narnia

Plot Summary

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first published novel in C.S. Lewis's famed Narnia Chronicles. The novel, which follows four siblings through a magic wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia, is a beautifully written novel that has delighted people of all ages for more than fifty years. Originally written for the writer's niece, this novel tells the ultimate story of good versus evil as the children fight an evil witch with the help of a unique lion, Aslan, to save the creatures of Narnia from perpetual winter. It is a story that continues to draw in new readers with its simplicity and pure heroism.

The story begins with four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, going to the country to stay with an uncle during the air raids in London. The uncle is.....


Overview

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe treats questions of truth and lying, love and hate, good and evil, and forgiveness and revenge with honesty and respect for the reader's intelligence. While Lewis's thoughts on these subjects are interesting in themselves, the ideas become even more exciting within the context of a fast-paced and imaginative adventure story. The novel is filled with mythical creatures, humorous moments, and suspenseful situations. Although many events and characters seem improbable, the four children in the book—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—are realistically portrayed. They are well-rounded characters with individual strengths and faults.

The ideas in the novel apply to the real world as well. The government of Narnia is totalitarian. One person creates the rules, has power over all aspects of people's lives, and does not allow.....

Characters

Peter

In our world, Peter is a young English boy, the eldest in a family of four children. The children have been sent out of London because of the air raids that took place there during the war and are staying with an uncle in his home in the country. Peter, as the oldest, takes on the role of parental figure to his younger siblings, attempting to keep them entertained through the long days of summer and keep them from fighting, as siblings tend to do. The role becomes even more important when Lucy discovers the world inside the wardrobe and cannot get anyone to believe her. First Peter attempts to coax the truth out of Lucy; at least, what he believes is the truth that she is making the whole thing up. When this does.....

Objects/Places

Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight are small candies that can be strawberry, lemon, or orange flavored. They are often made with nuts and rolled in powder sugar. These are the candies that Edmund asks for on his first visit with the White Witch.

The Wardrobe

The wardrobe is a wardrobe full of old winter coats. When Lucy wanders into the wardrobe in order to hide during a game of hide and seek, she finds herself stepping into a wood in a world different from our own.

The House in the Country

The house in the country belongs to an uncle of the children. The children are sent here for the summer to escape the bomb raids taking place in London at the time.

Mr. and Mrs. Beavers Home

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's home is where the children go shortly after.....

Setting

The story begins in England during the early 1940s, while World War II is in progress. Four London children have been sent by their parents to the English countryside because German airplanes regularly bomb the city. In the country, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy live with an old professor in a large, mysterious house. They enjoy exploring the old house and playing such games as hide-and-seek. One room is empty except for a wardrobe full of.....

Social Sensitivity

Two aspects of the novel that may be of concern to some readers—religion and violence—are treated by Lewis with sensitivity. Although God and Christ are never explicitly mentioned, most people will recognize the parallels between Aslan and Christ, and between the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea and God. References to Adam and Eve and Christmas are also suggestive of religion. Although it is steeped in Christian allegory, Lewis attempts to make his story universally applicable to the human condition. He uses Christianity not as propaganda but as a springboard for his ideas. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is filled with characters and images from Greek and Roman myths, Arab folktales, and European medieval romances. The magic is truly magical, rather than miraculous in a religious sense. Few young readers are likely to regard the allegory as more than.....

Literary Qualities

While The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an exciting adventure story, it is not a simple novel entirely dependent on plot. Lewis uses a wide variety of techniques to make the novel interesting on several levels. Symbols play an important part. For example, Aslan's death plainly represents Christ's sacrifice and Resurrection. Aslan's father, the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, represents God; the irredeemable evil White Witch represents Satan. The snow that covers Namia throughout the year is a symbol of death, an indication that Narnia is a cold and bleak place where life cannot properly develop. Springtime and Christmas, symbols of hope, never come to Narnia until the White Witch's defeat.

Lewis uses similar symbolism to describe the White Witch's character:

"Her face was white—not merely pale, but white like snow or icing sugar, except for.....

Themes

Good Versus Evil

One of the major themes of this novel is the idea of good versus evil. The children arrive in Narnia to find it under the evil rule of the White Witch, the self appointed Queen of Narnia. It has been prophesied that human children will come to Narnia and free it of the Witch's rule, an idea that is new to these children who are still very young. The Witch represents, with her magic and unkind personality, everything that is evil in Narnia. The Witch has placed Narnia in a constant winter without the joy of Christmas and she rules with a heavy hand, turning many of her subjects into stone statues whenever they displease her. On the other hand, there is Aslan, a lion who is kind and gentle, a symbol of.....

Quotes

"It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of, and it was full of unexpected places". Chapter 1, Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe, p. 112

"Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well. She looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree trunks, she could see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out. (She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very sill thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe)". Chapter 1, Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe, p. 113

"While he was eating, the Queen kept asking him questions. At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak.....

Topics for Discussion

1. Edmund lies, is cruel, knowingly helps evil, and seems like a villain; yet he is made a king. Why isn't he punished for all the bad deeds he commits?

2. The old professor had never been to Narnia and seems too old to believe in fairy tales, yet he takes Lucy's original story seriously and later accepts the children's tales of adventures in Narnia.

Why does he believe these tales?

3. The children all experience different feelings when they first hear Asian's name in chapter 7: "Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that.....