Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Reflection on The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis


               This book is great! I have not interacted with these stories since that mediocre movie came out and I didn’t even know how much I missed them. IT reminded me of my childhood and I really like the world that Lewis creates. He is clearly very Tolkeinesque, as there are motifs of Christianity and a love for nature that are major in both authors’ works. In The Lion, however, Lewis also breaks the fourth wall constantly, directed at his young readers, saying things like, “And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story.” Lewis is also always warning his readers to, if they go into a wardrobe, not close the door behind them, obviously concerned about the safety of impressionable children.
               I think Lewis develops his male characters, Peter and Edmund, really well as foils to one another, yet the female characters seem less well developed, though Lucy is very likeable. I felt like Susan didn’t have any major attributes that stood out. I would say that the book is certainly of its time (the 1940s and 50s) in how it treats women and girls. On the other hand, it has a really nice view of being emotional, rejecting the idea that people should bottle things in. After one particularly difficult moment he writes, “I won’t say there wasn’t kissing and crying on both sides. But in Narnia no one thinks any worse of you for that.” This is a great book and I’m gonna read the whole series.

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