The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe Food Essay

The power of food as a tool in the growth and maturity of individuals is crucial through food as a medium for didactic teachings, especially in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The novel emphasizes Aslan as a provider and the savior of Narnia. Before the White Witch claimed the throne the harmonious land of Narnia had “streams [that would] run with wine instead of water” (Lewis 17). This exemplifies a utopian state of Narnia, in which food and drink are plentiful and linking it with the presence of Aslan. Consequently, C.S Lewis carefully makes the distinction between foods that are wholesome and nutritious against meals that are overly sweet. In the first encounter between Lucy and Mr. Tumnus, he server her “sardines on toast, and then buttered toast, and then toast with honey” (16).

Tumnus’s overwhelming guilt allows him to confess his initial intentions of kidnapping Lucy and then begs for her forgiveness, thus promoting his traits of nobility and goodwill. However, the narrator emphasizes the contrast between the power of wholesome meals and unhealthy sweets in the dinner scene at the Beaver’s when “[the children thought] how good the new-caught fish smelled while they were frying and how the children longed for them to be done” (80). This proves that nutritious and rich foods can enjoyed as a supplement rather than a replacement for nourishing food. This symbolizes that unhealthy sweets, encompassed as empty calories, suggests a lack of morality and powerlessness, however, nutritious, and wholesome foods act as fuel to the children’s efforts against the White Witch. Additionally, food in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is associated with mankind’s fall from grace and acceptance with evil, a lesson in the price to pay is