Imagery In The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

Klarra Lee

English 9H

Paul Hughes

November 19, 2017

World War Two, the Bible, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, written by C. S. Lewis, is about the adventures of four children in a world called Narnia, which is a place inside a wardrobe. In Narnia, the children meet a lion, named Aslan, and fight the White Witch, who calls herself the Queen of Narnia. The context of World War Two and the representation of the biblical imagery in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is closely connected to each other. The background of the book and the time period in which the book was written, are both during the time period of World War Two. Also, the author, C. S. Lewis is a deep Christian. For this reason,

The White Witch is considered the creature of nightmares, who makes the weather of winter last forever, without Christmas. Also, she tortures any animal who disobeys her, and turns them into stone statues. In the story, the White Witch captures the faun, Mr. Tumnus, who disobeyed her mission to kidnap humans, and as a result tortures him in a violent way. This represents Hitler and the Gestapo capturing and torturing the innocent Jewish people in the Concentration camps, where Hitler is alluded to the White Witch, and the Gestapo is the White Witch’s police, whilst Mr. Tumnus is the Jews. Apart from this, in the book, the White Witch captures Aslan and puts him on the stone table. There, the White Witch and evil animals bounded and muzzled him, as well as shaved his manes and laughed at him. Then, they killed Aslan and left. This resembles the Roman soldiers in the Bible, who crucified Jesus onto the Crucifix. Before the soldiers crucified Jesus, they undressed and shamed him in front of other people, “Then the soldiers and the military commander and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him.” (John 18:12)Here, the White Witch is depicted as the Roman