We all would have, sir. Well, all of us except Jadis. . . the evil Queen who reminds us how imposing, ego-maniacal and terrifying she really is. (I startled my daughters, twice, while imitating her speech). The Lion’s singing has brought forth the stars, the sun, and now grasses and trees. The Witch hates the music and flees the Lion’s presence, but the children long to meet him. Suddenly, countless animals of different kinds burst forth from the ground. The Lion, Aslan, walks among the animals and touches noses with certain ones. The chosen animals gather around him, and he breathes into them the ability to think and speak. Aslan charges these Talking Beasts with the care of those who don’t speak.

Parallels with events in the Book of Genesis include the forbidden fruit represented by an Apple of Life. Jadis tempts Digory to eat one of the forbidden apples in the garden, as the serpent tempts Eve into eating a forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden; unlike Eve however, Digory rejects the offer. (Lewis's Perelandra also features a re-enactment of the same Biblical story, which in that book also ends with the tempter foiled and the fall avoided.) Harris, Aurand; Lewis, C.S.; Penn, William A. (1984). The magician's nephew: a dramatization. Dramatic Publishing. pp.4–5. ISBN 0-87129-541-5.It's mildly embarrassing that I've lived almost 32 years and I've only read one book from the Narnia series. Well, I guess I've read two now, but I feel like I should have read those a long time ago. As an adult, it's difficult to even rate this book fairly because the adult version of myself wants to be all critical and make comments about how this isn't Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but it's not supposed to be. And that's fine with me. One day, Polly Plummer, a young girl living in a London row house, is surprised to meet a young boy, Digory, who’s moved in next door. He’s living with his old, unmarried aunt and uncle, the Ketterleys, because his mother is dying and his father is away in India. The two children speculate about Digory’s “mad” Uncle Andrew and Andrew’s mysterious study. Polly and Digory become friends and spend the summer exploring the interconnected attics of the row houses. Despite protests from Polly, Digory rings the bell. This awakens the last of the statues, a witch queen named Jadis, who—to avoid defeat in battle—had deliberately killed every living thing in Charn by speaking the " Deplorable Word". As the only survivor left in her world, she placed herself in an enchanted sleep that would only be broken by someone ringing the bell. Glory be! said the Cabby. “I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this.” The Magician's Nephew begins with a brief summary of the time period during which the story occurs. A famous detective still lived at Baker Street and the schools were less pleasant than today's schools. During this time in London lived a young girl named Polly Plummer

The Hall of Images displays the regal history of Charn, showcasing lifelike portraits of past rulers who are depicted as tall, beautiful, and powerful figures seated upon their thrones. The sequence of these images, through the expressions on their faces, tells a story of a civilization that was once benevolent but degenerated into a cruel, tyrannical empire. The early Emperors and Empresses of Charn were kind and decent, but over centuries, for unexplained reasons, their lineage devolved into one of malevolence, corruption, evil, and despair, seeing their subjects only as a means to an end. Evidently, their hunger for power was insatiable and they conquered several other realms, as Jadis gloats that "many great kings" attempted to stand against Charn, but were defeated and their names lost to history. Slavery was once common in Charn, as was human sacrifice. The last queen of Charn was Jadis, although the numerous empty thrones after hers suggest a premature end to the dynasty. After this, she put herself into an enchanted sleep in the Hall of Images. During her suspended animation, all water in Charn dried up and the once-magnificent city crumbled into ruin. Jadis was responsible for the eradication of all life on Charn but blamed the destruction on her sister. Jadis and her sister fought a civil war for the throne, which Jadis eventually lost. She claimed she had offered to spare her sister's life if she surrendered, so the resulting destruction was the unnamed sister's fault. Jadis obliterated her kingdom and all its people rather than relinquishing her power over them.The sacred Garden in the west of the Narnian world is surrounded by a "high wall of green turf" with branches of trees overhanging it, and "high gates of gold, fast shut, facing due east", which must be the only entrance because the travellers "walked nearly all the way round it" before they found them. In all these points Lewis echoes John Milton's description of Eden in Paradise Lost: Lewis, C. S. (1966). "Different Tastes in Literature". In Walter Hooper (ed.). On Stories: and other essays on literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p.121.

He never defines it philosophically, theologically, or psychologically. Usually, he just draws a line arbitrarily between 'good people' (people like him) and 'bad people' (everyone else). Like Tolkien, he takes the comfortable and familiar and fences it off--a little peaceful island home, safe against an incomprehensible world. As Jadis leads the children through the decaying palace, she describes the cruelty of Charn and its leaders. She points out dungeons and torture chambers to them and recounts that her great-grandfather once invited seven hundred nobles to a banquet and slaughtered them all, "before they had drunk their fill," for "they had rebellious thoughts." In The Magician’s Nephew, Lewis gives a vivid account of the dawn of the kingdom of Narnia, the primary setting in the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia series. The burgeoning vitality of this world finds its origin in Aslan’s innate, inexhaustible creativity. Those whom Aslan creates, or those who come to share in his world through their gratitude and wonder at his creation, are endowed with dignity and beauty by association with him. By contrast, those who mistrust Aslan resist and seek to exploit the beauty of his world, even failing to see it for what it is. Through this juxtaposition, Lewis suggests that the beauty and dignity of the world and its creatures is upheld by those who honor its creator. The two think that the event is over when they hear a sound from the end of the room. The last figure, the fiercely beautiful one, rises from her chair and comes to the children, asking how she has been awakened. Digory takes responsibility for her waking. The woman states that Digory is not of royal blood and asks how he came to the palace. Polly answers that they came by magic. Ignoring Polly, the queen again asks Digory if it is true. He responds affirmatively and the woman grabs him suddenly by the chin and studies him for several minutes before surmising that he is not a magician but rather traveled on another person's magic. Digory tells her that it was Uncle Andrew's doing.Jonathan has been thinking more about Narnia, and yesterday he had an interesting question. Aslan's superpower is that he can make bad people into good people, as you see with Edmund and Eustace. So why can't he make the White Witch into a good person? It would seem like a much easier solution. Lewis had originally intended only to write the one Narnia novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. However, when Roger Lancelyn Green asked him how a lamp-post came to be standing in the midst of Narnian woodland, Lewis was intrigued enough by the question to attempt to find an answer by writing The Magician's Nephew, which features a younger version of Professor Kirke from the first novel. [4] Meanwhile, Strawberry carries Digory and Polly to Aslan. The Lion is still in conference with his chosen Beasts and Digory realizes that he cannot interrupt. At Aslan's command, the animals pull aside and Digory approaches, asking if Aslan would help his mother. Aslan looks away and asks the animals if this is the boy who did it. Aslan then turns to Digory and commands him to explain how the witch came to Narnia. The whole story comes out and Digory is told that he must undo what has been done. Aslan turns to the cabby and Polly. The Lion asks the cabby if he would like to live in Narnia. The cabby is reluctant because he is married and does not want to leave his wife. Through magic, Aslan calls the cabby's wife from the other world and the two are together again. Aslan tells them that they are to be the first King and Queen of Narnia. After a brief outline of the responsibilities of the King, Aslan declares that the coronation will be held soon. Aslan asks Polly if she has forgiven Digory for the harm he had done in Charn, and she says that she has. Satisfied, Aslan turns to deal with Digory himself.

The character of Andrew Ketterley also closely resembles Robert Capron, a schoolmaster at Wynyard School, which Lewis attended with his brother, whom Lewis suggested during his teens would make a good model for a villain in a future story. Ketterley resembles Capron in his age, appearance, and behaviour. [14] Style [ edit ] The frame story, set in England, features two children ensnared in experimental travel via "the wood between the worlds". Thus, the novel shows Narnia and our middle-aged world to be only two of many in a multiverse, which changes as some worlds begin and others end. It also explains the origin of foreign elements in Narnia, not only the lamp-post but also the White Witch and a human king and queen.

All CS Lewis Reviews

What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” Parallels may also be found in Lewis's other writings. Jadis's references to "reasons of State", and her claim to own the people of Charn and to be beyond morality, represent the eclipse of the medieval Christian belief in natural law by the political concept of sovereignty, as embodied first in royal absolutism and then in modern dictatorships. [26] Uncle Andrew represents the Faustian element in the origins of modern science. [27] The Holy Spirit and the breath of life [ edit ] On March 22, 2011 it was announced that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew would be the next film in the series. Jennings, Coleman A.; Sendak, Maurice (2005). Theatre for Young Audiences. Macmillan. pp.46–7. ISBN 0-312-33714-0. Hardy, Elizabeth Baird (2007). Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: literary sources for the C. S. Lewis novels. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2876-2. pp30–34