C.S. Lewis 1898-1963

The Author of The Chronicles of Narnia

-Born Nov 29, 1898 in Belfast Ireland

-As a toddler he declared his name was Jack and thats what his family then called him

-He was close with his older brother Warren and had a great imagination

-His mother died when he was 10

Early Life

-Graduated from Oxford University-Good friends with J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Hobbit)

-Began publishing works in the mid-1920’s-In 1954 he joined the faculty at Cambridge University

-1956 he married Joy Gresham-In 1963 he resigned from Cambridge then later that year died

Adult Years

-C.S. Lewis uses Christianity in almost all his writings

-His first major work The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933) was his own spiritual journey to Christian faith

-There are 7 Narnia books, 3 of which have been made into movies

-The Chronicles of Narnia have sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages

Writing Highlights

-Even though it is the 6th book written it’s the 1st book chronologically (prequel) to the rest of the Narnia books

-Includes a number of autobiographical elements

-Includes general Christian implications including original sin,temptation, and the order of nature

-It is a representation of Genesis and how the world came into existance

The Magician’s Nephew

-Many people have connected the christian principles in the making of Narnia presented in The Magician’s Nephew but what many don’t know is that it is not intended to directly model the creation of Earth it is to create what would happen if another world was created

-Aslan is therefore not directly Jesus Christ but a new Christ that would be present in a new world

More The Magician’s Nephew

-C.S. Lewis has always been honest in his writings, when he fell away from Christianity and when he reunited with it

- “On Being Human” was written in 1946 right after England ended their involvement in WWII

-The poem is comforting to those who lost friends and family in the war

“On Being Human” Context

“On Being Human” says angels have simple intelligence. Angels have no senses (as in they can’t smell or touch), they have no skin or nose. Yet, with all their lacking they are independent, they don’t depend on air or other people they know the heavens to their full extent.The maker shares with humans a secret forever theirs.

Summary of “On Being Human”

Definition- a saying, question, picture, etc that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous

Example: Bigfoot is a famous example of an enigma because many people claim sightings but no one has hard evidence of a Bigfoot

From the poem: C.S. Lewis uses enigma throughout the poem because the reader does not know whether he prefers the intelligence of angels or the sense of humans

Enigma

Definition-the formation of mental images by a figurative description or illustration

Example:Where the ocean kissed the southern shore

From the poem:mortals breathing it drink the whole summer down into the breast

Imagery

Definition- the position of the narrator in relation to the story

Example: first person (I, we) second person (you, your) third person (he, she, it, they)

From the poem: Far richer they! I know the senses

Point of View

Love is the Angel’s ability to be omniscient, to know the heavens and the reasons why. Not knowing limiting senses.

Hate is the human’s limiting senses that forbids them from seeing the whole picture. The senses allow pain and the harsh unknown

Love and Hate

-In Narnia, Aslan picks two of each of the animals to be the leaders of the individual species

-He grants the animals stewardship just like God grants Adam and Eve stewardship

-Also a reference to Noah’s Ark two of each animal to populate the new world

The Animals

-Before returning to their world Aslan gives Polly and Digory a warning and a command

-The warning is a past world disappearing because a wicked queen became too powerful

-The warning (although in a fictional novel) is a real warning to human society

-the command is to hide the magic rings that belong to Uncle Andrew

-the command is meant to keep the power out of the wrong hands in their world

The Warning and Command