Amber Cowart, an essayist on a very thorough C.S. Lewis website, emphasizes interesting aspects of Lewis’s writing. In “The Success of C.S. Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia,” she focuses on the fact that Lewis did not write these stories with the sole purpose of relaying a religious message. Cowart points out that any Christian truth entered his Narnia stories “of its own accord.” She explains the sometimes-conspicuous metaphors by remembering that Lewis had a faith that would unavoidably impact all his works. In fact, Lewis wrote this series determined not to push away readers who do not accept Christianity. He understandably does not want to impose so much on his readers that they become resentful. Cowart says that Lewis concluded that the best way to present Christianity is to present it in a fictional world, “a world in which it would be easier to accept.” Cowart even points out that one of the reasons that the Chronicles of Narnia is so successful is that not all people acknowledge the character of Aslan as a picture of Jesus. She explains that Lewis did not intend for his novels to be a straightforward allegory, but simply adventure stories. If a reader skips right to finding symbolism in Lewis’s stories, he or she misses the beauty and excitement of them. Cowart concludes this thought by quoting that “children should be left to enjoy [The Chronicles] imaginatively and emotionally, without being asked to reflect upon [its] significance. Out of that enjoyment, meaning will come.”Amber Cowart’s thoughts on the Chronicles as an allegory were very interesting. I agree that without a simple attitude of adventure while reading the stories, a reader can totally miss Lewis’s first intention in writing them. The fact that she admires C.S. Lewis becomes very obvious in her explanation of why he wrote these books. And I admire Lewis even more when I read that his faith inevitably became a theme in his works, even while he had a broader audience in mind.
4 comments:
I have never read any of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series nor have I seen the movie. Around the time the movie came out, I did read a little about the series. I agree with Cowart that children should be able to enjoy the Chronicles as just stories that allow them to let them use their imagination. Children should not be forced to discover the “deeper meaning.” I am glad that C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles as fun and imaginative stories for children, not as a way to impose Christianity or any other religion on people.
Yes girl yes!..i cannot wait till the next movie comes out. I am all like so into those awesome battle sequences thart portray the end of times and Gods battle with satan!. Yea i did not want these books to spark my passion to let everyone know about my religion.but yet it makes me relise the reality of it all.
The movie was pretty good but I think I might like to check out the book before the next movie comes out. Fantasy has never really been interesting to me but I like to imagine things in my head and then see how the movie portrays things. I also think that I will get more out of the allegory if I read the book. Movies leave things out or cannot always say what the author does. It will also be interesting to read one of Lewis’ “story books.” I have never read anything by Lewis that has a plot or a storyline and I think it would be interesting to do so.
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