to help his child-readers discover their “relationship [with] God” and to teach them how to “grapple with the ways of God and to learn something form that struggle” (Werner and Riga 2, 3). The Chronicles of Narnia was C. S. Lewis’s “conscious attempt at Christian education within and for a society that knew about Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice but which Lewis believed had lost the plot, due to Pietism and moralising” (Brazier 765). It makes sense for C. S. Lewis, one of the foremost Christian apologists of the 20th century, to have wanted to teach his beliefs to the next generation – especially because he himself struggled to accept Christianity as a child. However, C. S. Lewis wanted to find a way to teach these beliefs to his readers without proselytizing, as he was worried that blatantly forcing religion on his readers would only cause them to shut down and reject Christianity. C. S. Lewis was able to achieve these ends by creating “a world that teaches children about Christianity outside of a normal religious setting. His mythical stories steeped in Christian ideals present a fresh, magical world that break through normal childhood inhibitions concerning Jesus and the church” (Niedbala 71). In essence, C. S. Lewis used The Chronicles to reinvent “the narrative of Christian teleology while leaving the values untouched” (Wood “ and Found” 256). As a result, C. S. Lewis’s work has been supported and upheld by various Christian groups for decades. In fact, when the new film adaptation of The , the Witch, and the Wardrobe came out in December 2005, Christian groups and churches rallied behind it. Polly Toynbee 5 5 described some of the outreach events organized by various Christian groups: The “Christian radio station Premier is urging churches to hold services on the theme of The Gospel According to Narnia;” the “Methodists have written a special Narnia-themed service;” the Mission America Coalition is “inviting church leaders around the country to consider the ministry opportunity presented by the release of this film,” and current Preisdential candidate, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida is “organising a scheme for every child in his state to read the book;” and , co-producer of the movie, offers a “17-week Narnia Bible study for children” (“Narnia Represents Everything that is most Hateful about Religion”). As Toynbee’s list suggests, Christian groups near and far still love The Chronicles of Narnia and all that it illustrates. Christian parents are comfortable with – and even want – their children reading the novels, because they uphold and teach Christian values, morals and beliefs. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Although C. S. Lewis embodies the didactic approach behind the incorporation of religion in children’s literature, J. K. Rowling, on the other hand, demonstrates the use of religion in literature after the shift toward self-discovery. Instead of only developing one specific doctrine or set of beliefs, as C. S. Lewis does with Narnia, J. K. Rowling encourages her readers to question everything and to find out the truth for themselves. This has led to a lot of pushback from various Christian groups. In fact, according the American Library Association, the Harry Potter series was the number one banned book on the banned book list between 2000 and 2009. Many Christians claimed that they were concerned that Harry Potter encouraged children to pursue and the occult, which is why they wanted the book banned. In an interview with CNN, J. K. Rowling decried these allegations: 6 6

I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft . . . I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children now, and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, 'Ms. Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch.' They see it for what it is . . . It is a world and they understand that completely. I don't believe in magic, either. (“Success of Harry Potter bowls author over”) The real problem, then, isn’t that the Harry Potter series contained elements of magic and witchcraft – in all fairness, so do The Chronicles of Narnia. No, the real problem is that J. K. Rowling uses religion in precisely the manner identified by Werner and Riga: she encourages her readers to seek out their identity, and their own belief system, on their own. This loss of control seems to evoke fear and anxiety that the adolescent reader might reach a different conclusion from their parents or church leaders. Over the course of this thesis, I will analyze the ways in which both authors – C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling – use Christian themes and symbols to convey very different messages to their readers. In the second chapter, I will explore the ways in which C. S. Lewis uses each individual novel in The Chronicles of Narnia to teach his readers about different elements of Christianity. In the third chapter, I will scrutinize how J. K. Rowling uses religion to encourage her readers to seek the truth – their truth – on their own, instead of blindly accepting what they may have been taught. Finally, in the fourth chapter, I will compare and contrast the use of religion – specifically Christian values – promoted in both series in order to demonstrate that these works are not as different, or divided, as they would seem. CHAPTER 2: FROM ASLAN OF NARNIA TO JESUS OF NAZARETH: PROPAGATING RELIGION IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

“But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” – Aslan, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (270).

C. S. Lewis used his most famous literary works, The Chronicles of Narnia, to do more than simply tell stories for the mere entertainment of his child readers. Rather, C. S. Lewis used The Chronicles to present various aspects of Judeo- to his young audience. It was Lewis’s greatest hope that these novels would function as “seeders” for the children that read them – that the stories and characters within them would stay with his readers as they grew older, and that this knowledge would lead to a greater understanding and acceptance of Christianity. George Sayer, C. S. Lewis’s biographer, explains that C. S. Lewis’s idea “was to make it easier for children to accept Christianity when they met it later in life. He hoped that they would be vaguely reminded of somewhat similar stories they had read and enjoyed years before” (318). In fact, Lewis once told Sayer that he was “aiming at a sort of pre-baptism of the child’s imagination” (qtd in Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis 318). C. S. Lewis himself struggled with his faith growing up, and identified as an atheist well into adulthood. Thus, it makes sense for C. S. Lewis, who became one of the 20th century’s foremost Christian apologists, to have wanted to help children overcome their doubt and uncertainties – something he was unable to do as a child. 8 8

In an essay titled, “Sometimes Stories May Say Best What’s To Be Said,” C. S. Lewis explained the creative process behind The Chronicles of Narnia, “Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the as an instrument; then collected information about child – psychology . . . then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out ‘’ to embody them. This is pure moonshine” (Of Other Worlds 36). Instead, C. S. Lewis explains that The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe “began with images; a carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge . . . At first there wasn’t even anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord” (OW 36). However, C. S. Lewis struggled to complete the first novel, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and worked on it over the course of ten years. In a different essay, titled “It All Began with a Picture,” Lewis admitted that the novel was floundering and directionless before the addition of Aslan: “At first I had very little idea how the story would go. But then suddenly Aslan came bounding into it,” adding “I don’t know where the Lion came from or why He came. But once He was there He pulled the whole story together, and He soon pulled the six other Narnian stories in after Him” (OW 42). C. S. Lewis may not have originally planned on writing about Christianity in his novels, but it was only through the inclusion of Christian themes – as embodied by Aslan – that his novels began to take on shape and meaning. This late addition of Aslan to the framework of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe may also serve to answer a question that has been debated since the completion of the novels of Narnia: why were they written and published out of order? The answer may be rather simple: C. S. Lewis didn’t originally intend to write more than one book. It was only after the introduction of Aslan – and all 9 9 that he embodies – that Lewis decided to write more novels about Narnia. It makes sense for C. S. Lewis to have written and published the novels in the order that he did as he was trying to teach his young audience about Christianity in a way that might appeal to them. C. S. Lewis explained that it was hard for him to believe in God as a child, asking “Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or about the sufferings of Christ?” concluding that he “thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings” (OW 37). Lewis found the answer in using , specifically Fairy Tales, where he “saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much” of his “own religion in childhood;” as a result, he wondered if “by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations” could one “make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful ? I thought one could” (OW 37). While C. S. Lewis may not have originally planned on using The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe as a means of propagating his Christian beliefs, he quickly realized the powerful opportunity that using Fairy Tales provided him to do so. C. S. Lewis discovered a way to write about Christianity in a manner that would appeal to his child-readers – he figured out how to “steal past those watchful dragons” by creating an imaginary world accessed by ordinary children through portals, portals that transported them to a fantasy-land created and ruled over by a magnificent lion. This, in turn, allowed C. S. Lewis to teach children about his religious beliefs without making that purpose explicit. Lewis himself stated in 1945, five years before he published his first Narnian novel, that he and his fellow Christians were facing an on-going battle to spread and share their 10 10 beliefs with wide audiences: Lewis explained that you can make people “attend to the Christian point of view for half an hour” but once they leave “they are plunged back into a world where the opposite position is taken for granted” (Christian Apologetics). Instead of writing more books that are blatantly about Christian ideology and themes, Lewis argued that Christian writers should instead create “more little books . . . on other subjects--with their Christianity latent” (Christian Apologetics, emphasis added). This is precisely what C. S. Lewis set out to achieve with his novels about the magical land of Nanria: namely, Lewis created a magical land with latent Christian themes and ideology that allowed him to steal past the “watchful dragons” of his young audience.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (New International Version, Romans 5:8).

C. S. Lewis uses the first novel to explore what he called “supposal.” As P. H. Brazier explains “Lewis’ more formal aim was to explore what he termed a ‘supposal:’ what if Christ became incarnate in the flesh, the physical reality of another world, as part of another sentient life – not another world within our universe, but an entirely different universe, another reality?” (764 – 765). In a letter he wrote to a fifth grade class in Maryland, C. S. Lewis elaborated on this idea, “I said ‘Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen’” (LTC 45). Thus, in essence, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a retelling of the Biblical Christ story: his life, his death and his resurrection. However, in order to make the story more appealing for his child 11 11 audience, C. S. Lewis chose to set it in an imaginary land filled with magic that was ruled over by a magnificent Lion. The beginning of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe finds four ordinary British children – the Pevensies – sent away to the country in order to escape the air-raids going on in . Their adventure into the land of Narnia begins when the youngest Pevensie, Lucy, accidentally stumbles upon a portal – an enchanted wardrobe – that transports her to the snow covered forest of Narnia where she meets a faun by the name of Mr. Tumnus. After treating Lucy to tea, Mr. Tumnus reveals that he is under the command of the , the woman who has “got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter . . . and never Christmas” (LWW 20, emphasis added). Mr. Tumnus has been ordered to bring any children he meets in the forest to the White Witch. Instead, Mr. Tumnus helps Lucy escape back to the enchanted wardrobe. It is clear even this early on in the story that something is dreadfully wrong in the land of Narnia. The creatures live in fear of the White Witch, and long for the return of Aslan, the proper ruler of Narnia. To make matters worse, the White Witch keeps Christmas from coming, and I imagine being stuck in a perpetual winter with no hope of Christmas would be terrible for a child reading the novel to imagine. Here C. S. Lewis is explaining how bad the White Witch really is – it’s similar to telling a child that if they’re naughty Santa will bring them coal on Christmas morning instead of presents. Well, the White Witch is so bad, that she has kept Christmas from even happening. Of course, there is also the religious symbolism surrounding Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, but creating this story for an audience of children, C. S. Lewis was able to introduce the concept of a truly evil being to his young readers in one short line. 12 12

In order to convey and recreate the Christ story, C. S. Lewis needed to introduce the concept of sin and temptation to his readers which he accomplishes through the next youngest Pevensie – Edmund and his relationship with the White Witch. Like Lucy, Edmund is magically transported from the wardrobe to Narnia. However, where Lucy met the friendly Mr. Tumnus, Edmund has the grave misfortune of meeting the White Witch herself. Unbeknownst to the Pevensies, there is a prophecy foretelling the arrival of four children who will bring about the demise of the White Witch: “when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of sit in those four thrones, then it will be the end not only of the White Witch’s reign but of her life” (LWW 89). The White Witch, of course, knows of this prophecy and is determined to do everything within her power to keep it from coming true – even if it means killing or destroying the Pevensies. When the White Witch first encounters Edmund alone in the forest, she immediately tries to persuade him how aligning with her will benefit him. Acting the part of the Temptress, The White Witch befriends Edmund, and promises to make him Prince – and later King – of Narnia after she is gone, but there’s a catch. Edmund must promise to bring his brother, Peter, and sisters, Lucy and Susan, with him when he returns to Narnia. In an effort to encourage Edmund to keep his promise, the White Witch provides Edmund with “enchanted” Turkish Delight that for “anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves;” where “Each piece was sweet and light,” and “Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious” (LWW 38, 39). The reader is told that all Edmund cared about was “trying to shovel down as much of [it] as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted” (LWW 39, 38). C. S. Lewis’s description of the enchanted Turkish Delight, and Edmund’s desire to eat more and more of it is similar to the Bible’s description regarding the 13 13 hazards of sin: “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). C. S. Lewis’s uses the Turkish Delight to depict sin and temptation in a way that his child- readers would understand. What child can’t relate to wanting to eat candy? What child can’t relate to eating so much candy that they have made themselves ill? After eating the enchanted Turkish Delight, Edmund returns to our world with a mission: to bring his siblings to Narnia, and to hand them over to the White Witch. The White Witch – the temptress of Edmund, and the usurper of Narnia – is meant to be the embodiment of the devil. Cathy McSporran explains that the White Witch is modeled on “Lucifer. The villainous White Witch, the ‘false Queen’ of Narnia, is Aslan’s Great Adversary: [she is] the rebellious of Narnia” (“The Kingdom of God, the Republic of Heaven: Depictions of God in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and ’s ”). McSporran also explains that the White Witch is the opposite of Aslan in nearly every way: whereas Aslan is golden, warm and loving she is white “cold and sterile. Those who displease her are not just imprisoned, but frozen . . . she keeps Narnia itself frozen in time” (“The Kingdom of God, the Republic of Heaven: Depictions of God in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials”). The similarities between the White Witch and the devil are made even clearer in her interaction with Edmund which matches the Biblical account of Jesus’s temptation at the hands of the devil in the wilderness: “the devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8 – 9). Jesus’s temptation at the hands of the devil is mirrored in the promises the White Witch gives to Edmund: “I think I would like to make you the Prince [of Narnia] . . . [you] would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long . . . some day, when you bring the others to me” 14 14

(LWW 40). However, where Jesus succeeded in resisting temptation, Edmund failed. Finally, C. S. Lewis demonstrates mankind’s need for a savior through Edmund and Aslan. Unfortunately, Edmund breaks the laws of Deep Magic when he decides to turn traitor, and hand his siblings over to the White Witch. The rules of Deep Magic were written by Aslan’s father, the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, and were literally written in stone on the at Narnia’s conception, and as such, these laws cannot be changed. Despite the fact that Edmund doesn’t know any of this, he is still consumed with guilt and fear at the very mention of Aslan’s name: “At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside . . . Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her . . . Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize it is the beginning of the holidays . . . Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror” (LWW 74 – 75). The guilt Edmund feels over his sin is more than he can bear, so he chooses to run away and seek refuge with the White Witch. However, the White Witch has plans of her own, and desires to make Edmund pay for his betrayal – with his life – as the rules of Deep Magic demand. When Aslan attempts to free Edmund, the White Witch is enraged: “You at least know the Magic the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to kill . . . that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property” (LWW 155 – 156). In desperation, Susan asks Aslan if there is anything he can do, and is further distraught at his answer: “‘Work against the Emperor’s Magic?’ said Aslan, turning to her with something like a frown on his face. And nobody ever made that suggestion to him again” (LWW 156). Even Aslan cannot 15 15 break or undo the Deep Magic created by his Father, the Emperor-Beyond-the- Sea. It would seem as though Edmund is doomed. C. S. Lewis uses the remainder of the novel to teach his young audience about the love and sacrifice of Jesus, the savior he believes they all need, through the actions of Aslan. Edmund, representative of mankind, is unable to save himself and has been sentenced to death. Edmund is only saved after Aslan intercedes with the White Witch on his behalf, and announces that she “has renounced [her] claim on [Edmund’s] blood” (LWW 158). What the Pevensies do not know is that Aslan, like Jesus, has agreed to take the place of the guilty party, to sacrifice his life, even though he has committed no wrong. C. S. Lewis uses Aslan to recreate Jesus’s last night in the Garden of Gethsemane, crucifixion and resurrection. First, Aslan asks his disciples – Lucy and Susan – to keep watch with him before he surrenders himself to the White Witch, asking them to “Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that” just as Jesus asked his friends to “Stay here and keep watch with me” (LWW 164, Matthew 26:38). Aslan next willingly surrenders himself to the White Witch, and his certain death. Despite the fact that Aslan is bound and shaved by the White Witch and her followers, he never resists – even when the White Witch approaches him with a stone knife to end his life: “had the lion chosen, one of those paws could have been the death of them all. But he made no noise . . . one bite from his jaws would have cost two or three of them their hands. But he never moved . . . Aslan looked . . . braver, and more beautiful, and more patient than ever” (LWW 166 – 167). Aslan’s willing sacrifice matches the Biblical account of Jesus’s trial and crucifixion: “Jesus remained silent and gave no answer . . . not even to a single charge” (Mark 14:61, Matthew 27:14). 16 16

Aslan, like Jesus, paid the price to save those he loves, and like Jesus, Aslan is able to defeat death itself. The next morning, Lucy and Susan are grieving the loss of Aslan when they hear “a loud noise – a great cracking, deafening noise as if a had broken a giant’s plate . . . The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan . . . They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had ever seen him before, shaking his mane . . . stood Aslan himself” (LWW 176 – 178). Lucy and Susan don’t understand what has happened, and think that Aslan may be a ghost. Aslan explains that there was a Deeper Magic at work: “though the witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different ” (LWW 178 – 179). Aslan explains that the Deeper Magic allowed him to defeat death itself: “She would have known that when a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward” (LWW 179). This reflects the Biblical accounts of Jesus’s death and resurrection: “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom . . . [and] the rocks split” (Matthew 27:51). Aslan, like Jesus, has been able to defeat death by willingly sacrificing himself, and has destroyed the White Witch’s one real weapon as she can no longer claim the blood of traitors. P. H. Brazier explains it this way: “Aslan’s sacrifice . . . represents the overwhelming love of the absolute supreme, transcendent God, who comes in infinite humility, meekness and modesty in Jesus Christ, gives himself to humanity in unconditional freedom and grace, despite the venomous hatred that humanity/creation heaped on him on the cross/stone table” (769). 17 17

With Aslan’s help, the Pevensies lead the true Narnians in a war against the White Witch. Aslan himself vanquishes the usurping White Witch, and fulfills the ancient Narnian prophecy by making the four Pevensie children kings and queens of Narnia. Of course, because this is a fairytale, the Pevensies couldn’t stay in Narnia permanently, so many years later they accidentally stumble back through the enchanted wardrobe. Despite the fact that they are back in the real world, they still have all of their memories from Narnia. One of the final questions asked in the novel, that perhaps exemplifies what the novel is all about is: “‘Does he [Edmund] know,’ whispered Lucy to Susan, ‘what Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was? . . . Oughtn’t he be told?’” (197). Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, C. S. Lewis included Lucy’s questions about Aslan in order to teach his readers about Jesus: “Do you know . . . what Jesus did for you? Do you really know what the arrangement with the devil really was? Oughtn’t you to be told?” C. S. Lewis uses his first Narnia novel to teach his readers to “explore and understand their relationship with God” (Werner and Riga 2).

Prince Caspian (1951) “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13).

Prince Caspian, the second book C. S. Lewis wrote and published for the Narnia series, picks up exactly where The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe leaves off. However, the focus of this book is different from that of its predecessor. Where The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is a retelling of the Christ story, Prince Caspian focuses on the struggles surrounding faith. As Mr. 18 18

Beaver warns the Pevensies at the end of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, “One day you’ll see him [Aslan] and another you won’t . . . It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in” (LWW 200). C. S. Lewis knew that his readers might someday struggle with their faith or belief in God who, like Aslan, may seem to come and go, especially if they are surrounded by others who do not believe in God. His solution was to write a novel that dealt with these very issues; however, instead of explicitly making the novel about maintaining one’s faith in God, Lewis instead depicts the fear and doubt of the Pevensies as they struggle to find and follow Aslan. Prince Caspian takes place one year after the conclusion of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The four Pevensie children are magically summoned back to Narnia by Prince Caspian, who desperately needs their help. The Pevensies quickly realize that while only one year has passed in their world, thousands of years have gone by in Narnia, leaving it barely recognizable. Narnia has been taken over by people descended from pirates called the . The Telmarines have driven the vanquished Narnians and talking beasts into hiding; in fact, it has been so long that many of the talking beasts have gone dumb, and can no longer speak. The Telmarines have allowed the forests to grow out of control in order to block access to the sea. As Prince Caspian’s teacher explains, despite the fact the Telmarines are descended from pirates and were known for their seafaring, “[They] are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all stories Aslan comes from over the sea” (Prince Caspian 56). The Telmarines have also rewritten the history of Narnia, and teach that stories of old – the stories of Aslan, the talking beasts, and the Golden Rule of the Pevensies – are nothing more than . Even many of the remaining Narnians no longer believe 19 19 in the existence of Aslan. This is the Narnia that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy have been brought back to rescue. Prince Caspian, the rightful king of Narnia, has been usurped by his wicked uncle, King , and is forced to run away from his home in order to save his life. Despite the fact that he is Telmarine, Caspian has always been drawn to the Old Stories of Narnia, and his teacher, Cornelius, hopes that when Caspian is able to reclaim his throne that he will “be a King like the Peter of old” (PC 55). Caspian promises to help the remaining Narnians when he reclaims his throne. Due to this promise, the remaining Narnians rally to Caspian’s side. However, even among the remaining Narnians there is debate as to the existence of Aslan: I tell you, we don’t change, we beasts, said Trufflehunter. We don’t forget. I believe in the High King Peter and the rest that reigned at Cair Paravel, as firmly as I believe in Aslan himself . . . But who believes in Aslan nowadays? I do, said Caspian . . . Do you believe in Aslan? I’ll believe in anyone or anything . . . that’ll batter these cursed Telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of Narnia. Anyone or anything, Aslan or the White Witch. (PC 72, 80, emphasis original) This is the world that the four Pevensies, with their new faith in Aslan are brought back into, a world that questions the very existence of Aslan, a world where some would gladly follow the White Witch herself, if she would give them what they wanted. It’s no wonder that their faith would be tested. The faith of the combined Pevensies is tested when they must decide which path they are to take to get to Caspian: will they take the more difficult path up the 20 20 gorge, or will they take the easier path and travel down the ravine? While her siblings are debating the plausible merits of both options, Lucy sees Aslan standing at the top of the gorge. Lucy immediately tells her brothers and sister that Aslan wants them to go “up, not down. Just the opposite of the way you want to go . . . he wanted us to go where he was – up there” (PC 132). Unfortunately for Lucy, no one else saw Aslan appear at the top of the gorge. As their companion, explains “There are in these woods . . . it needn’t have been a friendly and talking lion” (PC 132). Susan similarly complains that “none of us except you (Lucy) saw anything” (PC 134, emphasis original). Vigen Guroian explains why Lucy was able to see Aslan when the others were not: “Lucy sees and hears first because her yearning for Aslan is the purest. Lucy sees his glory because her heart wants to be obedient to him” (60). When the Pevensies decide to vote whether or not to follow the gorge up or down, Susan, Peter and Trumpkin all vote to take the easier path downward because they must do one or the other and they’re all “dead tired” (PC 133). The only Pevensie who takes Lucy’s side is Edmund, for as he explains “When we first discovered Narnia a year ago . . . it was Lucy who discovered it first and none of us would believe her . . . Yet she was right after all. Wouldn’t it be fair to believe her this time? I vote for going up” (PC 134). Regrettably, Lucy and Edmund are outvoted, and the group decides to travel down the gorge. Lucy feels hurt and betrayed by the rest of the group but, like many of C. S. Lewis’s readers who may be afraid of expressing or following their own beliefs, she is unwilling to actively stand up to them and follow the path upwards by herself. C. S. Lewis uses Lucy and her interaction with Aslan to teach his readers the importance of always maintaining and following one’s beliefs – even when others disagree with them. This is best demonstrated in the interaction between 21 21

Lucy and Aslan when they are reunited for the first time in Narnia. Aslan cuts his joyful reunion with Lucy short by reminding her that she has work to do, and that “much time has already been lost” (PC 148). At first, Lucy tries to defend herself: “wasn’t it a shame? . . . I saw you all right. [The others] wouldn’t believe me . . . it wasn’t my fault . . . was it? . . . I couldn’t have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? . . . But what would have been the good?” (PC 149). Aslan stops Lucy’s excuses in a way only a lion can, “From somewhere deep inside Aslan’s body there came . . . a growl” (PC 149). Aslan rebukes Lucy for choosing not to follow him when she knew she had seen the path he wanted them to take. At first it seems unjust – even mean – for Aslan to growl at Lucy, a 9 year old girl, for choosing not to act out of her fear and uncertainty. Yet, as Aslan explains, her fear “doesn’t matter,” because “If anyone . . . knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is a sin” (PC 150, James 4:17). Realizing that she should have followed Aslan even if the others didn’t, Lucy apologizes and promises that she is ready now: “Lucy buried her head in his mane . . . there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her . . . ‘Now you are a lioness,’ said Aslan” (PC 150). With a new sense of urgency and purpose, Lucy goes to awake the others and insists that they come with her to Aslan – or she will be forced to leave them behind. Vigen Guroian explains that “This time [Lucy] follows [Aslan]. And the rest follow her even though they do not see or hear him . . . By obedience Peter, Susan, Edmund, and even the skeptic Trumpkin eventually catch sight of Aslan and hear his roar. And with that roar Aslan awakens all of sleeping Narnia. This seals the triumph of goodness over evil in Narnia” (Guroian 60). The Pevensies are finally able to help Aslan free Narnia from the Telmarines, and restore Prince Caspian to his rightful throne. 22 22

C. S. Lewis uses the struggles of the Pevensies to teach his audience about the importance of protecting and growing their faith. C. S. Lewis is able to achieve this through the interactions the characters have with each other and with Aslan. The Pevensies, and even many of the Narnians, struggle to believe that Aslan is real simply because they are unable to see him. Initially, only Lucy is able to see Aslan, and when she tries to explain what she has seen the others are unable or unwilling to believe her. When Lucy is first reunited with Aslan, he rebukes her for not following his directions simply because the others did not believe her. Once Lucy is willing to act in accordance with Aslan’s plans, the others are finally able to see Aslan. Lucy – and hopefully by extension Lewis’s readers – learns the importance of following your beliefs, even when others doubt them.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

C. S. Lewis uses his third Narnia novel to teach his readers to rely on God. Lewis doesn’t use this novel to blatantly preach to his audience about his beliefs; instead, Lewis teaches Lucy, Edmund, Caspian and Eustace to follow the subtle guidance offered by Aslan. Lewis also uses Aslan to teach his characters, and hopefully by extension his audience, about the dangers of greed, selfishness and envy. The main lesson that Edmund and Lucy learn over the course of the novel is to pay attention to the guidance subtly offered by Aslan. As Peter Schakel explains in his article, “Hidden Images of Christ in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis,” 23 23

Aslan “empowers, encourages, restrains and guards the children, filling more of a spiritual than a physical role” and despite the fact that the children are only aware of his presence occasionally, “he actually seems to be present in a protective, albeit invisible way, even though they are not conscious of his proximity” (9). Schakel also explains that Aslan becomes increasingly withdrawn from Narnia: “Just as Christ in the Gospels increasingly turned over responsibility to his disciples, so does Aslan, following his resurrection” (9). Aslan appears to Edmund and Lucy in their moments of need or temptation. For instance, Lucy sees images of Aslan when she looks through the ’s Book, and finds a spell to make the speaker of the spell exceedingly beautiful. While Lucy pictures herself being the beautiful one of the family – as opposed to her older sister Susan – and decides that she “will say the spell” she suddenly sees “the great face of a lion, of The Lion, Aslan himself, staring into hers . . . she knew the expression on his face quite well. He was growling and you could see most of his teeth. She became horribly afraid and turned over the page at once” (Voyage of the Dawn Treader 165). Lucy heeds the warning Aslan sends to her, and is so able to avoid temptation. Edmund has a similar experience when he and Caspian begin arguing over who is really in charge – Edmund as one of Narnia’s ancient sovereigns or Caspian as Narnia’s current king – as whoever is in control will also be able to claim possession of the magical pool of water that transforms whatever is dipped in it into solid gold. Caspian and Edmund nearly enter into a physical brawl when they see “the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen . . . they knew it was Aslan” (VDT 136). Edmund and Caspian immediately make peace with one another, and agree to never return to the pool of magic water that they decide to name Deathwater. Through Aslan, C. S. Lewis teaches his readers about the danger of vanity, greed and jealousy. What might have happened to Lucy if she 24 24 had said the spell to make herself more beautiful? Would she have become a silly young woman like her sister Susan, who we later learn is no longer a friend of Narnia? Edmund and Caspian almost come to blows due to their greed, what might this have meant for their friendship and for Narnia? Thankfully, Aslan intercedes and the children heed his warning. C. S. Lewis’s characters also learn to rely on Aslan, even in the midst of their greatest fear and anguish. While sailing to the Dark Island, the ship the children are traveling on is engulfed in darkness, and the characters fear that they will never find their way out again when Lucy whispers, “‘Aslan, Aslan, if you ever loved us at all, send us help now.’ The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little . . . better” (VDT 200). While Lucy prays for Aslan’s guidance a “tiny speck of light” appeared and Lucy “looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross . . . it was right overhead and was an albatross . . . [it] began to fly slowly ahead . . . it offered good guidance . . . it had whispered to her, ‘Courage, dear heart,’ and the voice, she felt sure was Aslan’s” (VDT 200 – 201). In the midst of her distress, Lucy cries out to Aslan to help sustain her faith. It makes sense for C. S. Lewis to describe Lucy’s greatest point of despair as occurring in the midst of great and inescapable darkness, as many children are afraid of the dark. The depiction of being lost and trapped in darkness, and being led out by Aslan also reflects what Jesus once told his followers, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Lucy cries out to Aslan for help and she is rewarded for her faith when Aslan leads Lucy and her companions out of the darkness. The biggest lesson C. S. Lewis offers his readers in this novel is that it isn’t possible for the individual to achieve true character change and redemption 25 25 independently. In order to relay this lesson to his audience, C. S. Lewis transforms Eustace into a . The use of functions on two levels: on one level, it is a manifestation of Eustace’s inner ugliness; on a second level, dragons would have appealed to the imagination of his readers more than a story about a little boy who simply realized that he wasn’t very nice, and decides to change his behavior. When Eustace is first introduced he is described as having no friends and as someone who “liked bossing and bullying,” and who Edmund describes as “that record stinker” (VDT 2, 3). His negative personality traits lead to disaster when Eustace decides to sneak off in order to avoid hard work and helping the others. Eustace’s laziness and greed come to a head when “sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself” (VDT 97). It is only after Eustace has been transformed into a dragon that he realizes what a horrible person he has been: “He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nicer person as he had always supposed . . . [and] an appalling loneliness came over him” (VDT 98). At first, Eustace attempts to find a way to turn himself back into boy, by removing his dragon skin and bathing in the clear water of a well. However, every time he tries to step into “the water [he] looked down and saw that they [his feet] were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before” (VDT 115). After trying to cleanse himself several times Aslan speaks to Eustace: “You will have to let me undress you” (VDT 115). Eustace explains that he was “afraid of [Aslan’s] claws . . . but [he] was pretty nearly desperate now. So [he] just lay flat on [his] back to let him do it” (VDT 115). Eustace goes on to explain the entire process to the other characters: “The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt . . . he peeled the beastly stuff right off . . . And there I was 26 26

. . . I’d turned into a boy again . . . After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . in new clothes” (VDT 115 – 117). C. S. Lewis uses Eustace to teach his readers that it is not possible for individuals to truly change or restore themselves; rather, they will need the help and guidance of someone else or something else. In this instance, Eustace needs the help and guidance of Aslan, Aslan who C. S. Lewis was hoping his child readers would later recognize as Jesus Christ. As the novel concludes, C. S. Lewis sums up the purpose behind the novels of Narnia. After Eustace’s drastic transformation, Caspian and his crew fulfill their by reaching the World’s End and the entrance to Aslan’s Country. It is at this point that they encounter a white lamb who feeds them fish before transforming into Aslan. Peter Schakel explains that this was a direct allusion to Christ, who is often depicted or described as the Lamb of God. Schakel argues that C. S. Lewis used this allusion as a riddle for his child-readers: “Peter and four other disciples, after a night of fishing, come to the shore where Jesus has prepared a meal of roasted fish. After they eat it, Jesus asks Peter, ‘Do you truly love me?’ and when Peter replies that he does, Jesus says, ‘Feed my lambs.’ [This] passage uses allusion as a type of riddle: [the children] who do not know the answer must read further to discover the full meaning” (9 – 10). P. H. Brazier argues that in all reality, Aslan and Jesus are meant to be the same person: “Aslan is not meant to be a separate incarnation from Jesus Christ . . . they are rather one and the same. They differ only in . . . the form taken – the form of a man or the form of a lion, – in each case, a form appropriate to its created environment” (765). C. S. Lewis never intended to write more than three novels about Narnia, which is why he uses the end of this book to make some of these connections for his readers. C. S. Lewis also takes this moment to explain the entire purpose behind The Chronicles of Narnia: in our world Aslan has “another name. You must learn to know [him] 27 27 by that name. this was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing [him] here for a little, you may know [him] better there” (VDT 270). Now that Edmund and Lucy, and by extension all of C. S. Lewis’s readers, know Aslan, they will not be coming back to Narnia; instead, they must learn to recognize his other form in our world. They will just need to remember Aslan’s words to Lucy, “I have been here all the time . . . but you [must make] me visible” (VDT 169 – 170). C. S. Lewis is urging his child-readers “to grapple with the ways of God” in order “to learn something from the struggle” (Werner and Riga 3). In this case, C. S. Lewis is showing his audience that they must seek out and find Aslan’s real name, just as Edmund and Lucy must learn Aslan’s real name in order to make him visible within their own world.

The Silver Chair (1953) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16 – 17).

C. S. Lewis hadn’t originally planned on writing more novels about Narnia, especially once the Pevensies had grown up and become too old to remain in Narnia. However, C. S. Lewis found that he had more to share with his young readers, and so and his friend make an unexpected visit to Narnia. Aslan sends Eustace and Jill on a quest to locate and free the long lost Prince of Narnia, . In order to be successful on their journey, however, Aslan shares with them specific signs. Aslan advises Jill to meditate on the signs constantly: “Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever 28 28 strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs . . . it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters” ( 25 – 26). , a C. S. Lewis scholar, explains that “The instructions Aslan gives Eustace and Jill on how to discover Prince Rilian is meant . . . to reinforce the importance of following Christ’s commandments” (16). C. S. Lewis is subtly teaching his readers about the importance of following God’s commands. However, instead of simply telling his readers to read the Bible, he shows them what happens when Jill fails to remember or follow the signs given to her by Aslan. Jill’s inability to meditate on and repeat the signs to herself – as suggested by Aslan – leads to problems. The quest winds up being more difficult than Jill and Eustace were expecting which causes them to become exhausted and discouraged: “They never talked about Aslan, or even about the lost prince now. And Jill gave up her habit of repeating the signs over to herself every night and morning. She said to herself, at first, that she was too tired, but she soon forgot all about it” (SC 94 – 95). At one point, Jill is asked point blank what the rest of the signs were, and if she was sure she had remembered them correctly. Overcome with guilt Jill says, “Oh, come on! Bother the signs . . . I’m jolly well not going to give a recitation here” (SC 103, emphasis original). The narrator goes on to explain that this “question annoyed [Jill] because, deep down inside her, she was already annoyed with herself for not knowing the Lion’s lesson quite so well as she felt she ought to have known it” (SC 103). Jill’s unwillingness to repeat Aslan’s signs every day, as she knows she should, leads to near-disaster when they are pointed in the direction of . 29 29

Jill and Eustace encounter the who, as it turns out, is the very witch who has kidnapped and enchanted Prince Rilian – the man they’re supposed to be saving. Their desire for rest and comfort causes them to fall easily into the witch’s trap when she sends them to the “Gentle Giants of Harfang” for their Autumn Feast. As anyone with stories of giants should know, giants like to eat little children! However, Jill and Eustace mistake the care the Giants are treating them with for niceties – when, in reality, the Giants are merely trying to ensure that they’re plumped up in time for their Autumn Feast. This, of course, is precisely what the Lady of the Green Kirtle wanted – Jill and Eustace out of the way. She couldn’t have them interfering in her plans to conquer Narnia from underground with the help of her enslaved Gnomes. Thankfully, however, Aslan appears to Jill in a dream and reveals that the third sign she has forgotten is right outside the Giants’ castle. With this new information, Jill and Eustace plan their escape, and none too soon, as the Giants are preparing for the Autumn Feast that is to take place the next evening – as indicated by the disturbing cookbooks Jill find in the kitchen: “MAN. This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy. It forms a traditional part of the Autumn Feast, and is served between the fish and the joint” (SC 135). Jill and Eustace escape from the castle of the Giants, and make it to the underground kingdom as Aslan’s sign had directed them. Now they were in for their real test: a battle of ideology against the Queen of . When Jill and Eustace break Prince Rilian free of his enchantment, the Queen of Underland places them all under a new enchantment and attempts to convince them that there is no world above Underland, that there is no sun, no grass, no sky, no Narnia, and no Aslan. This interaction seems to be a miniature lesson in the art of Christian apologetics. How does one describe things that someone has never heard of or 30 30 seen before? How can someone hold to their faith when the rest of the world claims it can’t possibly be true? When Rilian tries to describe the sun as a lamp, and Eustace tries to explain that Aslan is a lion which is like a large cat, the Queen simply replies, “I see . . . you have seen lamps, and so you have imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun. You’ve seen cats, and now you want a bigger and better cat, and it’s to be called a lion. Well, ‘tis pretty make-believe” (SC 188, emphasis original). Of course, the Queen of Underland has an unfair advantage as she has cast a spell over Eustace and Jill, who are unable to resist the enchantment long enough to think of valid reasons to counter the Queen’s feigned disbelief. Thankfully, however, their reliable companion, Puddlegum the Marsh- wiggle, was able to resist the enchantment long enough to stamp the Queen’s fire into ashes, and exclaim “Suppose we have only dreamed . . . all those things . . . then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones . . . I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live like a Narnian . . . even if there isn’t any Narnia” (SC 190 – 191). With Puddlegum’s declaration of faith in Aslan, the enchantment is broken, and Prince Rilian is able to kill the Queen of Underland once and for all. Prince Rilian becomes King of Narnia, and Jill and Eustace return home to England. Everything that happens to Jill and Eustace on their journey prove the importance of meditating on Aslan’s signs. Philip Graham Ryken explains this story illustrates “the importance and challenge of Holy Scripture in the Christian life – of memorizing Bible verses, spending time in God’s Word every day, and putting what it says into practice” (“C. S. Lewis on Holy Scripture”). However, their journey also underscores a second lesson: how to maintain your faith when everything in your life becomes clouded and confused. When Jill first meets Aslan, she is very thirsty. Aslan offers Jill a drink from the stream he 31 31 is standing over, but she is too afraid to approach Aslan. At first she asks Aslan if he wouldn’t mind “going away” while she takes a drink, Aslan responds with a growl. Next Jill nervously asks if Aslan eats girls. Aslan’s affirmative response only serves to frighten Jill more, so she asks if there might be another stream. Aslan explains that “There is no other stream,” and if she is unwilling to drink from it “Then [she] will die of thirst” (SC 21). Jill finally decides that it is worth the risk and “knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once” (SC 21). This is an allusion to Jesus’s words in John 4:14, “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Similar to the depiction of Eustace being baptized by Aslan in the well in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Jill’s drinking from Aslan’s stream indicates that she is now a follower of Aslan. Aslan immediately warns Jill to be wary, and to learn the signs he has given her my heart: “I give a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down in Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind” (SC 25 – 26). In all reality, Jill and Eustace’s journey in The Silver Chair is a warning for C. S. Lewis’s reader: learn and meditate on what the Bible says, and cling to this when things become difficult. If you don’t, you can easily be led astray – just like the Lady of the Green Kirtle tricks, and almost defeats, Jill and Eustace. After all, as the narrator asks concerning Eustace and Jill, “what had been the use of learning the signs if they weren’t going to obey them?” (SC 175). This can easily be directed to C. S. Lewis’s audience: “What had been the use of reading God’s word, if you aren’t going to follow it, anyway?” 32 32

The Horse and His Boy (1954) “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

This novel is C. S. Lewis’s version of the Cinderella story. A poor, mistreated boy discovers he’s really the son of king, and his entire life changes for the better. However, this Cinderella-like story conceals C. S. Lewis’s real message: the idea of Divine Providence. C. S. Lewis’s readers learn – along with – that Aslan has been watching over and providing for Shasta since he was a baby, long before Shasta had even heard of Aslan or Narnia. The story opens with Shasta, the mistreated son of a poor fisherman, overhearing his father entering into a deal to sell him to a wealthy lord. Distraught at this parental betrayal, Shasta decides to steal the lord’s horse and run away before he can be sold into slavery. As luck would have it, , the horse Shasta stole, is a Narnian horse – one of the talking beasts. Bree tells Shasta all about Narnia, and how much better life is there, so that’s where they decide to go. Along the way, they are chased by a lion that forces them to join forces with another set of runaways – , who is fleeing form an arranged marriage, and her talking Narnian horse, . Together, they formulate a plan for getting around the great city, Tashbaan, undetected. Unfortunately, Shasta is mistaken for Corin, the Prince of Archenland, and is intercepted by the kings and queens of Narnia – the Pevensies themselves. Eventually the real Corin shows up, and Shasta is able to go wait for his comrades among the tombs outside of the city. While Shasta tries to sleep that night, he has strange and disturbing dreams, and awakes to discover “something warm lying at his feet . . . what was now lying at 33 33 his feet, and staring him out of countenance with its big, green, unwinking eyes, was [a] cat warmth from it spread all over him” (Horse and His Boy 95 – 96). While Shasta waits out the night alone among the tombs, Aravis overhears , the son of the Tisroc, plan to invade neighboring Archenland, who will be unprepared for war. This will force the armies of Archenland’s ally, Narnia, to join battle in Archenland, which will leave Narnia vulnerable. Rabadash’s real plan is to defeat and control Narnia in order to seek revenge for Queen Susan’s rejection of his marriage proposal. With little time to lose, Aravis rushes to find Shasta and tells him what she has overheard. They decide that they must make for Narnia at once, in order to warn the Narnians of Rabadash’s plan. While on the way to Narnia, Aravis and Shasta are again chased by a lion, but this time the lion slapped at Aravis and tore her shoulders. Due to Aravis’s injury, Shasta is forced to go on alone. When Shasta becomes lost in the fog, he senses someone, or something, walking along beside him. When Shasta asks who is with him he hears Aslan answer: “Myself” (HHB 176). Aslan goes on to reveal that he has been with Shasta since the beginning: “I was the lion who forced you to join Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead . . . I was the lion who gave the Horses . . . new strength . . . And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to share where a man sat . . . to receive you” (HHB 176 – 177). Despite the fact that Shasta has no prior knowledge of Aslan, he immediately realizes that the Lion walking beside him is worthy of his respect, gratitude and homage: “And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion . . . But after one glance at the Lion’s face he slipped out of his saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn’t say anything but then he . . . knew he needn’t say anything” (HHB 177). Lewis uses 34 34

Shasta to demonstrate omnipotence of God – he has been with Shasta, and in control of what has happened to Shasta, since he was an abandoned infant near death. Aslan has been with Shasta every step of the way, and has led him to his destiny – the plans that Aslan had for him all along. With Aslan’s help, Shasta and Aravis are able to help save Archenland and Narnia from Rabadash. Shasta also discovers that he is Cor, the long lost twin of Corin, and that he is the rightful heir of Archenland. Shasta learns that Aslan has been protecting and watching over him from the very beginning, even when everything seemed to be wrong and unfair. C. S. Lewis hoped that his readers would see the similarities between Aslan and Jesus as they grew older, and that they would come to trust and believe in God in the same way Shasta had come to trust and believe in Aslan.

The Magician’s Nephew and (1955, 1956) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13).

I have lumped The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle together for a couple of reasons. The first reason for this decision being that C. S. Lewis wrote the novels concurrently. The second, and perhaps the greater of the two reasons, is that C. S. Lewis’s aim with both novels was one and the same: to make the Judeo-Christian stories surrounding the creation of the world, and the prophecies foretelling its destruction, palatable to children. C. S. Lewis decided to wrap up the series by writing the two novels that should have bookended the set. In The Magician’s Nephew, C. S. Lewis allegorically presents the story of creation through the perspective of and Polly Plummer. Digory and 35 35

Polly are tricked into using magic rings created by Digory’s eccentric uncle, Andrew. As a result, Digory and Polly wind up in a Wood between worlds that functions as a giant portal where they can enter and exit other worlds. Unfortunately, this leads them to . Charn is a dying world where they find a room filled with statues surrounding an enchanted bell with the following inscription: “Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had” (MN 56). Naomi Wood explains the consequences of Digory’s choice to ring the bell: “Digory’s desire for knowledge, indeed, is his initial ‘sin:’ waking Jadis . . . is the product of curiosity, the same curiosity that leads him to become a “famous professor” later in life . . . Digory, however, is made to recognize that his action was indeed a sin, particularly since it resulted in the tainting of Narnia on the very day of its birth” (“Paradise Lost and Found” 247). Like the Biblical account of , Digory is unable to bear his curiosity at what he might learn, and so decides to ring the enchanted bell. Unfortunately, this awakens the greatest evil Narnia will ever know, Empress Jadis, who will later become the White Witch. Jadis follows Digory and Polly back to their world where she immediately causes destruction, and threatens to destroy London and “make it as Charn . . . when [she has] conquered [their] world” (MN 111). Desperate to get her out of London, Digory and Polly sneak up on her, grab her ankle, and put on their magic rings. Unfortunately, Polly, Digory, and Jadis – along with Uncle Andrew and a Cabby – wind up in Narnia just as Aslan is singing it into existence. While the children watch, Aslan creates Narnia and all of its inhabitants through his singing voice. This reflects the description of the creation of the world in Genesis 1, when God spoke the world into existence. All of the characters present respond differently to the sound of Aslan’s voice: “The Cabby and the two children had 36 36 open mouths and shining eyes; they were drinking in the sound” (MN 118). Uncle Andrew and Jadis, however, did not like the sound of Aslan’s voice, “Uncle Andrew . . . If he could have got away from it . . . he would have done so. But the witch looked as if, in a way, she understood the music . . . Ever since the song began she had felt that this whole world was filled with a Magic different from hers and stronger. She hated it. She would have smashed that whole world” (MN 118 – 119). C. S. Lewis uses Aslan and Jadis to explain the creation of the world, and how evil came into existence. Just as God is said to have spoken the world into existence, Aslan sings creation into existence: his song brings forth living creatures, plants and even the sun and clouds. Jadis fulfills the role of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and is able to convince Diggory to ring the bell in Charn, just as the serpent tempted Adam and Eve. Jadis, like the devil figure of the Bible, will ultimately become the greatest evil and threat that Narnians will have to face. Once Aslan has finished creating Narnia, he sends Digory on a quest to find a special apple from a magical garden. Aslan explains that Digory must do this in order to make up for the evil he has unwittingly brought into Narnia at the moment of its birth. While on his way back from picking the special apple, Digory encounters Jadis who, much like the devil in the Garden of Eden, tries to convince Digory to eat the apple himself: “You simpleton! Do you know what that fruit is? I will tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life. I know, for I have tasted it . . . I know I shall never grow old or die. Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and be king and queen of this whole world” (MN 192). Digory is able to resist the temptation to eat the apple, and brings it to Aslan who plants a magical tree that will protect Narnia from Jadis, as she will not be able to bear being around the tree now that she has eaten from it. 37 37

Before Aslan sends Polly and Digory back to London, Aslan rewards Digory for his obedience by allowing him to take an extra apple home with him for his sick mother. The apple heals Digory’s mother, and he plants its core in the backyard. Digory later uses wood from that magical apple tree to build the wardrobe that the Pevensies use to go to and from Narnia in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. C. S. Lewis also takes a moment to explain how the lamppost that encounters on her first trip from Narnia – it was made from a broken iron bar that Jadis had taken from a London lamppost after she had thrown it at Aslan. C. S. Lewis was able to tell the creation story in a way that appealed to children as it involved talking animals, a singing lion, an evil witch and stupid adults. In The Last Battle, C. S. Lewis allegorically describes the prophecies spelled out in the Biblical book of Revelation. It starts with a wicked ape, Shift, taking advantage of his donkey friend, Puzzle. Shift convinces Puzzle to dress up in a lion’s skin he has found, so that they can claim he is Aslan. As a result, Puzzle unintentionally becomes the figure of the anti-Christ, as he follows all of Shift’s orders. Shift is only looking out for himself, and makes treaties with Narnia’s historical enemy, the , and forces Narnians into pseudo slavery to the Calormen lords. Even worse, Shift allows the Calormen to chop down some of the dancing trees. When King hears what is happening in Narnia, he tries to do the right thing, but he too is fooled by Puzzle in his lion’s skin. Things go from bad to worse – everyone first excuses “Aslan’s” strange behavior by repeating the epithet that has been used to describe him since the first novel – that he is not a tame lion. Walter Hooper explains that “The Ape almost – almost – succeeds in deceiving even the most faithful followers of Aslan. First through trickery and, later . . . [through] the confusion of Aslan and the devil as 38 38

‘Tashlan.’ As the monkey Shift is a parody of man, so his theology is a parody of the truth” (19). As Shift explains when other Narnians begin to complain, “Aslan says he’s been far too soft with you before . . . He’s going to lick you into shape this time. He’ll teach you to think he’s a tame lion!” (LB 36, emphasis added). Shift uses lies, trickery and confusion to effectively takeover and pervert Narnia. When King Tirian realizes what Shift has done, Shift has him arrested. Tirian cries out for Aslan and the previous friends of Narnia to come to their rescue. Eventually, all of the original British children – with the exception of Susan, who is “no longer a friend of Narnia” – arrive, but it isn’t to save Narnia from destruction. Rather, it is revealed that all of the British friends of Narnia have died in a train accident, and that Narnia is the portal through which they will enter Aslan’s Country. The way to Aslan’s country from Narnia is through a stable door, which, of course, is meant to be an allusion to the birth of Christ, as Queen Lucy explains, “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world” (LB 177). While the friends of Narnia watch, Aslan wakes Father Time, and the stars fall from the sky. All of the good Narnians are brought into Aslan’s Country, while the bad creatures are left to suffer through the destruction of Narnia. C. S. Lewis ends this last book of the series by explaining that all of the good Narnians “lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story . . . which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (LB 228). C. S. Lewis uses The Last Battle to teach his readers not only about the destruction of the world as outlined in the book of Revelation, but also to teach them of the promise of eternity through Jesus Christ. 39 39

Conclusion

Lewis was hoping that his Narnia novels would capture the imagination of his readers, and prepare them to accept and love Jesus as adults. This is an experience that C. S. Lewis had himself as a young man after reading George MacDonald’s , “That night my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptised; the rest of me, not unnaturally, took longer” ( 181). C. S. Lewis hoped that these novels would function as a type of “pre-baptism” in the sense that they would later recognize the qualities they loved about Aslan in Jesus Christ, and that their love for Aslan would make Jesus “visible” in their lives. C. S. Lewis practiced what he said Christian authors needed to do in order to spread their messages effectively: he created novels which contained latent Christian themes and messages. As Ruth Berman writes, C. S. Lewis fixated on using the fairy-tale as it “allow[ed] him to write about religious themes in a way that would not be obviously religious and so would let him avoid the unfortunate effect obviously religious writing can have on readers by seeming to demand a religious response as a duty and thus not allowing the readers to form their responses freely” (117 – 118). In fact, C. S. Lewis did this so effectively that some of his young fans became concerned that they had become idol-worshipers, because they felt as though they loved Aslan more than they loved Jesus. C. S. Lewis calmly explained in a letter to the mother of one such concerned fan that her son “can’t really love Aslan more than Jesus . . . For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said. So that when [he] thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus: and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before” (LTC 52). In his book, Into the Wardrobe, David Downing recounts a similar story of a little boy from who was so desperate to get to 40 40

Narnia that he used an axe to chop a hole in the back of the family’s wardrobe in an effort to find his way into Aslan’s Country (35). C. S. Lewis was able to create a fantastical world, filled with magical elements and characters, and a magnificent lion his readers, like little Lucy Pevensie, couldn’t help but love. How many of his readers ended up transferring their love of Aslan to Jesus Christ, we may never know, but I do know that there are many children and adults alike who, like that little boy from Oxford, are still searching for their own magical wardrobe.

CHAPTER 3: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOLDEN SNITCH: SEEKING TO RECLAIM LOST FAITH IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7 – 8)

While C. S. Lewis’s work, The Chronicles of Narnia, has enjoyed the support of Christians from around the globe, the same cannot be said for J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. Instead of following the more didactic approach offered by C. S. Lewis who was using his Narnia novels to support a specific doctrine or belief system, J. K. Rowling readily admits to her readers that she doesn’t know all of the answers. The real problem that many Christians seem to have with J. K. Rowling is that she uses religion in her novels in the more modern sense as identified by Craig Werner and Frank P. Riga: instead of explicitly telling her readers what to believe she encourages her audience “to discover their own identity,” an identity that may “possibly be apart from any belief in God” (Werner and Riga 3). This, in turn, has led to numerous Christian groups and religious leaders speaking out against the Harry Potter series – many of these groups even urged parents to keep their children from reading the novels or viewing the films. In an interview discussing his book, Harry Potter, Narnia, and the Lord of the Rings: What You Need to Know About Fantasy Books and Movies, Christian author Albert Abanes explained why many Christian groups were concerned about the “threat” posed by Harry Potter, explaining that the Harry Potter books discuss “values that are not biblically sound – disobedience, lack of respect for things,” 42 42 adding that the books offer very “anti-Christian views . . . that can be dangerous.” Abanes also complains that unlike Tolkien and Lewis, who were devout Christians, J. K. Rowling has never “made a profession for Christ” or indicated that she “defines God [in] the same way that Christians define God;” instead, Rowling offers her readers “moral relativism in her books, meaning if it feels good do it, as opposed to a biblical kind of morality” (“Harry Potter: Harmless Christian Novel or Doorway to the Occult?”). It was even revealed in two different published letters that Pope Benedict XVI believed that the Harry Potter series had the power to “distort Christianity in the soul” (“Harry Potter Distorts the Soul”). Pope Benedict XVI was writing to German author, Gabriele Kuby, in response to her book criticizing J. K. Rowling’s work, Harry Potter – Good or Evil? In these letters, Pope Benedict XVI lauded Kuby’s work saying, “It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly” (“Harry Potter Distorts the Soul”). However, all of this pushback from various Christian groups is ironic. As J. K. Rowling has explained in numerous interviews, she wrote the Harry Potter series, at least in part, to help her work through her own beliefs concerning death and the afterlife. During her Open Book Tour for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in 2007, J. K. Rowling confirmed that she used the Harry Potter series to work through her personal struggle with faith. Rowling explained that “The truth is that . . . my faith is sometimes that my faith will return. It’s something I struggle with a lot. On any given moment if you asked me if I believe in life after death . . . I think I would come down on the side of yes – that I do believe in life after death. But it’s something I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that’s very obvious within the books” (Petre, emphasis added). Perhaps it 43 43 isn’t a surprise that this famous writer would struggle with faith and belief in the afterlife after watching her mother die from multiple sclerosis at the age of 40. In fact, Rowling has “reveal[ed] that her mother’s terminal illness has heavily influenced the constant theme of death in her writing” and that she began writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in order to overcome her struggle with depression (Hastings). Rowling further explained that she has always been drawn to faith and religion – even as a child: “No one in my family was a believer. But I was drawn to faith, even while doubting . . . I was the one who went out looking for religion” (Gibbs). J. K. Rowling has always been interested in religion and what it can offer, so it makes sense that she would use her writing – in this case the Harry Potter series – to explore issues related to faith. In fact, J. K. Rowling offers a modern-day version or retelling of the story of Jesus Christ throughout Harry Potter. Many of Rowling’s critics argue that the Harry Potter series is anti-Christian, because Harry and his friends have no true ethical or moral center as God is never mentioned in the series, and because Harry is rewarded for being defiant and breaking the rules. However, Jesus Christ himself was accused of committing these same “crimes” – of breaking the laws, or the rules, set down by Moses – by his own contemporaries. Yet, what Jesus’s contemporaries failed to understand was that Jesus came to bring about drastic change in the world – Jesus came in fulfillment of the Laws of Moses in order to save all of mankind, even tax collectors, prostitutes, and Gentiles. In this way, Harry Potter is similar to Jesus Christ – he breaks the rules for the greater good, and he fights to save everyone from Lord Voldemort, even muggles, House and Mudbloods – his world’s equivalent of tax collectors, prostitutes and Gentiles, the downtrodden saved by Jesus. The real issue some Christian cynics have with J. K Rowling and Harry Potter has nothing to do with its lack of Christian themes 44 44 or symbols – the series has an abundance of both. Rather, critics dislike the way Rowling presents these Christian ideals; instead of simply telling her readers what to believe or how to live their lives, as C. S. Lewis does in The Chronicles of Narnia, Rowling encourages her adolescent readers to seek out and find their own Truth – Christian or otherwise. Rowling chooses not to follow the didactic approach by offering her readers specific answers and doctrine. Instead, Rowling invites her readers to come along on Harry’s journey of self-discovery as he strives to learn his true identity as the “Chosen One.” Rowling’s readers will be allowed – and even encouraged – to question cultural norms and ideas and to struggle with their own beliefs as they, like Harry, struggle to find the Truth. That is why it is important to look at the Harry Potter series thematically as opposed to their published order as was done with C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia novels. Looking at the Harry Potter novels thematically shows how Harry’s story parallels the Biblical account of the life of Jesus. This parallel allows Harry, and Rowling’s readers by extension, to go through a process of self-discovery that allows them to “figure out their own identity” as they determine “their place in the divine economy” (Werner and Riga 2).

Harry Potter’s Journey: A retelling of the Life of Jesus

Birth Foretold and Journey into Egypt:

From the very beginning of the Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling introduces and develops a dichotomy between good and evil – God and Satan – that will be interwoven over the entire course of the narrative. However, despite the addition of this dichotomy, Rowling never pushes a specific belief system at 45 45 her readers. As Drew Chappell explains in his article “Sneaking out After Dark: Resistance, Agency, and the Postmodern Child in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series,” “The child characters must decide what ‘rightness’ means to them and when and how to bend the rules in order to purse it . . . Rowling’s writing may be preparing young readers to critically engage with power structures in their lives and become architects of their own agency” (285, 282). Instead of explicitly telling her readers what she believes to be right, and what she believes to be wrong, J. K. Rowling provides her audience with the chance to learn and grow along with Harry and his friends. This, in turn, allows her audience to decide what rightness and wrongness means to them – apart from any mention of God and the Bible. J. K. Rowling develops this dichotomy between good and evil by modeling Harry’s story after Jesus. In Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, it is revealed that there was a prophecy concerning Harry’s birth: “THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE APPROACHES . . . HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT . . . AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES” (OP 841, emphasis original). This prophecy is revealed to Lord Voldemort, who hunts down and murders Harry’s parents in his desperate quest to murder Harry. Despite the fact that Lord Voldemort has murdered countless others, he is unable to kill Harry, and his death curse rebounds back on Lord Voldemort himself. Harry is left with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Rubeus Hagrid explains the significance of Harry’s scar: “Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That’s what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an’ dad . . . but it didn’t work on you” (SS 55). It is worth noting that Lord Voldemort’s attempt on 46 46 young Harry’s life not only leaves Harry with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, but also marks Lord Voldemort’s initial fall from power. This seems to match Jesus’s declaration in Luke 10:18 that he “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (emphasis added). Harry, like Jesus, was present for the initial fall of the great evil that he will eventually have to face and destroy. As Dan McVeigh explains in his article, “Is Harry Potter Christian?”: “Of course Lord Voldemort . . . is symbolically Satan whom Jesus saw fall . . . from heaven. [Satan’s] fevered goal is immortality and total control of all other beings . . . [Satan] does not request faith – he demands submission” (209). Lord Voldemort’s failed attempt on young Harry’s life reflects the Biblical account of the danger King Herod posed to Jesus. Herod, determined to find and destroy this threat to his power, ordered his soldiers “to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16). Fortunately, “an of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him’” (Matthew 2:13). Jesus and his family escaped to Egypt, and remained there in safety until Herod’s death. Harry’s parents may have been killed by Lord Voldemort, but his mother’s sacrifice would ensure his safety while he lived with his maternal aunt, Petunia. Living with his relatives, the Dursleys, was much like Jesus living in Egypt; however, Harry isn’t called to return to Bethlehem upon the death of Herod. Instead, he receives his first letter from , and learns the truth about his heritage and his destiny. Harry, like Jesus, was born into a world he was destined to save. However in order to accomplish this, Harry must first discover who he is and what he believes. This is the same journey many of J. K. Rowling’s readers are on 47 47 themselves; they may not be destined to save the world from the most evil wizard ever known, but they must still discover their own identity, their own belief system and determine their place in the world. J. K. Rowling provides a safe place for her readers to grow, to ask questions and to try things form themselves within her novels – just as Dumbledore and Hogwarts provide the same opportunities for Harry.

Baptism and Beginning of his Discipleship

Once Harry Potter is accepted to Hogwarts, he is encouraged by the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, to ask questions and to try his own strength – to make his own choices. As David and Catherine Deavel explain, J. K. Rowling presents “a world in which the moral worth of a choice depends upon the moral worth of what is chosen. Choice itself is not what Dumbledore promotes, but rather the choice of the good” (54). However, J. K. Rowling never explains how to decide what is good; rather, it is left up to the characters to ultimately decide what is morally acceptable and what is not. In much the same manner, Jesus had to strike out on his own and begin his own discipleship – a journey that would require Jesus to think through complex moral issues, and to provide reasoned moral responses, especially when he was tested by his contemporaries. Harry’s acceptance to Hogwarts marks the beginning of his own discipleship. This transition to Hogwarts doesn’t just provide Harry with an opportunity to grow as a wizard and the “Chosen One;” it also provides Rowling’s readers with a place to question and explore complex issues away from the prying eyes of their families – and other authority figures – who may or may not be likened to the Durseleys. 48 48

This allows Rowling’s readers to disagree with, question and possibly rebel against the authority figures in their lives. Before heading off to Hogwarts, Harry is forced to live with his relatives, the Dursleys. While staying with his aunt and uncle, Harry quickly learns not to question the status quo: “Don’t ask questions – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys” (SS 20, emphasis original). In fact, on the very first page of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling describes the Dursleys as being “perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense” (SS 1). The Dursleys pride themselves on being “normal,” they don’t seek to go against the grain, and they never question the way things are or the way things should be. Yet, once Harry Potter receives his letter from Hogwarts, everything changes. He finds himself in a whole new world, filled with previously unimaginable possibilities. Not only that, but Harry Potter and his cohorts are encouraged to ask questions – something that would never have been allowed by the Dursleys. It is this very change that has caused numerous Christians to criticize J. K. Rowling’s work. The main reason for this seems to be that Harry Potter and his friends are rebellious – they don’t have a strong moral or ethical center as any mention of God is absent from the novels, and they are constantly rewarded for disobeying adults and breaking rules. Amanda Cockrell writes in her article, “Harry Potter and the Witch Hunters: A Social Context for the Attacks on Harry Potter,” that “the Harry Potter books encourage children to rebel against their parents, to question their values, and to assume power for themselves” (26). This has caused many Christian groups to feel threatened by the Harry Potter series because the protagonists constantly question the rules and challenge the status quo. It makes sense for some of these 49 49 groups to be offended by this as they may relate most to the Dursleys and their absolute dedication to normalcy; yet, the Dursleys are painted as the “bad guys” who fear change, and deny the existence of magic – even though they are envious of Harry’s magical abilities. This is in direct opposition to Harry Potter, who is the “Chosen One,” despite the fact that he’s little more than a rebellious adolescent who questions and challenges everything. Many of these Christian groups seem to be forgetting that Jesus himself was viewed as a threat by many of his contemporaries because he too rebelled against the status quo, and forced others to question their commonly held beliefs. From the moment Harry Potter is introduced to the wizarding world, he begins to make enemies because of the people he chooses to befriend. In this way, Harry Potter is similar to Jesus who was also accused of befriending “the wrong sorts.” Jesus was constantly questioned by Pharisees, Sadducees, and his own disciples about the company he kept. In the Biblical book of Matthew, Jesus attended dinner at Matthew’s house where he was surrounded by sinners. “When the Pharisees saw this, they asked [Jesus’s] disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with . . . sinners?’ On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9: 10 – 12). Just as Jesus befriended sinners, Harry Potter befriends many individuals – both human and non-human – who are considered to be inferior by the rest of the wizarding society. For instance, Harry’s two closest friends – Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger – were both deemed to be inferior by certain groups within the wizarding world. Despite being the most intelligent and talented student in her class at Hogwarts, Hermione is bullied by students like Draco Malfoy, who believe that only witches and wizards from pure-blood families should be allowed to attend Hogwarts. Draco Malfoy’s views concerning witches and wizards of inferior blood status becomes more 50 50 extreme over the course of the novels, reflecting the views of many in the magical realm as Lord Voldemort returns to power. When Harry Potter first meets him in Sorcerer’s Stone Draco explains that he doesn’t “think they should let the other sort [non-magical] in . . . They’re just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families” (SS 78). By the following year, Draco Malfoy is arrogant enough to call Hermione a “filthy mudblood” (CS 112). Ron explains what mudblood means to both Harry and Hermione: “It’s about the most insulting thing he could think of . . . Mudblood’s a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born – you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards . . . who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood . . . It’s a disgusting thing to call someone . . . Dirty blood . . . Common blood” (CS 116 – 117). Mudbloods only account for one group of people who are seen as inferior in the wizarding world. Some families, despite their pure-blood status, are considered to be “blood traitors” because they sympathize with muggles. The biggest example of this in the novels is the Weasley family. The Weasleys come from a long line of pure-blood witches and wizards, but the head of the family, Arthur, has an unusual obsession for all things muggle. This has led Arthur to take a less prestigious, and lower paying job with the Ministry of Magic. This leads to conflict with the Malfoy family, who values blood status above all else. On one occasion, Mr. Malfoy confronts Arthur Weasley in the bookstore and demands to know “what’s the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it? . . . The company you keep, Weasley . . . and I thought your family could sink no lower” (CS 62). Harry’s two best friends put him in a 51 51 position to be questioned by his world’s equivalents of Sadducees and Pharisees: pure-bloods. Another similarity between Jesus Christ and Harry Potter is how they both questioned, challenged and broke the rules. Jesus was accused time and time again of not keeping the Laws of Moses. Jesus was often accused of violating the rules surrounding the Sabbath. On one occasion, Jesus healed a man who had been invalid for 38 years. Upon seeing him, Jesus told the man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” – the man was immediately cured (John 5:8 – 9). Upon learning that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, “the Jewish leaders began to persecute him” (John 5:16). Jesus was similarly accused of violating the Sabbath when his disciples picked and ate grain while walking through a field, and for healing a man’s shriveled hand (Matthew 12: 1 – 2, 9 – 10). In all three of these examples, Jesus was able to explain why he was right in “violating” the laws concerning the Sabbath: namely, that he was following the two greatest commandments “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 37, 39). According to Jesus, these two rules supersede all the rest – the indication being that it is okay to break the other rules, as long as you are still upholding these two commandments. Similarly, Harry Potter and his friends break rules time and time again. It is interesting to note that while their rule breaking does annoy many characters, Harry and his friends tend to be rewarded for their misdeeds. In the first book alone, Harry and his friends break numerous rules – and each time they are celebrated for their rule breaking. For example, Harry intentionally disobeys Madam Hooch when she orders them not to mount their brooms or attempt to fly while she escorts a student to the hospital wing. Of course, Harry is unable to help himself and chases after Draco Malfoy who has stolen something 52 52 from a classmate. When Professor McGonagall catches Harry, instead of punishing him she allows him to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the youngest Seeker Hogwarts has had in a century (SS 152). Not only does Professor McGonagall allow Harry to join the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, but she sends him a new broom: a Nimbus 2000, the newest and most expensive broom on the market (SS 164). At the end of the novel, Harry and his friends break the rules again. This time they risk their lives – and even expulsion from Hogwarts – yet, they still decide that the rules must be broken. Harry has discovered that Dumbledore is hiding and protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone at Hogwarts in order to keep it safe from Lord Voldemort’s followers. Harry and his friends are convinced that Lord Voldemort will attempt to steal the Stone in order to regain his corporal form. Their solution? Take matters into their own hands. Luckily, Harry and his friends succeed. In all fairness, they should be expelled from school. Instead of expelling them, Dumbledore instead awards their bravery – allowing Gryffindor to win the House Cup for the first time in years. These are just two specific examples of many – in the first novel alone. It’s no wonder so many parents struggle with the Harry Potter series. However, many of these parents are missing out on the fact that while Harry and his friends are in fact breaking the rules, they are breaking the rules for the greater good. As Dan McVeigh explains “wise adults like Dumbledore or McGonagall understand that for Harry to break a Hogwarts rule for a larger purpose, and at serious risk” is not “self-indulgence” (205). In this way, Harry Potter is exactly like Jesus – he may be “breaking” the rules, but he is doing so in order to keep others safe; as such, Harry is still following one of the greatest commandments identified by Jesus: to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 53 53

Another way Harry Potter reflects the character of Jesus is in the way he treats his inferiors. This is especially apparent in the ways in which Harry treats two different House Elves he encounters over the course of the novels: Dobby and Kreacher. In the magical world, House Elves are treated as slaves – they are forced to work around the clock for their wizard families who own them – House Elves are not paid, and they are forced to dress in rags in order to symbolize their enslaved status. Most people in the wizarding world see nothing wrong with this – in fact, most of them justify this treatment of House Elves. When Hermione creates S.P.E.W., or the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, she is criticized by many of her friends and acquaintances. As Hagrid explains, “It’d be doin’ ‘em an unkindness . . . it’s in their nature ter look after humans, that’s what they like, see? Yeh’d be makin’ ‘em unhappy ter take away their work, and insultin’ ‘em if yeh tried ter pay ‘em” (GF 265). Even the Weasleys, the great supporters of muggles, see nothing wrong with the way house elves are treated. Fred and George attempt to reason with Hermione, to no avail: “we’ve met them, and they’re happy. They think they’ve got the best job in the world” (GF 239, emphasis original). Even Harry’s best friend, Ron exclaims “They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!” (GF 224, emphasis original). Yet, despite the majority opinion concerning the treatment of House Elves, Harry still decides to help Dobby, the very House responsible for injuring and threatening him previously. After witnessing how Dobby is treated by the wizarding family who owns him, the Malfoys, Harry tricks Mr. Malfoy into freeing Dobby by covering Tom Riddle’s ruined diary in his filthy sock. When Mr. Malfoy angrily tosses the sock aside, Dobby catches it: “[Dobby] was holding up Harry’s disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure. ‘Master has given a sock . . . Master gave it to Dobby . . . Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and 54 54

Dobby – Dobby is free” (CS 338). This reflects the way that Jesus helped a Canaanite woman whose daughter was -possessed. Initially Jesus explains to the woman that he has come only to save the lost sheep of Israel. When the woman continues to beg for Jesus’s help, Jesus states that “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26, emphasis added). The woman quickly responds that “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table” (Matthew 15:27). Amazed at the woman’s faith, Jesus cures the woman’s daughter. Like the negative view of House Elves held by most wizards, Jesus and his contemporaries viewed the Canaanites as beneath them – Jesus even refers to them as dogs. Despite this prejudice, Jesus, like Harry Potter, is willing to help the Canaanite woman after she has proven her faith and loyalty to him. Harry Potter also chooses to be kind to Kreacher, the house elf he has inherited from his godfather, Sirius Black. This is even after Kreacher betrayed Sirius to Lord Voldemort’s followers, the Death Eaters, leading to Sirius’s death. This is reminiscent of the interaction that Jesus had with the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. When a crowd brought the woman to Jesus they asked what should be done as “The Laws of Moses say to stone her” (John 8:5). Instead of sentencing the woman to death, Jesus declares that the “one who has never sinned [should] throw the first stone!” (John 8:7). When no one is able to answer his challenge, the crowd dissipates and Jesus lets the woman go telling her to “leave [her] life of sin” (John 8:11). This is precisely what Harry Potter does with Kreacher – instead of punishing him for his fatal betrayal of Sirius, Harry instead decides to forgive Kreacher and treat him with kindness. This forgiveness, in turn, causes Kreacher to leave behind his life of “sin,” or in this case, his obsession with Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Harry, like Jesus, chooses to 55 55 surround himself with people who are seen as “inferior,” and Harry, like Jesus breaks the rules time and time again for what he believes to be the greater good. These attributes reflect the life and work of Jesus while providing J. K. Rowling’s audience with a contemporary example to emulate in their own lives. Rowling is showing her audience the importance of doing what is right – even when the rest of the world says otherwise. Perhaps one of the clearest allusions J. K. Rowling makes to Jesus in the series takes place towards the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry confronts the memory of Tom Riddle in the hidden Chamber of Secrets. This scene is allegorical of the baptism of Jesus. The Gospels record what happened after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3: 16 – 17, emphasis added). Harry, like Jesus, went into the water and had the spirit of God, or in this case Dumbledore, alight on him in the form of a bird. Instead of heaven opening up and a voice declaring its pleasure, Fawkes fills the chamber with his music: “The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry’s scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size . . . Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs” (CS 315). Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, Fawkes, only arrives to help Harry after Harry has declared his loyalty – and his faith in – Dumbledore when he tells Tom Riddle: “the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn’t dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbeldore saw through you . . . he still frightens you now . . . he’s not as gone as you might think!” (CS 314 – 315). Immediately upon 56 56 this declaration of loyalty to Dumbledore, Fawkes arrives and flies “straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder . . . it sat still and warm next to Harry’s cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle . . . [Harry] was no longer alone” (CS 315 – 316). At first Voldemort mocks Harry Potter for his faith in Dumbledore: “This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat!” (CS 316). However, it quickly becomes apparent that these were the best tools that could have been sent to Harry – Fawkes blinds the basilisk, allowing Harry to look at it without being killed, and Harry is able to pull Godric Gryffindor’s sword from the Sorting Hat. It was only with the help of Fawkes and Dumbledore that Harry was able to slay the basilisk and defeat Tom Riddle. According to Dan McVeigh, the use of the Fawkes, the phoenix, in this scene was very intentional: “Dumbledore rescues Harry from destruction with a Phoenix, the ancient mythical bird that dies and is reborn in its own flames, whose tears heal wounds. As far back as A. D. 200 and throughout the Middle Ages the Phoenix symbolized the resurrected Christ, who set a pattern for all in His conquest of that which is ‘Full of Death’” (210). J. K. Rowling uses the phoenix in order to symbolize the relationship between Harry Potter and Jesus Christ. J. K. Rowling makes one final Biblical allusion in this passage when she has Fawkes deliver the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry as this is an allusion to the “sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). Like Jesus’s baptism which marked the beginning of his ministry, Harry’s “baptism” seems to mark the true beginning of Harry’s journey to defeat Voldemort, and to trust the plans that Dumbledore has in place for him. Harry has decided to follow and trust in Dumbledore, just as Jesus devoted his life to completing the work of God. Through Harry’s commitment to Dumbledore, and his declaration of faith even in the face of seemingly certain death, J. K. Rowling is teaching her audience to stand firm in their beliefs. 57 57

Temptation, Willing Sacrifice, and Resurrection

Not long after his baptism, Jesus went out into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan: “the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you . . . if you bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Then the devil left him, and came and attended him” (Matthew 4:8 – 11). Harry is confronted with a similar temptation not long after his own declaration of loyalty to Dumbledore. The new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, comes to see Harry and asks him to publically support the Ministry of Magic while they struggle to locate all of Lord Voldemort’s followers. Scrimgeour wants Harry, “The Chosen One,” to support his work in order to gain popularity with the masses – many of whom don’t support his methods as he pursues those loyal to Lord Voldemort: “People believe you are ‘the Chosen One,’ you see . . . They think you quite the . . . the point is, you are a symbol of hope for many, Harry . . . And I can’t help but feel that, once you realize this, you might consider it, well, almost a duty, to stand alongside the Ministry, and give everyone a boost” (HBP 344 – 345). Like Jesus before him, Harry is shown how much power he can garner over the masses – but only if he will agree to go along with the Minister’s ideas. Nevertheless, Harry resists the temptation to become “The Chosen One” and remains true to Dumbeldore’s ideals: “No, I don’t think that’ll work . . . You see I don’t like some of the things the Ministry’s doing . . . and Dumbledore . . . doesn’t [like what the ministry is doing either]” (HBP 346). Before Rufus Scrimgeour storms away from Harry, Harry makes his loyalty to Dumbledore profoundly clear: 58 58

Well, it’s clear to me that [Dumbledore] has done a very good job on you . . . Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you Potter? Yeah, I am . . . Glad we straightened that out (HBP 348) Harry and Jesus both maintain their loyalty, which will ultimately lead them to make the greatest of sacrifices: to lay down their lives that others might live. This leads the most obvious allusion to Jesus in the entire Harry Potter series: The Garden of Gethsemane. The night before his trial and execution, Jesus took some of his closest friends with him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus asked his friends to “Watch and pray so that [we] will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Jesus then “knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22: 41 – 44). At the moment of his greatest distress, Jesus surrounded himself with his closest friends and prayed for God to let this cup – his imminent execution – pass from him. Even in the moment of his greatest fear Jesus asked for God’s will to be done, and an angel appeared to strengthen his resolve. This is exactly what happens to Harry Potter when he passes through the Forbidden Forest to offer himself to Voldemort. Harry has already asked for his “cup to pass” from him in his futile attempt to collect the Deathly Hallows in order to become the Master of Death. Harry realizes that there is only one outcome left, and so he uses the Resurrection Stone that Dumbledore hid for him inside of his golden snitch to summon to him the friends and family he has lost in his battles against Voldemort: “The black stone with its jagged crack running down the center sat in the two halves of the snitch. The Resurrection Stone had cracked down the vertical line . . . And again Harry understood without having to think. It did not matter about 59 59 bringing them back, for he was about to join them. He was not really fetching them: they were fetching him” (DH 698). Like the angel appearing before Jesus to give him strength in his time of need, Harry summons his father, mother, godfather, and favorite teacher to his side while he treads through the darkened forest. When Harry’s loved ones first appear to him he asks them, like Jesus asked his disciples, to “Stay close to me” – and Harry’s loved ones promise to stay by his side “Until the very end” (DH 700). Harry has accepted his fate, and walks calmly to his death. Harry’s calm response to his death is similar to how the death of Christ was described in the Book of Acts, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Acts 8: 32). This similarity between Harry Potter and Jesus Christ is elaborated upon in an argument between Professor Snape and Dumbledore after Dumbledore has revealed to Snape that Harry must die, but only at the right moment: So the boy . . . the boy must die? We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength . . . You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment? . . . you have been raising him like a pig for the slaughter (DH 686 – 687). The right moment has finally come, and Harry is prepared to lay down his life for his friends: “Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death’s welcoming arms . . . [he would] not raise a to defend himself . . . How neat, how elegant, not to waste anymore lives, but to give the dangerous task to the boy who had already been marked for slaughter, and whose death would not be a calamity, but another blow against Voldemort” (DH 691, 693). Harry, like Jesus, willingly accepts the inevitability of his death. In a 60 60 final allusion to Jesus, Harry is resurrected in order to defeat Lord Voldemort in a final battle. While the Bible doesn’t explicitly explain what happened to Jesus between his crucifixion and his resurrection, it does explain that “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24). This is similar to something Dumbledore says to Harry after Lord Voldemort has struck him with the death curse, “Avada Kedavra!” When Harry wakes up in what he believes to be Kings Cross Station, he encounters Dumbledore who explains, “You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying” (DH 720 – 721). Harry, like Jesus, chose to sacrifice himself for others – because he realized that there were things worse than death, lives deprived of love and significant meaning – and as a result, death cannot hold him. The Bible further explains that Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross . . . the prince of [the] world [was] driven out” (Colossians 2:15, John 12:31). However, Harry has yet to fulfill his destiny by defeating Lord Voldemort and driving out his followers. Dumbledore explains to Harry that he has a choice: he can choose to return to Hogwarts and finish what he has started, or he can choose to go on: “Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present” (DH 722). Harry, like Jesus, chooses to return to face Lord Voldemort. The most fascinating part of the battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort is that it’s the Elder Wand that ultimately defeats Lord Voldemort. Harry, who has steadfastly 61 61 refused to cast the killing curse, “Avada Kedavara,” instead uses the simple disarming spell he first learned at Hogwarts, “Expelliarmus.” What proves fatal to Lord Voldemort is the very wand he is using. Lord Voldemort attempts to destroy Harry using the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in history. What Lord Voldemort doesn’t know is that Harry has already won the allegiance of the Elder Wand: The bang was like a cannon blast . . . Harry saw the Edler Wand fly high against the sunrise . . . spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality . . . Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two in his hand, staring down at his enemy’s shell. (DH 743 – 744) This wand is meant to represent the cross: both are made out of wood and imbued with the power to stop great evil and save the world. The Elder Wand functions exactly as the cross does as described in Colossians 2:15, the Elder Wand “disarmed the powers and authorities, [and] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Harry doesn’t attempt to kill, maim, or even wound Lord Voldemort; instead, he simply attempts to disarm him. It is the power of the Elder Wand, or the cross, that ultimately defeats and destroys Lord Voldemort. Harry, like Jesus, realized that there are things worth fighting – and even dying – for. Harry teaches Rowling’s audience the importance of love and sacrifice: Harry chooses to sacrifice himself in order to protect those he loves. Harry also shows Rowling’s readers the importance of fighting for your beliefs 62 62 when he chooses to come back from King’s Cross Station in order to defeat Lord Voldemort in a final duel.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that there are numerous similarities between Harry Potter and Jesus Christ, many Christian groups still feel threated by Harry Potter. Many parents and religious leaders argue that Harry Potter, even if he is meant to portray Jesus Christ, is more of an anti-Christ than a true embodiment of Christ. Their main reason for thinking this seems to be that Harry Potter encourages children to question authority figures in their lives, instead of simply obeying them. They also point out that Harry Potter has a tendency to act in a less than Christ-like way through outbursts and rule breaking. Many of these individuals seem to be forgetting instances where Jesus himself was portrayed in a less than flattering light – a Christ who, by today’s standards, wouldn’t fit the mold of Jesus that is typically presented by religious leaders. An example of this is recorded in John 2 when Jesus visited the temple at Passover: “In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the courts . . . he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables . . . [saying] ‘Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” (John 2: 14 – 16). Jesus was enraged to discover that the Temple had been turned into a market – he was angry enough to whip men and animals out of the temple, to flip their tables over, and to scatter their money on the ground. It would seem as though this outburst matches the way Harry reacts to his godfather, Sirius’s, death. Harry Potter is emotionally devastated after the death of Sirius, and takes his anger out on Dumbledore. 63 63

Dumbledore tries to calm Harry by explaining to him that his suffering proves he is “still a man! This pain is part of being human” (OP 824). Harry, however, will not be calmed and reacts with a violent outburst, and even begins destroying many of Dumbledore’s possessions: “‘THEN – I – DON’T – WANT – TO – BE – HUMAN!’ Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room. It shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall . . . ‘I DON’T CARE! . . . I’VE HAD ENOUGH, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH . . . I DON’T CARE ANYMORE’” (OP 824). Many critics would point to this an example of Harry’s unchristian behavior. Why is Harry’s outburst considered to be “unchristian” – especially when Harry was reacting to the death of his godfather, the only father figure he has ever known? It would seem as though his actions are entirely justifiable. Even “Jesus wept” when he heard about the death of a beloved friend (John 11:35). Another complaint by many of J. K. Rowling’s critics is that Harry Potter continuously questions authority. However, this is an oversimplification of the complex issues woven throughout the Harry Potter series. It’s not simply that Harry questions authority figures. Rather, Harry is seeking the truth for himself, instead of blindly accepting what others tell him. As Harry explains to Ron and Hermione while on their quest to seek the Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes, “Dumbledore usually let me find out stuff for myself. He let me try my strength, take risks” (DH 433). Dumbledore has taught his students the value of searching out, of seeking the truth for themselves. Harry clings to this lesson when he learns the truth about Dumbledore’s questionable past, and is filled with doubt: “Did [they] really think it was that easy, that Harry could simply choose [what] to believe? [Don’t they] understand Harry’s need to be sure, to know everything . . . Choose what to believe. He wanted the truth. Why was everybody so determined 64 64 that he should not get it?” (DH 152-153, 185, emphasis original). Harry’s doubt continues to grow over the course of the last novel as he is continuously confronted with Dumbledore’s past – a past Harry cannot reconcile with the Dumbledore he knew. Harry doesn’t know which path he should choose, and finds it difficult to follow the path laid out for him by Dumbledore: “Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don’t expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!” (DH 362). In the end, Harry learns the entire truth and is able to come to the right decision on his own. According to David and Catherine Deavel, “The Potter stories make clear that the first criterion for making the right choice in any situations is that it conform to Truth, with a capital ‘T.’ There is . . . a confidence that the Truth is out there and that it is knowable . . . Harry himself [learns] the value of truth all through the books, from Dumbledore’s teaching and also through actively looking for the truth that will bring true freedom” (54 – 55). Even Jesus explained to his disciples the value of knowing the truth for yourself, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus even encouraged people to ask questions in order to seek the truth for themselves: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7 – 8, emphasis added). If Jesus encouraged his own friends and followers – his disciples – to question things and to seek out the truth for themselves, why can’t J. K. Rowling encourage her readers to do the same? In all reality, this is precisely what J. K. Rowling suggests through Harry’s Christ-story and his on-going quest to find the truth: the truth is out there and knowable, you just have to seek it for yourself. 65 65

J. K. Rowling did not invent the entire game of Quidditch accidentally, and Harry Potter was not made Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team by mere happenstance. Like Jesus’s description in Matthew 7, Harry is seeking answers, he is searching to find the truth. J. K. Rowling invites her readers to come along on Harry’s quest as he seeks for the truth hidden within the Golden Snitch. Along the way Harry learns that “love is more powerful than [any] kind of magic,” that there are things that are “much worse than death,” and that “It is our choices . . . that show what we truly are” (HBP 172, OP 814, CS 333). It makes perfect sense for these to be the lessons that Harry must learn as he seeks the truth. J. K. Rowling, like Harry Potter, is a Seeker, who is attempting to find answers to her own questions. Contrary to what some of her critics may believe, J. K. Rowling is not trying to drive anyone away from Christianity. Instead, she uses Harry Potter to “expose children and adolescents to a complex moral world, thus providing opportunities for them to learn how to process moral messages . . . through the lens of faith” (Senland 161). In fact, Amie Senland and Elizabeth Vozzola completed a study to see how children from various families responded to Harry Potter, and found that, if anything, Harry Potter encouraged belief: “During the interview, one . . . child did say, ‘Harry Potter makes me more of a believer now because I want to believe that magic is real and it opens my mind to more possibilities” (159). No, instead of trying to direct children and adolescents away from Christianity, J. K. Rowling instead invites them to come along on her own journey to recapture her own Golden Snitch – the faith that was shaken when her mother died at such a young age. In the end, J. K. Rowling learns that “death is but the next great adventure,” and that there are things far worse than death – living a life without love or meaning (SS 215). J. K. Rowling has found and captured her own Golden Snitch – her own Truth – and instead of using Harry 66 66

Potter to teach her readers about specific doctrine, she invites them to seek out their own truth for themselves.

CHAPTER 4: A TALE OF TWO CHRISTS, IT WAS THE BEST OF CHRIST, IT WAS THE WORST OF CHRIST: CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA AND THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

“Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could.” – C. S. Lewis

“Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” (“Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon”) – Motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series have numerous similarities; yet, despite these parallels one series has been celebrated and supported by Christian groups for decades, while the other has been defamed and blacklisted. This becomes somewhat ironic when you take note of just what some of these comparisons include: magic, witches and wizards, mythological creatures, and more pagan symbols and characters than can be counted. Christian groups near and far were excited to learn that a new film adaptation of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would be coming to theatres in 2005. However, these were the same people who decried Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when it was published in 1997. Christian groups who spoke out against Harry Potter claimed that the series glorified witchcraft. Many concerned parents asserted that the wildly popular series would cause innocent children to turn away from God and cause them to dabble in the occult. These groups justified their fears by pointing to Bible verses such as Deuteronomy 18:10 – 12: “Let no one be found among you . . . who practices or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a 68 68 medium or spiritist or who consults the dead;” adding that “Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD” (New International Version). The irony in all of this is that The Chronicles of Narnia contains just as many fantastical and magical elements as Harry Potter. Similarly, both series promote morals and values supported by the Christian community: the importance of love, sacrifice and redemption; the belief in a life after death; and how our faith and choices ultimately determine who we are. Yet, despite these similarities, Narnia enjoys the staggering support among Christian groups, while Harry Potter does not. The overwhelming question, then, must simply be why? The answer is remarkably straightforward: C. S. Lewis intentionally used The Chronicles of Narnia to propagate his Christian beliefs; J. K. Rowling did not. In an interview with Nancy Gibbs for Time, Rowling even admitted that she “did not set out to convert anyone to Christianity. I wasn't trying to do what C. S. Lewis did. It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it's perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God.” Instead, J K. Rowling used her books to “preach against . . . Bigotry, violence, [and] struggles for power . . . I kept arguing that 'love is the most important force’” (Gibbs). Christian groups were troubled by Rowling’s work simply because she refused to fill it with direct and specific references to Christianity. As Shira Wolosky explains in her article, “Harry Potter’s Ethical Paradigms: Augustine, Kant, and Feminist Moral Theory:” There are, in fact, no religious ceremonies in the books, only public holidays. The wizard who officiates at both Dumbledore’s funeral and Bill and Fleur’s wedding is entirely generalized, and the ceremonies include no explicitly religious formulae. Nor are there 69 69

. . . attempts to invoke or manipulate gods or supernatural powers beyond the magical forms the books specify. (193) Rowling deliberately chose not to include references to any religion – Christian or otherwise. Michael Nelson explains that Rowling intentionally chose not to mention or discuss her Christian faith while she was still writing the Harry Potter series, because she “was afraid that if people were aware of her Christian faith, she would give away too much of what’s coming in the series. ‘If I talk too freely about that . . . I think the intelligent reader . . . will be able to guess what is coming in the books.’” However, J. K. Rowling’s choice to intentionally omit any reference to a specific religion doesn’t mean that her novels are completely void of elements of Christianity. As Ernelle Fife asserts, “Just because Christianity is not explicitly incorporated or referred to within the author’s Secondary World, does not make that world pagan . . . Rowling create[s] Christian works even though [her] Secondary [World] appear[s] pagan. If the reader . . . chooses to ignore the Christianity of the narrative’s fabula, then these novels will be read as merely pagan fantasy” (157, emphasis added). Even Chuck Colson, a well-known Conservative Christian, agrees with Fife and was able to find Christian values and morals in the Harry Potter novels, as he argues that the Harry Potter series promotes “courage, loyalty, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another – even at [great personal risk]” (“Witches and Wizards: The Harry Potter Phenomenon”). Michael Nelson similarly writes that “Both Lewis and Rowling celebrate courage, loyalty, friendship, compassion, forgiveness, persistence, and self-sacrifice . . . [putting] William Bennett’s Book of Virtues to shame” (“Fantasia: The Gospel According to C. S. Lewis”). The main difference between the two series, then, isn’t that one is adamantly Christian while the other is adamantly anti-Christian. Rather, their main difference simply comes down to the stylistic choices employed 70 70 by their respective authors: C. S. Lewis intentionally chose to interweave Christian messages throughout his novels in order to teach children about his Christian beliefs in an appealing way; J. K. Rowling, on the other hand, chose to write about Christian morals and values without any reference being made to how they resonate with Christianity or her own Christian beliefs. The end result is the same: two fantastical series that present Christian values.

The importance of Love, Compassion, Sacrifice and Redemption “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

The best examples of love, sacrifice and redemption in The Chronicles of Narnia are shown through the actions of Aslan. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Edmund’s life is forfeit, per the laws of Deep Magic, because he has agreed to betray his siblings to the White Witch in exchange for future power. When Aslan attempts to intercede on Edmund’s behalf, the White Witch angrily retorts “. . . every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and . . . for every treachery I have a right to kill . . . that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property” (LWW 155 – 156). In order to spare Edmund, Aslan meets privately with the White Witch and agrees to die in Edmund’s stead. Edmund and the other Pevensies are unable to do anything to change Edmund’s doomed fate; it is only through Aslan’s sacrifice that Edmund is able to be redeemed. Aslan’s sacrifice as “. . . a willing victim who has committed no treachery . . . [caused] Death itself . . . to start working backward” (LWW 179). Aslan similarly redeems Eustace Scrubb, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Eustace is unable to save himself after his greed and laziness have 71 71 transformed him into a dragon. Initially, Eustace attempts to change himself back into a boy, but he is unable to take off the dragon scales on his own. In the midst of Eustace’s distress and desperation, Aslan appears and explains that Eustace will “have to let [Aslan] undress [him]” (VDT 115). Aslan uses his powerful claws to cut into and remove Eustace’s dragon skin. Eustace tells his comrades that he had “. . . turned into a boy again . . . After a bit the lion took [him] . . . and dressed [him] . . . in new clothes” (VDT 117). The importance of these examples cannot be overstated, for together they teach Lewis’s readers about the importance of sacrifice and redemption. Without Aslan’s sacrifice, Edmund would have been justly killed; without Aslan’s redemption, Eustace would have been forced to live out the rest of his life as a dragon, the outward manifestation of his ugly character and greed. C. S. Lewis also uses Aslan to demonstrate the importance of love and compassion. In The Magician’s Nephew Digory Kirke begs Aslan to heal his deathly ill mother: “But please, please – won’t you – can’t you give me something that will cure Mother?” (The Magician’s Nephew 168). Digory is disappointed when Aslan tells Digory that he cannot help his mother. However, Digory is surprised by Aslan’s response: when Digory looked up at Aslan, he saw “great shining tears stood in [Aslan’s] eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself . . . [Aslan] drew a deep breath, stooped [his] head even lower and gave him a Lion’s kiss” (MN 168 – 169). Digory Kirke, and by extension the rest of Lewis’s audience, is shocked to discover that this magnificent and powerful lion, this very embodiment of God, cares just as much for Digory’s mother as Digory does himself – and, because of his love, he too shares in Digory’s pain at the thought of her death. Lewis goes on to teach his 72 72 audience the extent of God’s love and compassion when Aslan rewards Digory with a magical apple from his own Garden. Aslan sends Digory on a quest to find and plant a magical apple tree that will protect Narnia from Jadis. However, in the midst of his quest, Digory runs into Jadis who immediately tries to tempt him into breaking his promise to Aslan: “Do you know what that fruit is? I will tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life . . . Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and be king and queen of this whole world” (MN 192). When Digory fails to be tempted by the prospect of future power, Jadis changes tack: “what about this Mother of yours whom you pretend to love so? . . . Do you not see, Fool, that one bite of that apple would heal her?” (MN 192). Digory, however, resists the Jadis’s tempting offers, and remembers that his mother wouldn’t want him to break his promise. Instead, Digory brings the apple to Aslan, as he had promised to do before he set off on his quest. In exchange for Digory’s unwavering loyalty, Aslan fulfills his sincerest wish, and allows him to take one of the magical apples home to his mother: “What I give you now will bring joy. It will not, in your world, give endless life, but it will heal. Go. Pluck her an apple from the Tree” (MN 209). C. S. Lewis teaches the importance of love and sacrifice through Aslan’s actions time and time again. Sometimes this is demonstrated through grand gestures, such as when Aslan died in Edmund’s place, but at other times it is through simple actions, such as the apple given to Digory. Perhaps the most shocking example of Aslan’s unfailing love and redemption comes in the final book of the series, The Last Battle, when he forgives Puzzle for the great wrong he has committed against Aslan himself. In the beginning of the book, Puzzle is manipulated by his friend, Shift, into wearing an old lion-skin that they had found. Shift convinces Puzzle to claim to be Aslan. These mistakes lead, in part, to the end and destruction of Narnia. Yet, despite these horrendous crimes 73 73 against Aslan, Puzzle is still forgiven. The children are surprised to see Puzzle in Aslan’s Country, and are even more surprised that Puzzle was “the very first person whom Aslan called” to himself (The Last Battle 227). The children are too far away to hear what Aslan says to Puzzle, but as they watched “The Lion bowed down his head and whispered something to Puzzle at which his long ears went down, but then he said something else at which his ears picked up again” (LB 227). We are never told what words Aslan whispers to Puzzle, but we do know that Puzzle is allowed to stay with the rest of the heroes of Narnia for the rest of eternity – in Aslan’s own Country. These are just a few of the examples that C. S. Lewis uses to demonstrate the importance of love, sacrifice and redemption throughout the Narnia series. The importance of love and sacrifice is also an important lesson interwoven throughout the Harry Potter series. In fact, one could almost argue that this idea plays a more integral role in Harry Potter than it does in Narnia. It is a lesson that is reiterated time and time again throughout the novels, as character after character willingly risks their lives to protect the ones they love. After all, as J. K. Rowling stated herself, “I kept arguing that 'love is the most important force, love is the most important force’” (Gibbs). From the very beginning of Harry Potter’s story, we learn that his parents, James and Lily Potter, made the ultimate sacrifice by choosing to die in order to protect their infant son from Lord Voldemort. In Harry’s first confrontation with Voldemort, Voldemort tauntingly tells Harry about the night his parents died for him: “Yes, boy, your parents were brave . . . I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight . . . but your mother needn’t have died . . . she was trying to protect you . . .” (The Sorcerer’s Stone 294). However, unbeknown to Lord Voldemort, the sacrifice Harry’s parents made wasn’t in vain. Dumbledore explains to Harry that the one thing Voldemort 74 74 is unable to understand or abide, is the very thing that protects Harry: love. “Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign . . . to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever” (SS 299). Dumbledore later explains how Lily’s sacrifice continues to protect Harry from Lord Voldemort: “. . . your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering . . . protection that flows in your veins to this day . . . Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you . . . Her blood became your refuge” (Order of the Phoenix 835 – 836). Dumbledore further explains that Lily’s sacrifice would allow Harry to “be protected by an ancient magic of which [Voldemort] knows, which he despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated – to his cost” (OP 835). The ancient magic that Voldemort despises and chooses to ignore is similar to the “Deeper Magic” of Narnia. Dumbledore is able to use this ancient magic to spread protection over Harry until such a time that he is able to face and vanquish Lord Voldemort. Similarly, Aslan uses the “Deeper Magic” of his father, the Emperor-Beyond-The- Sea, when he chooses to sacrifice himself for Edmund, and as a result, causes death to begin working backward in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lily and James Potter are just two of the numerous characters in the Harry Potter series to willingly sacrifice their lives in the battle between good and evil. Some of those who sacrificed themselves, include: Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black; the freed house elf, Dobby; Ron’s older brother, Fred Weasley; Harry’s favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and mentor, Remus Lupin and his wife Nymphadora Tonks; Dumbledore’s trusted double agent, Severus Snape; and the headmaster of Hogwarts himself, Albus Dumbleodre. Harry is even forced to 75 75 witness the murder of Albus Dumbledore at the hands of his friend, Severus Snape. Harry is entirely helpless as he watches Dumbledore plead with Snape who looks down on Dumbledore with “revulsion and hatred . . . [and then] raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. ‘Avada Kedavra!’ A jet of green light shot from the end of [his] wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest . . . Dumbledore was blasted into the air” (HBP 595 – 596). Harry immediately believes his worst fears concerning Professor Snape have been realized – that he was secretly working with Voldemort all along to undermine Dumbledore. However, before he dies Snape reveals the truth to Harry by giving him his memories. Snape’s memories reveal how involved Snape has been in Dumbledore’s plan to simultaneously protect Harry from Voldemort while preparing him to confront, and hopefully destroy, Voldemort. Through these memories Harry learns of the many personal sacrifices Snape made to help Dumbledore keep Harry safe. Harry learns how Snape agreed to help Dumbledore by becoming a double agent in Voldemort’s service in order to protect Lily, Harry’s mother and the only woman Snape would ever love, from Voldemort. Unfortunately, Dumbledore is unable to keep the Potters safe when they are betrayed by one of their closest friends. Despite his loss and heartbreak, Dumbledore is able to show Snape that he can still honor Lily by keeping her son safe: “Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans’s eyes . . . If you ever loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear . . . you know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily’s son” (DH 678 – 679). As it turns out, despite his chronic bullying of Harry and Harry’s friends, Snape was doing everything he could to keep Harry from harm. Through Snape’s memories, Harry learns that Snape had helped Harry and other members of Order of the 76 76

Phoenix time and time again, while all he received in return was doubt and accusations regarding his loyalty to Dumbledore. Harry even learns the truth behind Snape’s murder of Dumbledore: Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him in order to protect Draco’s soul, as Dumbledore knew that Voldemort has ordered Draco, his newest Death Eater, to prove his loyalty by murdering him: You must kill me . . . [Draco’s] soul is not so damaged . . . I would not have it ripped apart on my account. And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine? You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation . . . I ask this one great favor of you, Severus, because death is coming . . . I should prefer a quick, painless exit . . . At last Snape gave another curt nod . . . Thank you, Severus (DH 682 – 683, emphasis original) This memory also explains the “revulsion and hatred” on Snape’s face when Dumbledore pleads with him to take his life – Dumbledore had asked Snape to do something Snape didn’t want to have to do. Yet, Snape agreed in order to protect the soul of another: Draco Malfoy. Snape’s memories also reveal the final part of Dumbledore’s plans for Harry: Harry must sacrifice himself and die at Voldemort’s hands in order to destroy the last remaining Horcrux – the one attached to Harry himself: “You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment? . . . You have used me . . . I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter – “ (DH 686 – 687). Snape’s anger at these plans, and the sense of betrayal he feels when Dumbledore reveals them to him, prove that everything he 77 77 has done – every sacrifice he has made, and all the times he has put himself in danger in order to help Harry and his friends – was done to redeem himself after he travelled down a path toward evil, a path Lily would not follow. In the end, Snape was trying to redeem himself in Lily’s eyes, the very eyes Harry had inherited from his mother, which is why at the moment of his death Snape begs Harry to “Look . . . at . . . me” (DH 658). Snape longs to look into Lily’s eyes one last time, and know that he is redeemed. This final memory is what leads to the climax of the series: Harry’s choice to lay down his life in order to destroy Voldemort’s final Horcrux, ensuring that Voldemort can be defeated once and for all. Harry’s sacrifice is what ultimately restores his own being, his own soul, as he is finally free from the small part of Voldemort’s damaged soul that had attached itself to him when Voldemort tried to kill him as an infant. Chantel Lavoie explains that the “part of Voldemort’s soul that has taken up residence in Harry is expelled. [Creating] an image . . . of black and white, like right or light magic versus dark” (55). When Harry sees the part of Voldemort’s damaged soul that has been expelled, he is torn between wanting to save it and being repulsed: “It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath. He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach it . . . he ought to comfort it, but it repulsed him” (DH 706 – 707). Even now, after Voldemort has killed his friends and family – even after he tried to kill Harry himself – Harry still longs to save the damaged soul that he discovers. It is only Dumbledore’s repeated assertion that Harry can do nothing that allows Harry to walk away from what remains of Voldemort’s broken soul: “You cannot help . . . There is no help possible” (DH 707, 709). Despite Dumbledore’s assurances 78 78 that there is nothing Harry can do to save this part of Voldemort’s soul, Harry still goes on to offer Voldemort one last chance at redemption in their final duel. Harry tells Voldemort that he has seen what has become of his soul, and that he needs to think about what he has done: “I’d advise you to think about what you’ve done . . . Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle . . . It’s your one last chance . . . it’s all you’ve got left . . . I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise . . . Be a man . . . try . . . Try for some remorse” (DH 741). Even after everything Tom Riddle has done, even after seeing what Riddle would become as Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter offers him one last chance to feel remorse, to change his ways. Harry has seen what has become of Riddle’s soul, and longs to give him a chance to save himself – much like Aslan with Puzzle. However, where Puzzle was remorseful for his sinful acts, Riddle is not and it will cost him his life and his decimated soul. In the end, Voldemort is defeated and the wizarding and muggle worlds are freed from his evil and tyranny.

Immortality and Believing in Life after Death “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47).

Both series deal with the concept of immortality and life after death. C. S. Lewis shows his young readers that death is nothing to be afraid of – so long as you believe in Aslan. As Cathy McSporran explains in her article, “The Kingdom of God, the Republic of Heaven: Depictions of God in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials:” “For Aslan, as for all the righteous in Narnia, death appears to have very little sting; when faced with a very healthy Prince Caspian, Aslan assures his companions: ‘He has died. Most people have, you know. Even I have.’” C. S. Lewis used the last book of the series, The 79 79

Last Battle, to mimic the Apocalypse foretold in the Biblical book of Revelation: those who believe in Aslan (Jesus) will be saved and allowed to live in Aslan’s Country (Heaven) for all eternity. However, those who do not believe in Aslan will be doomed. In the novel, C. S. Lewis describes how Aslan separated his followers from his enemies by forcing all of the inhabitants of Narnia to look into his face. As the children watched two different things happened, some of the Narnians looked at Aslan with “fear and hatred” and “swerved . . . [to Aslan’s] left, and disappeared into his huge black shadow” (LB 193, emphasis added). The other animals looked at “Aslan and loved him . . . And all these came in at the Door, in on Aslan’s right” (LB 193, emphasis added). This matches the Biblical description of how Jesus will one day separate the righteous from the unrighteous: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory . . . he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’ . . . Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ . . . Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31 – 34, 41, 46, emphasis added) All of Aslan’s friends and followers watch as the animals who do not know, love or believe in Aslan are left behind in Narnia as it is destroyed. All those who followed Aslan, however, are invited through the stable door and instructed to go “Further in and higher up!” until they reach Aslan’s Country. When Lucy Pevensie asks Aslan if he’s going to send them away again – as he has done before 80 80 when they become too old to remain in Narnia – Aslan explains that Lucy, and her friends and family, are all dead: “There was a real railway accident . . . Your father and mother and all of you are . . . dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream has ended: this is the morning” (LB 228, emphasis original). All of the Friends of Narnia are finally granted their wish: they get to remain with Aslan forever. All of the characters are happy to be reunited with their friends, family and loved ones in the real Narnia – no one is surprised, scared or angry to hear that they have died in a train accident. After all, as C. S. Lewis explains to his readers: “we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story . . . which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (LB 228). C. S. Lewis is showing his readers that so long as they put their faith and trust in Jesus, that this is only the beginning, and they have nothing to fear from death or dying. J. K. Rowling similarly uses the Harry Potter series to discuss death and the possibility of an afterlife; however, unlike Lewis, Rowling does not specifically provide a description of what the afterlife might entail. Instead, her novels are filled with ghosts who celebrate the anniversaries of their deaths like one would a birthday, and enchanted paintings where the previous headmasters of Hogwarts are able to live on. Harry also uses the Resurrection Stone to recall his lost loved ones in his greatest moment of need. Yet, despite all of this, J. K. Rowling refuses to give a clear depiction of what she thinks life after death might look like. At one point, after the death of his godfather, Harry Potter asks the Gryffindor house ghost, Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington, or Nearly Headless Nick, if Sirius might have become a ghost, too. Unfortunately, Nearly Headless 81 81

Nick explains that “very few wizards choose [this] path . . . [Sirius] will not come back he will have . . . gone on” (Order of the Phoenix 861). When Harry presses for more answers about what happens when someone dies Nearly Headless Nick explains that he cannot answer Harry’s questions, because he was too afraid to move on: “I cannot answer . . . I was afraid of death . . . I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have . . . I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead” (OP 861). A few moments after this disappointing interaction with Nearly Headless Nick, Harry runs into his friend Luna Lovegood who shares that she lost her mother a few years ago. However, instead of fearing that she will never see her mother again, Luna has complete confidence that someday they will be reunited: “And anyway, it’s not as though I’ll never see her again, is it?” (OP 863). When Harry attempts to protest his disbelief about being reunited with Sirius, Luna quickly cuts him off and points out that they both head voices behind the veil in the Department of Mysteries: “Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn’t you? . . . In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that’s all. You heard them” (OP 863). Even Dumbledore explains that those we love never truly leave us, “You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? [They live] in you” (Prisoner of Azkaban 427). While Rowling does not specifically offer her readers an answer regarding an afterlife, she does teach them that there are things worse than death. As Chantel Lavoie explains, “Central to Rowling’s work is the argument that ‘there are things much worse than death’ – ignominy, treachery, cruelty. Voldemort, in his terror of death, laughs at this belief, but he is not amused by it . . .” (59). Throughout the series Rowling uses Dumbledore to reinforce the idea that death 82 82 itself is nothing to be afraid of; in fact, it was this fear – in conjunction with his thirst for power – that ultimately leads to the growth of evil within Voldemort. In the middle of their duel in Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort angrily exclaims that “There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” to which Dumbledore calmly explains, “You are quite wrong . . . Indeed your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness” (OP 814). In fact, it is Harry’s willingness to accept the inevitability of his death that finally allows him to defeat Voldemort. As Dumbledore explains to Harry, Harry has become “the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die” (Deathly Hallows 720 – 721). Even Harry’s friend Hermione expresses the idea that people live on after death when she tries to explain the concept of a soul to Harry, “Look, if I picked up a sword right now . . . and ran you through with it, I wouldn’t damage your soul at all . . . whatever happens to your body, your soul would survive, untouched . . . it means . . . living beyond death. Living after death” (DH 104, 328). J. K. Rowling’s belief in life after death may, perhaps, be best summed up by Dumbledore in the very beginning of the series when Dumbledore tells Harry “. . . to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure” (SS 297). J. K. Rowling, like C. S. Lewis, teaches her readers that death is nothing to be afraid of – it’s just the next great adventure, or the next chapter of the “Great Story.”

The Role of Faith and the Importance of Personal Choices “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2: 26).

83 83

Finally, both series deal with the role of faith and the importance of personal choices. In The Chronicles of Narnia these values are best embodied by the two Pevensie sisters: Susan and Lucy. In Prince Caspian, The Pevensies find themselves in a Narnia that has been conquered by a new race of people, the Telmarines. The Telmarines fear that Aslan will one day return, and so they have rewritten the history of Narnia claiming that the talking beasts and the High King Peter and his co-monarchs are all just prehistoric myths. Even the very existence of Aslan has been called into question. In the midst of this conflict, only Lucy is able to see Aslan. Unfortunately, her brothers and sister do not believe her when she struggles to relate when and where she has seen Aslan: Aslan himself. Didn’t you see? . . . [You] may well have seen a lion . . . There are lions in these woods . . . But it needn’t have been a friendly and talking lion . . . And none of us except you saw anything” (Prince Caspian 131, 132, 134). Lucy caves to the pressure of her older brothers and sister, and follows them down the path that Aslan would not have chosen for them. Lucy later finds Aslan in the forest, while the others are sleeping, and, unfortunately, Aslan is not pleased with her as she should have done what she knew to be right – even if the others did not believe that she could really see Aslan: I saw you all right. They wouldn’t believe me . . . It doesn’t matter . . . you are a lioness (PC 149 – 150) After meeting with Aslan, Lucy is more forceful in conveying her beliefs concerning Aslan – both that she has seen him, and the direction he wants them to go. C. S. Lewis uses Lucy Pevensie to embody the importance of maintaining your faith in God when the world around you decries his very existence. 84 84

C. S. Lewis uses the other Pevensie sister, Susan, to signify the consequences surrounding the choices we make. In the last book of the series, C. S. Lewis’s fans and readers were shocked to learn that Susan was “no longer a friend of Narnia” (LB 169). As Susan’s family and friends explain, Susan is now solely interested in “nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up” (LB 169). Perhaps even more shocking, however, is the fact that Susan has convinced herself that their sojourns into Narnia were nothing more than imaginative games they played as children: “What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children” (LB 169). Scholars, critics and fans of The Chronicles of Narnia have debated what they call the “Problem of Susan” since this sudden and unexpected turn of events. Many people are critical of C. S. Lewis’s choice to exclude Susan from “Aslan’s Country.” Many people go so far as to accuse Lewis of being a misogynist who was afraid of female sexuality. However, these critics seem to be missing the point. The point isn’t that Susan has become a grown woman, and that sexually developed women aren’t allowed into Narnia; the point is that Susan was more concerned with being what she thought was a mature adult. As Polly Plummer angrily retorts regarding Susan “I wish she would grow up” (LB 169, emphasis added). In other words, Susan is trying to be what she thinks a mature adult should be. Lewis isn’t punishing Susan for growing up; instead, he is teaching his audience the importance of maintaining childlike faith. Susan chooses to turn away from Aslan and Narnia – she even convinces herself that it wasn’t real, that it was imaginative play and fantasy. However, all hope is not lost for Susan; she was not on the train, and therefore, does not die with the rest of her family. She has the rest of her life to live, and hopefully, she will find her way back to Aslan and Narnia. C. S. Lewis expressed 85 85 this belief himself in a letter to one of his young fans: “The books don’t tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there is plenty of time for her to mend, and perhaps she will get to Aslan’s country in the end” (Letters to Children 67). C. S. Lewis believes in the importance of maintaining a child-like faith and imagination, and, unfortunately, Susan has decided that one must lose both of these things to be a “real adult.” However, as Mary R. Bowman explains: “we should be more precise about Susan's degree of maturity . . . Susan is not in point of fact grown up . . . She has fixated at a stage along the way, a stage characterized not only by her interest in adult things, but also by her rejection of, even disbelief in, what she regards as childish things” (“A Darker Ignorance: C. S. Lewis and the Nature of the Fall”). Susan is excluded from Narnia for the simple reason that she never actually grew up or matured. In his essay, “On Three Ways of Writing for Children,” C. S. Lewis actually argued that these type of adults – adults like Susan – should be pitied: Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being an adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish 86 86

things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. (25) According to Lewis, then, Susan is stuck in a state of permanent adolescence – she cannot be the adult she wants to be, because she is afraid of appearing to be “childish.” This keeps Susan, unlike her siblings and the other “Friends of Narnia” from becoming her own person. Susan has chosen to be like the dwarfs trapped in the stable – they can neither see nor hear Aslan even though he is right in front of them – and, as a result, Aslan cannot bring her into Narnia. As Aslan explains: “They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief . . . [they are] afraid of being taken in [and so] they cannot be taken out” (LB 186). J. K. Rowling also addresses these values; however, Rowling encourages her readers to question things and to find the truth for themselves. Instead of encouraging her audience to have absolute faith in something or someone, as C. S. Lewis does, Rowling instead teaches that it’s okay to have and work through doubt. Rowling also chooses to emphasize the consequences – both good and bad – of individual choices. From the beginning of the series, Dumbledore explains to Harry – and by extension, to J. K. Rowling’s audience – that it is “our choices . . . that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities” (Chamber of Secrets 333). This idea – the importance of individual choice – is carried out over the course of the entire series. Harry’s very first year at Hogwarts begins with a choice: which house will he choose? Will he be placed in Gryffindor like his parents, or Slytherin like Lord Voldemort? When the Sorting Hat is first placed on Harry’s head, it assures him that he has “Plenty of courage . . . Not a bad mind either. There’s talent . . . and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting . . . where shall I put you?” (SS 121). Harry tells the Hat not to put him in 87 87

Slytherin, “Not Slytherin, eh? . . . better be GRYFFINDOR!” (SS 121, emphasis original). From the very beginning of his journey, Harry chooses what kind of wizard he is going to be: a wizard who is dedicated to courage and bravery, and not personal power and ambition. Over the course of the series, the reader is able to see the choices – and the consequences of those choices – of numerous characters: Sirius Black chooses to reject his family’s “pureblood” beliefs, and is ultimately abandoned by his family for being a blood traitor; Severus Snape chooses to side with Dumbledore in order to keep Harry safe, and pays with his life; Ron and Hermione drop out of their last year of school in order to help Harry find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes; Fred and George Weasley join the Order of The Phoenix in order to join the fight against Voldemort, leading to the maiming of one and the death of the other. One of the most important choices made in the series – and the choice with the greatest consequence – is the one made by Lord Voldemort when he hears Sybill Trelawny’s prophecy about the child to be born. Lord Voldemort decides that the child spoken about in the prophecy is Harry Potter; however, as Dumbledore explains another boy could have easily fulfilled the prophecy – none other than hapless Neville Longbottom: “. . . [The prophecy] may not have meant you at all. Sibyll’s prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys . . . one, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom . . . Harry he chose you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved both blessing and curse . . . He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him” (OP 842, emphasis added). If Voldemort had never acted on the prophecy, then he would never have had anyone to fear. If Voldemort hadn’t acted on the prophecy, Harry’s entire life would have been different: his parents wouldn’t have died, he wouldn’t have been raised by 88 88 his unsupportive muggle relatives, and he wouldn’t have to have to worry about being the “Chosen One.” However, because of Voldemort’s choice Harry is forced to make his own difficult choices. Harry must choose whether to have faith in Dumbledore, and whether or not he should carry out Dumbledore’s plan to find and destroy all of Voldemort’s remaining Horcurxes. After Dumbledore’s death and the smear campaign launched by Rita Skeeter, Harry struggles to maintain the high level of faith he once held for his previous headmaster. After learning about Dumbledore’s youth – his friendship with Grindelwald, their obsession with the Deathly Hallows and their plan to dominate muggles – Harry doesn’t know what to think or what to believe. For a while Harry rebels against his fond memories of Dumbledore, and thinks about pursuing the Deathly Hallows for himself, that he might become the true Master of Death before he faces Voldemort: “Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don’t expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!” (DH 362). In the end, Harry realizes that he must make a choice: will he trust that Dumbledore knew what he was doing? Will he trust that Dumbledore had his best interests in mind? Will he go after the Deathly Hallows and try to become the Master of Death? Or will he seek out and destroy the remaining Horcruxes? Harry finally decides – chooses – to follow Dumbledore’s plan, even if it means he must lay down his own life. After all, as Dumbledore once told Harry: “the time [will] come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy” (Goblet of Fire 724). J. K. Rowling uses Harry Potter to demonstrate how difficult it can be to hold onto faith, and to continue to make the right choices, when the world seems to be falling apart. 89 89

Conclusion Despite all of the differences surrounding The Chronicles of Narnia and The Harry Potter series, in all reality they have a lot more in common than some people would like to admit. Emily Griesinger explains that both series fundamentally deal with the concepts of right and wrong: For Lewis, deep magic is the moral law, the law of fair play, human decency, some deep-seated conviction of right and wrong . . . Deep magic in the sense Lewis uses that term in the Narnia books is . . . in the lessons Harry learns from Dumbledore and the choices he has to make to become a wise wizard . . .” (“Harry Potter and the ‘Deeper Magic:’ Narrating Hope in Children’s Literature”) Griesinger also points out that both series use “magic” to their advantage, because “Fairy tales and fairy-tale magic may have a role to play, then, in opening the reader to the Christian supernatural and eventually to salvation in Christ . . . In both Hogwarts and Narnia we are invited to suspend belief in the natural and believe instead in the supernatural” (“Harry Potter and the ‘Deeper Magic:’ Narrating Hope in Children’s Literature”). Their main difference, then, isn’t that one series incorporates magic or pagan elements while the other does not. Their main difference simply comes down to the authorial intent behind both works. C. S. Lewis wanted to explicitly teach elements of Christianity to his readers, hoping that they would fall in love with Aslan and Narnia – and later transfer this love to Jesus Christ. J. K. Rowling, on the other hand, teaches Christian values while still telling her readers that it’s okay to question everything in the pursuit of the truth. As Leonie Caldecott explained, Rowling simply “. . . understands the need of young people not to be spoon-fed the truth, but rather to puzzle it out for themselves” (27). This, ultimately, is what scares some people 90 90 away from Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling knew exactly what she was doing, and how she was impacting her readers and her critics alike. J. K. Rowling seemingly includes a reference to it in The Deathly Hallows in the form of a conversation between Dumbledore and Professor Snape: Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore. “ – Mediocre, arrogant . . . a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention seeking and impertinent – “ “You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore . . . “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likeable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child” (679) This conversation between Professor Snape and Dumbledore can easily be a conversation that J. K. Rowling (Dumbledore) had many times with her harshest critics (Professor Snape) who intentionally chose to ignore all of the good in her novels – love, sacrifice, redemption, faith, choices and the belief in an afterlife – and instead fixated only on the “bad:” the use of magic and the rebellious and questioning heroes and heroines.

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

“Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as for inducing them. And you and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has laid upon us for nearly a hundred years.”.” – C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (30 – 31)

C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling both incorporate magic and fantastical elements in their work, while using their respective series to promote Christian morals and values. Despite this, one of them has been widely accepted and supported by Christian readers, while the other has been condemned. The irony in all of this is that, in many ways, C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling are not that dissimilar from one another. C. S. Lewis struggled with his faith as a child, especially after watching his mother die from cancer. Before becoming a Christian, C. S. Lewis was a devout atheist who found truth and meaning in mythology. C. S. Lewis only became a Christian after a long talk with J. R. R. Tolkien during which Tolkien convinced Lewis that Christianity was, in fact, a , but it was a different kind of myth – it was God’s Myth. As Michael Nelson explains, “Lewis became persuaded that the many . . . ancient myths in which a god dies and is reborn to save his people had ‘really happened’ when Jesus was crucified and resurrected, placing Christianity squarely at the intersection of myth and history” (“For the Love of Narnia”). Once C. S. Lewis converted to Christianity, he became one of its foremost evangelists and apologists of the 20th century. Lewis felt that it was his duty to reach as many people as he could for God. C. S. Lewis knew that he could reach people through his writing, so that is what he sought out to do. In order to catch the attention of his young audience, C. 92 92

S. Lewis decided to write his own myth: “In writing The Chronicles . . . Lewis was trying to write a myth of his own that had all the excitement and truth of other myths, including the Christian one” (Nelson “For the Love of Narnia”). J. K. Rowling’s story is remarkably similar to Lewis’s. Rowling admits that she was always drawn to faith and religion (Gibbs), but that her faith, like Lewis’s, was shaken by the untimely death of her mother. Lewis sought comfort through the study of myths from around the world. Rowling sought comfort through her own writing, as it allowed her to work through her own doubt and fear concerning death and the afterlife. One of the biggest differences between C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling is that one – C. S. Lewis – overcame his disbelief, while the other – J. K. Rowling – is still working through her fear and doubt. Even to this day, Rowling struggles with her own faith and religious beliefs, and that comes through her writing. Instead of being didactic, as C. S. Lewis was when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, J. K. Rowling provides a safe place for her readers to search for their own answers – and to work through their own faith, doubt and fears. Despite this difference, the work of both authors is still decidedly Christian in the sense that they both promote valued Christian ideals, including: the importance of love, sacrifice and redemption; the importance of faith; how our choices define who we are; and the belief in life after death. Instead of rushing to a snap judgment of J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter simply because it contains elements of “witchcraft,” we should, instead, follow the advice of David and Catherine Deavel: “Any judgement of a book, or a series of books, needs to be considered as a whole. What is it promoting? What is it advancing?” (62). The Harry Potter books, like The Chronicles of Narnia, promote Christian moral principles. The adventures of Harry, just like the adventures of the Pevensies and 93 93 their friends, capture the imagination of young readers. And, in the end, all of the heroes and heroines of both series ultimately try to do what they know to be morally right. In that sense, Harry Potter is just as Christian as The Chronicles of Narnia, there is not a true difference or divide between them – it’s simply that they fall on different sides of the shift, or divide, in the use of religion in children’s literature. One work is didactic and teaches its readers what it means to be a Christian; while the other, expresses the fears and anxiety of the author, and by doing so, helps the reader discover their true self and identity. J. K. Rowling is still on a personal journey of faith, and is striving to work through her beliefs “with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). It is this quest, this search for faith and answers, which embodies Rowling’s work.

WORKS CITED

Abanes, Richard. Interview by Belinda Elliot. “Harry Potter: Harmless Christian Novel or Doorway to the Occult?” CBN. Christian Broadcasting Network. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Berman, Ruth. “Watchful Dragons and Sinewy Gnomes: C. S. Lewis’s Use of Modern Fairy Tales.” , 30.3 – 4 (2012): 117 – 127. ProQuest. Print.

Bowman, Mary R. “A Darker Ignorance: C. S. Lewis and the Nature of the Fall.” Mythlore, 24.1 (2003): 62+. Gale: Literature Resource Center. Print.

Brazier, P. H. “C. S. Lewis & Christological Prefigurement.” They Heythrop Journal, 48.5 (2007): 742 – 775. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Caldecott, Leonie. “A Wizard’s Mission: Christian Themes in Harry Potter.” The Christian Century, 125.1 (2008): 24 – 27. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Chappell, Drew. “Sneaking out After Dark: Resistance, Agency, and the Postmodern Child in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.” Children’s Literature in Education, 39.4 (2008): 281 – 293. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Cockrell, Amanda. “Harry Potter and the Witch Hunters: A Social Context for the Attacks on Harry Potter.” The Journal of American Culture, 29.1 (2006): 24 – 30). EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Colson, Chuck. “Witches and Wizards: The Harry Potter Phenomenon.” Breakpoint, 2 Nov 1999. Web. 20 September 2015.

Deavel, David Paul, and Catherine Jack Deavel. “Character, Choice and Harry Potter.” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 5.4 (2002): 49 – 64. Project Muse. Print.

Downing, David. Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. Print.

Fife, Ernelle. “Wise Warriors in Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling.” Mythlore, 25.95/96 (2006): 147 – 162. Print. Gale: Literature Resource Center. Print.

Gibbs, Nancy. “J. K. Rowling.” Time, 170.27 (2007): 72 – 74. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print. 95 95 Griesinger, Emily. “Harry Potter and the “Deeper Magic:” Narrating Hope in Children’s Literature.” Christianity & Literature, 51.3 (2002): 455+. Gale: Literature Resource Center. Print.

Guroian, Vigen. “Faith and the Journey to Aslan’s Kingdom.” Modern Age, 37.1 (1994): 54 – 62. Free E-Journals. Print.

“Harry Potter Distorts the Soul, Says Pope.” The Telegraph. 14 Jul 2005. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Hastings, Chris. “Tears as JK Rowling returns to where it began.” The Telegraph. 23 Dec. 2007. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Hooper, Walter. “Narnia: The Author, the Critics, and the Tale.” Children’s Literature, 3.1 (1974): 12 – 22. Project Muse. Print.

Lavoie, Chantel. “Rebelling Against Prophecy in Harry Potter and the Underland Chronicles.” The Lion and the Unicorn, 38.1 (2014): 45 – 65. Project Muse. Print.

Lewis, C. S. “It All Began with a Picture.” Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories. San Diego: Harcourt, 2002. 42. Print.

- - -. “Christian Apologetics.” Virtue Online. n.p. Web. 21 September 2015.

- - -. . New York: HarperTrophy, 1954. Print.

- - -. The Last Battle. New York: HarperTrophy, 1956. Print.

- - -. Letters to Children. Ed. Lyle W. Dorsett and Marjorie Lamp Mead. New York: Touchstone, 1995. Print.

- - -. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. New York: HarperTrophy, 1950. Print.

- - -. The Magician’s Nephew. New York: HarperTrophy, 1955. Print.

- - -. “On Three Ways of Writing for Children.” Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories. San Diego: Harcourt, 2002. 22 – 34. Print.

- - -. Prince Caspian. New York: HarperTrophy, 1951. Print.

- - -. The Silver Chair. New York: HarperTrophy, 1953. Print. 96 96 - - -. “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s To Be Said,” Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories. San Diego: Harcourt, 2002. 35 – 38. Print.

- - -. Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1955. Print.

- - -. Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: HarperTrophy, 1952. Print.

- - -. “The Weight of Glory.” The Weight of Glory: And Other Addresses. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001. 25 – 46. Print.

McSporran, Cathy. “The Kingdom of God, the Republic of Heaven: Depictions of God in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials.” ESharp: Elecgtronic Social Science, Humanities, and Arts Review for Postgraduates, 1 (2003): n.p. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

McVeigh, Dan. “Is Harry Potter Christian?” Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, 54.3 (2002) 196 – 215. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Miskec, Jennifer. “Religion and Children’s Literature: A Decennial Examination.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 36.3 (2011): 255 – 258. Project Muse. Print.

Nelson, Michael. “Fantasia: The Gospel According to C. S. Lewis.” The American Prospect Online. 31 Jan 2002. Web. 19 September 2015.

Nelson, Michael. “For the Love of Narnia.” The Chronicles of Higher Education. 02 December 2005. Web. 1 February 2016.

Niedbala, Amanda M. “From Hades to Heaven: Greek Mythological Influences in C. S. Lewis’s the Silver Chair.” Mythlore, 24.3 (2006): 71 – 93. Gale: Literature Resource Center. Print.

New International Version. Bible Gateway. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.

Petre, Jonathan. “J K Rowling: Christianity Inspired Harry Potter.” The Telegraph. 20 Oct. 2007. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print.

---. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007. Print. 97 97 ---. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2002. Print.

---. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.

---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, 2003. Print.

---. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print.

---. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print.

Ryken, Philip Graham. “C. S. Lewis on Holy Scripture.” Knowing & Doing C. S. Lewis Institute. Spring (2014): n.p. Web.

Sayer, George. Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1988. Print.

Schakel, Peter J. “Hidden Images Of Christ In The Fiction Of C. S. Lewis.” Studies In The Literary Imagination 46.2 (2013): 1-18. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print.

Senland, Amie, and Elizabeth Vozzola. “Christian Perspectives on Harry Potter: Tool of Satan or Christian Parable?” Journal of Research in Character Education, 5.2 (2007): 149 – 165. EBSCO: Education Search Complete. Print.

“Success of Harry Potter bowls author over.” CNN. 21 Oct 1999. Web. 2 Feb 2016.

Templeton, Alice. “Sociology and Literature: Theories for Cultural Criticism.” College Literature, 19.2 (1992): 19 – 30. Education Search Complete. Print.

“Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000 – 2009.” American Library Association, 26 March 2013. Web. 1 February 2016.

Toynbee, Polly. “Narnia Represents Everything that is most Hateful about Religion.” The Guardian, 5 December 2005. Web. 1 February 2016.

Werner, Craig, and Frank Riga. “The Persistence of Religion in Children’s Literature.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 14.1 (1989): 2 – 3. Project Muse. Print. 98 98 Wolosky, Shira. “Harry Potter’s Ethical Paradigms: Augustine, Kant, and Feminist Moral Theory.” Children’s Literature, 40.1 (2012): 191 – 217. Project Muse. Print.

Wood, Naomi. “Introduction: Children’s Literature and Religion.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 24.1 (1999): 1 – 3. Project Muse. Print.

Wood, Naomi. “Paradise Lost and Found: Obedience, Disobedience, and Storytelling in C. S. Lewis and Philip Pullman.” Children’s Literature in Education, 32.4 (2001): 237 – 259. EBSCO: Academic Search Complete. Print. Fresno State

Non-Exclusive Distribution License (to archive your thesis/dissertation electronically via the library’s eCollections database)

By submitting this license, you (the author or copyright holder) grant to Fresno State Digital Scholar the non-exclusive right to reproduce, translate (as defined in the next paragraph), and/or distribute your submission (including the abstract) worldwide in print and electronic format and in any medium, including but not limited to audio or video.

You agree that Fresno State may, without changing the content, translate the submission to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation.

You also agree that the submission is your original work, and that you have the right to grant the rights contained in this license. You also represent that your submission does not, to the best of your knowledge, infringe upon anyone’s copyright.

If the submission reproduces material for which you do not hold copyright and that would not be considered fair use outside the copyright law, you represent that you have obtained the unrestricted permission of the copyright owner to grant Fresno State the rights required by this license, and that such third-party material is clearly identified and acknowledged within the text or content of the submission.

If the submission is based upon work that has been sponsored or supported by an agency or organization other than Fresno State, you represent that you have fulfilled any right of review or other obligations required by such contract or agreement.

Fresno State will clearly identify your name as the author or owner of the submission and will not make any alteration, other than as allowed by this license, to your submission. By typing your name and date in the fields below, you indicate your agreement to the terms of this distribution license.

Embargo options (fill box with an X).

Make my thesis or dissertation available to eCollections immediately upon X submission.

Embargo my thesis or dissertation for a period of 2 years from date of graduation.

Embargo my thesis or dissertation for a period of 5 years from date of graduation.

Camion Dunnicliff – Vizthum

Type full name as it appears on submission

April 13, 2016

Date