The Magician's Nephew

Alright! Time to talk about my favorite books of all time! The next seven weeks I will talk about each book from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. I love these books so much, and I have ever since I first read them as a kid. The Magician's Nephew, while not the first book C. S. Lewis wrote for the series, is a wonderful introduction to Narnia, mostly because it is the book where Narnia is created.

C. S. Lewis includes a lot of Christian doctrine in his books. This book talks about the Creation and fall of man. The Savior is depicted by Aslan, the great and mighty lion. He creates Narnia by singing, and you've never heard of a voice so rich and beautiful as his. Once Narnia is created, he calls forth to him Digory Kirke, one of the two main characters of this novel. Digory has brought the evil queen and sorceress Jadis to Narnia, infecting the new world with evil at the dawn of its creation. Aslan says, "Evil will come of this evil . . . and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself." This is foreshadowing his sacrifice, symbolic of the Atonement.

I love the symbolism of Aslan and the Savior. Aslan talks to the Cabby who came with Digory and says, "Son, I have known you long. Do you know me?" The Savior has also known us long, and asks if we know Him. If we are like the Cabby, we will answer that we have not met in the ordinary way, and yet it seems that we have met before. After the Cabby is declared the first king of Narnia, Digory is asked to fulfill a quest that will protect Narnia from the witch for hundreds of years. Before Digory leaves on his quest, he bursts into tears and pleads, "But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?" Digory's mother at that exact moment was dying in her bed. I love the part that follows.

"Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at his face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself." Digory was focusing on the justice of the Lion (the Savior), but when he looked up to see his face, he found compassion. The Savior does not joy in our sorrow. He knows our sorrow. C. S. Lewis does a remarkable job of capturing the love of the Savior and how He knows each person intimately. Even though I have read these books several times, they still bring tears to my eyes as I read about the love the Savior has for each of us.