C. S. Lewis: A Life Reflected Through Narnia Published on October 16, 1950, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first novel in the Chronicles of Narnia series, by Clive Staples Lewis (C. S. Lewis) is currently distinguished as his most widely held book in libraries worldwide. Amusingly enough, while at Oxford University, Lewis completely destroyed the original manuscript of the novel after receiving poor book-reviews from his colleagues. He later rewrote the book from memory after regaining confidence in his writing and finally receiving positive backing from his friends for the allegedly far-fetched idea of Narnia. This ‘new’ version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe contained even more characters and interwoven themes, fully encompassing C.S.…show more content… Born on November 29, 1898, C. S. Lewis grew up in Belfast, Ireland alongside his older brother Warren Lewis. In 1905, the Lewis family moved to Leeborough, Ireland and built an impressive brick home that the Lewis brothers nick-named “Little Lea” (Lion 152). “Little Lea” was a sprawling home, providing plenty of additional room for exploring that would spark Lewis’s imagination (Gormley 6-7). Since tuberculosis was a major health concern in Ireland during his youth, dreary weather would imprison them indoors. It was here where Lewis would concoct make-believe worlds and fabricate anthropomorphic animal fantasies. In Michael White’s biography, C. S. Lewis: A Life, White describes just how important Lewis’s childhood was to his novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, saying that “Lewis had a lifelong fixation with his own childhood . . . the period that shaped his imagination and provided the material from which he later fashioned his literary creations” (51). Throughout The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, these figments of his imagination were weaved into every facet of the story, coming to life as creatures in a Narnian