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Pursuit of the Prophecy: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The first book of the Narnia series, considered as the most important work of C.S Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came up in 1950.

The first book of the Narnia series, considered as the most important work of C.S Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came up in 1950. In 2005, the book gained a world-wide reputation when Andrew Adamson adapted it into cinema.

Although Lewis referred to his book as a "fairy tale" when dedicating the book to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield; the context, which attracts the attention of readers of all ages, demonstrates that the story is different than how he describes. The world created by Lewis is like a manifestation of holy books because of giving place to mythological beings; a lion resembling Jesus, a witch coming from Lilith, the children of Adam and Eve. The fact that the structure of the text, which is established with a strict fatalism, together with the sentences referring to various religious items, also supports this claim. This essay aims to show the contribution of different religious elements to the author's fantasy world. Together with this, it will try to show the reflection of the fantastic world in the cinema.

Narnia is a world in which various kinds of beings live equally. Mr.Tumnus, a fauna living in Narnia, has a book called "Is Human Being a Myth?" Thus, a parallelism is established between two worlds. While the fays and the faunas are myths in the world of people, the human being is seen as a myth in Narnia. The people of Narnia, however, believe in this myth. There is a prophecy in the world of Narnia that the children of Adam and Eve will take over the administration. Everyone including the Witch accepts this prophecy as true. In the heterogeneous world of Narnia every being is a living: "There were wonderful forms of stones that resembled women but were actually the spirits of trees. There was a wonderful replica of a Senator, a winged horse, and a snake-like creature that Edmund likened to a dragon." (Lewis 57). Everyone was happy in this world before the Witch's rule. It is a mythological world, in which the god of wine brings joy and Silenus, the son of Hermes and Nympha, roams: "He told that old Silenus was coming to visits with his fat donkey, sometimes Baküs was coming too. In those days the wine was pulsing instead of the water, and the whole forest was in joy for weeks."(Lewis 15). However, after a point there emerged a never ending winter with the Witch and this joy has ended. The mythological gods that bring joy to them, however, have been replaced by evil beings on the side of the Witch. Thus, in Narnia, as in the sacred texts, a strict good-evil opposition becomes apparent. The evil beings resemble the beings of Homer's Odysseia: "Call giants, werewolves, and trees that are on our side. Call goblins, jinn, human eaters, and minotaur. Call tyrants, sorcerers, ghouls and poisonous mushroom people."(Lewis 79). These opposing forces constitute an epic story with the coming of the children of Adam and Eve to Narnia.

The movie has been made by keeping the original story except for a few minor changes. It also reflects Narnia's mythological universe very well. Lucy, one of four siblings, who were sent away from London because of the war, hides in a wardrobe in an empty room during the hide-and-seek game. She goes to the land of Narnia, where the season is winter, from this wardrobe which is full of great furs and coats. There she meets Mr. Tumnus, who is a fauna. From Tumnus, she learns that this cold and dreary country was once a place where entertaining parties are held in lush forests. Lucy cannot convince her siblings about the existence of such a place when she returns. Edmund, who likes to have fun with Lucy, follows her one day and becomes the second person who goes to Narnia. Unlike Lucy, Edmund encounters the Witch. The Witch serves delicious Turkish delights and hot drinks to Edmund and moreover, she offers him more Turkish delight and princedom if he brings his siblings to that place. After meeting with Lucy in Narnia, Edmund does not tell her about this event. After they return, when Lucy tells her siblings that she met Edmund in Narnia, Edmund rejects it. Finally, one day, when they run away from the maid Margaret, four siblings hide in the wardrobe and go to Narnia.

This part of the original story is based on fatalism. The siblings, who learned that Mr. Tumnus was abducted by the Witch, go to the house of a beaver who calls them. Here, the beaver tells them a kind of prophecy involving two girls and two boys, who are the children of Adam and Eve. Peter, on the other hand, states that they are not heroes. This point is important because Edmund had earlier stated that his brothers had no special features when he first encountered the Witch. The siblings are ordinary people living in their own world, but they become heroes in Narnia. As a matter of fact, Santa Claus, who came to Narnia for the first time after the Witch, gives a sword and shield to Peter, a bow to Susan, and an ointment and a wedge to Lucy. However, Edmund goes to see the Witch. The betrayal of Edmund to his siblings is also linked to fate and prophecy. Especially in the text version, the narrator insists that Edmund is not a bad person and he has betrayed his siblings because of the magic in the delight given by the Witch. It is important for the story that this point is not fully reflected in the movie. Even when Edmund betrays, he knows the truth by his heart: "It was an excuse for himself for what he did, but it was not a good excuse because, in fact, he sincerely thought the White Witch was bad and cruel." (Lewis 54). Edmund’s going on the wrong path shows that he cannot take an action against his fate. The long narrative about the journey of Edmund’s going to the Witch's house makes us feel that Edmund is pulled there by an unknown force. It also indicates that Edmund is shown as a sinful character because he betrays them for food and prosperity, so to say for his self-desires. According to the narrative, the Witch is among the descendants of demons, the giants and Lilith, who is the first wife of Adam. Thus, at the symbolic level the person, who deceives the good Adam, just as in the sacred texts, becomes the cursed woman Lilith.

Peter, Lucy and Susan arrive at the camp area of the Lion after their journey with the beavers. During the journey, winter is gradually felt less. The return of the Lion is synchronous with the arrival of the children of Adam and Eve in the prophecy. The emergence of the Lion adds a figure of Jesus to Narnia's mythological world. The identification of the Lion with Jesus takes place when he sacrifices himself for Edmund. The Lion's men save Edmund, but the magic in Narnia is on the Lion and the Witch. The Great Emperor, who made the magic, had given the right to the Witch to kill the traitors. When the Witch wants Edmund back, the Lion talks with her privately and he sacrifices himself instead of Edmund. On that night, the Lion is sacrificed around the Stone Table in a ceremony accompanied by the Witch and various creatures. Despite the fact that the content of the movie and the text is the same, they differ from each other in terms of the places where the return of the Lion is described. In the movie, the director shows the Lion on the one side and the battlefield on the other. Along with the Lion's story, the audience also witnesses the experiences of Peter and of Edmund in the battlefield. However, the story of the Lion in the text is more central. The reader goes along with the Lion to the field where the war takes place. Thus, the metaphor of Jesus' return is more epic in the text. On the other hand, the narrative of the war in the movie is more detailed and successful than the text. The Lion recreates the beings that the Witch turned into stones, and helps Peter and Edmund, who are in difficult situations. Meanwhile, Edmund fights against the Witch and is seriously wounded. Edmund, hence, pays for his faults and repents symbolically. As the Lion defeats the Witch, four siblings sit on the throne like the prophecy and Peter becomes the greatest king.

As a result, the story deals with the war of good and evil around a certain fatalism. The story of Narnia is based entirely on binary contrasts. Examples such as summer and winter, goodness and evil are clear indications of this. From this point of view, it is possible to clearly argue that the narrative is influenced by the monotheistic religions. However, it can be said that it contains paganism with details such as the presence of many mythological entities and the intervention of the trees in the living. The movie and the narrative have been criticized by some people for carrying paganic items while some others criticized it for making propaganda of Christianity. On the contrary, I think that the writer only benefits from these details. I also believe that the efficiency of the narrative is because of the use of religious and mythological things successfully despite the fact that it is not that successful in terms of the style. The movie continues to be welcomed by fantastic movie fans as these elements are presented in a strong visual sense.

 

Bibliography

Lewis, C.S.. Narnia Günlükleri: Aslan, Cadı ve Dolap. Trans. Müfit Balabanlılar. İstanbul: Doğan

Egmont Yayıncılık, 2012.