Deceit In The Lion And The Wardrobe

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How can someone so evil appear so pure? Clive Staples Lewis had a vast imagination. You notice this by reading about centaurs, giants, or fauns, mythological creatures that kids can enjoy, but “throughout his book(s) [he] gives children examples on proper behavior. These examples are presumably based on his moral and political opinions of the time being” (Persson 8). Although some thought he wrote to make kids believe in God by “…using allegoric fairy tales” (Griffin 3). People particularly thought in, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, that the novel was simply a children’s story, but it is far from it. Lewis showed his humor and irony throughout his book the Screwtape Letters as well as in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on a much…show more content…
The White Witch or “Queen of Narnia”, in Edmund’s eyes, does not appear as ‘“…[someone with] no love relationship and no progeny, and Medusa-like, [turning] living beings into stone”’ (Filmer 44 qtd. Persson 6). The witch appeared to be sweet to him by “[asking] if he would like something to eat and Edmund request Turkish Delight (which she magically produces)” (Gleghorn 3). The White Witch appears to be sweet and charming to Edmund because she only wants information out of him. She constantly questions Edmund while he tears into the Turkish Delight finding out that he has a brother and two sisters. According to a prophecy in the land of Narnia, the ban of siblings can overthrow her reign, and she will then die. By portraying her as a caring figure, Lewis shows how deceptive the witch really is and how so many creatures and people fell for her tricks. Mr. Tumnus is also a big character to consider as a trickster. “I’m a kidnapper for her [the White Witch], that’s what I am…would you believe that I’m the sort of Faun to meet a poor innocent child in the wood, one that had never done me any harm, and pretend to be friendly with it, and invite it home to my cave, all for the sake of lulling it to asleep and then handing it over to the White Witch?” (Lewis 19). Mr. Tumnus tricked Lucy into believing he was just being considerate and helping her, when he really had ulterior motives.…show more content…
In the novel the color white does not mean what is originally supposed to mean. White represents purity and truth, but how she appears in the book is “[h]er white face gives the notion of disease and nausea…the absence of blood in her face indicates death, infertility and cruelty” (Persson 6). The White Witch appears to the eye that she is pure and the most wonderful “queen” there will ever be. That is the irony in the story. In reality she is cruel and evil and will turn people to stone if they make her mad, but she appears to be everything except for who she really is. Another example of irony is actually Aslan himself and the other animals who follow him. First, “The eagle is a symbol of Christ himself in Christianity” (Mercantate 227 qtd. Persson 3). Second is the animals, “The ordinary leopard…‘in medieval Christian folklore and symbolism represented cruelty, sin, lust, luxury, the devil, or Antichrist, depending on the context”’ (Mercantate qtd. 407 Persson 3). Not only is Aslan considered beast at times in the book, but all the animals that are by his side are also ironically not all good either. Aslan makes Peter kill the White Witch’s main wolf in a particular point in the book, and he killed the White Witch himself proving Aslan may not all be good. The people who believe that Aslan is a representative of Christ may not be a 100% correct in the sense that he is deceiving the children in to believing that he is the

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