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Re: The Lion, the Witch and the Warpers
by Maranda (saboneta@aol.com)
on Jul 31, 2001 - 06:20 AM
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I remember the recurring themes more than specific characters.
One major theme throughout the series is illusion. In "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", illusions threaten to destroy the ship's crew many times. The undersea world that tries to beckon the crew to jump overboard; the Passage of Dreams, where one's nightmares come to life; the book Lucy reads, when she has the vision of herself being prettier than Susan if she follows the evil instructions. In other books, there's the illusory cult of Shift the Ape, the false gods of Calormen, the boy who is mistaken for a prince in "The Last Battle", and Eustace's reluctance to believe that the painting of the ship has come to life. Is his world in contemporary England the real one, or is Narnia real? Are either of them real?
There's something very Buddhist about all this. I know Lewis was a Christian, but there are many parallels between the two religions. One major one is the idea that no matter what we go through in this world, it's all irrelevant in the end.
This is why I think the books appeal to such a wide audience, both religious and secular. There are some basic principles here that apply to all the major religions of the world, as well as the life experiences that every human picks up on the road to maturity. And Harper Collins wants to remove these things? Are they crazy?
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