The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia is the fiction film in which a family of four children are deported from London to the house of an eccentric professor during World War II. The four children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, use a wardrobe as a magical gateway to the land of Narnia. Ancient Narnian prophecy has told of two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve (humans) who will come to save Narnia from the white witch’s spell, which has caused a cold winter to come over the entire land. It is not until the arrival of these four humans that the world of Narnia sees the power of the witch to weaken as hope from the Narnians increases. Temptation spells casted by the witch cause Edmund to betray his siblings, and as a result the plot thickens into not only saving Narnia from its evil witch and her spells, but also saving their brother Edmund from her evil power to trap/tempt him.

There is obvious indication of the director’s religious background as he has portrayed Aslan (who represents Christ) as an epitomised figure who eventually resurrects from the dead after being sacrificed. The bias represented in the film is paramount when not only understanding its relations to witchcraft, but also when analyzing the premise of the film itself. The author C.S. Lewis, and director Andrew Adamson use overarching metaphors to reflect their Christian bias. The entire film is an allegory for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross; however it takes place on a stone table similar to an altar of sacrifice. The bias is obvious in the way that the entire story is constructed with a passage into an eternal world through a veil-like wardrobe, a Satan versus Christ conflict where the themes of hope/faith save the world and Atonement is made to achieve it. The bias/allegory is even as apparent as the kingdom after Aslan’s departure being passed on to a character named Peter, just as Christ gave his kingdom to the Apostle Peter after his death. The author/director is clearly attempting to deliver a message through this tale reflecting the bias of their beliefs.

The director portrays Aslan being humiliated as his mane is cut off and he is scolded then sacrificed just as Jesus was. He resurrects the morning after through beaming light in the film and is seen alive again for the first time coming through a tomb-like structure in perfect form and greeted by Lucy (which is similar to Mary Magdeline being the first to see Jesus upon his resurrection). The connection to Christ’s resurrection is almost seamless and crafted with full intent by the director to reflect Christian bias/background as good magic, or the power of God is used to make the unbelievable happen. Also worth noting is once the magic of the witch is defeated her dark magic loses power, causing those under her spell (made into stone) to be reborn or set free from her spell just like the concept of overcoming the temptations or spells of Satan will cause one to be reborn in Christ. This shows the brilliance of the director’s craft, that he used witchcraft and good magic to reflect and represent his views on Christianity and faith.

The point of view represented is a combination of the religious and magical. In fact, the story uses magical means to reflect a religious point of view. Aslan explains in the film that “there is a deep magic that rules over all of Narnia that is within us all.” The magic he speaks of here can be taken literally, however in reality it is meant to mean faith in God that empowers one to overcome the darker magic or temptations that Satan (the Witch). The Witch, for example uses magic to create Edmund’s favourite treats and entice him to come to her side. This, in effect is a perfect example of using magical means to represent religious principles, or in this case, the temptations of Satan. The wardrobe itself is a magical gateway representing a pathway into eternity, which is a religious concept.

The supernatural is presented as good and evil within the land of Narnia. The witch, Jadis, is a supernatural character that uses magical powers for her own evil purposes. For example, the white witch turns mystical creatures into stone when they disobey her. Specifically, the witch represents Satan and uses magic in devious ways to entrap the world for her control and demonic means. The lion, Aslan uses magic for good to help save Narnia from the evil white witch. As Aslan represents Christ, who sacrifices himself for “the son of Adam” in order to save the world. His sacrifice is performed by the evil witch in occult-like fashion amongst chantings, fire and blood. His righteous power overcomes evil however and the good magic prevails as he is resurrected in a perfected form.

I believe that the author/director believes in the supernatural, because the entire film is made to emulate his belief in Christ’s crucifixion which is a phenomenal, supernatural event. The director uses supernatural characters, such as talking animals and mystical creatures to bring Christian messages and archetypes. They are presented as metaphors for Christian themes as seen in the bible. Therefore, the author/director clearly must believe in a supernatural order or being as the parallels presented and outlined above are meant to represent this higher deity and is trying to press them through this fantasy tale.

Although questions could arise with the author/director’s approach of using witchcraft or occult themes to bring about religious beliefs (somewhat of a paradox), I feel that the author/director has done a brilliant job in their use of metaphor. His literary methods have created a well-known international masterpiece that has fully portrayed predominant Christian themes that continue to exist in modern-day literature and literature that has been seen in literature for centuries and films for decades. In regards to witchcraft and the supernatural, the author/director has brought out overarching connections to the occult and Satanism in more ways than one through the white witch in the film. It is because of these well-crafted literary connections that I agree with the author/director’s approach and point of view towards the supernatural, as he has used it as a tool to achieve a stronger and more meaningful literary purpose. I fully agree with this approach over the alternative, which would be to use the supernatural as a means to entertain something dark or satanic.

The Chronicles of Narnia is a fictional allegory, which uses witchcraft and the occult as a metaphor to represent the power of Satan in opposition with the power of God/Christ. The viewpoint could emerge in this light that argues in favour of the film being propaganda for those who watch it. For example, a child could watch the movie and be under the impression that they are just watching an exciting tale of fantasy; however in reality, the film would be exposing them to Christian archetypes, themes and even doctrine. It is because of this subtle form of passage that it would especially be viewed as propaganda. One of the major themes of the film is about the importance of sacrifice, which is a religious principle. Even if a child is watching the film and doesn’t clue into the Christian allegories and metaphors, they would still learn religious principles, such as resurrection, the good overcoming evil, faith, hope and sacrifice. Due to the film’s obvious connections to Christianity, it does not leave events of the movie up to other interpretations and therefore could be seen as a propaganda piece in favour of Christians.

Although there are elements of the occult in Narnia, it did not enhance my understanding on the subject, rather it presented stereotypes. The film assumes that anything associated with the witch is evil, when in reality witchcraft does not always hold such a negative association. The film also stereotypes the fact that witchcraft is only associated with females, as the white witch Jadis is a strong female character. However, witchcraft can, and has presented itself in both male and female forms. The white witch herself manifests stereotypes as she ever so typically uses a wand and casts spells, which are not necessarily common methods of performing witchcraft. Even though Narnia is a fictional story, the strongest stereotypical case could be made in regards to the inconclusive evidence that witches have ever existed at all.

CONSENSUS:

Rotten Tomatoes give this move a 75% rating

Zoom In Analysis will AGREE with this rating

I would recommend this fantasy classic because it is captivating and visually compelling. Even for one who is not Christian it is easy to dispense with the religious undertones and simply enjoy the adventure, if a viewer finds it hard to get over the religious allegory and hidden messages of the film there is something a little more bigoted and one-sided about the viewer, rather than the film. It is enormously better than its successor Prince Caspian, a sequel which should be avoided.