Lewis said that Aslan is, in a sense, Christ. How is the depiction of an imaginary animal meant to convey truths about Christ? Is Lewis successful in this attempt? If one assumes that Lewis had a specific didactic purpose in mind when wrote The Chronicles of Narnia then they are mistaken. Lewis himself claims that he never intended to write a Christian message for children to more coherently understand the Gospel; although, he admits that once Aslan emerged into Narnia, he not only ‘pulled’ the story together, but he also ‘pulled’ the other six stories together simultaneously.
In his poem, The Tyger, Blake poses the question of who created the fearsome beast. The implication is that, any Deity capable of creating the precious lamb should be questioned about his or her motivation for building a killer. Perhaps Blake was trying to shed some light on what he considered to be the evil nature of man. However, by using two diametrically opposed images (The Lamb and the Tygre), I think Blake misses a better opportunity. Yes, the Tiger is a natural predator with vicious killing instincts… It will also care for its young as any mother might and protect the pride from outside threat.
A third characteristic of epics that Paradise Lost has includes the notion of in media res which means beginning the story in the middle. One final aspect includes the use of dramatic irony. The first epic convention that I'm going to discuss consists of the idea of retelling a common and familiar story. Milton retells the story from Genesis that describes the Fall of Man. This occurs when Adam and Eve fall prey to the temptations of Satan in the Garden of Eden, and they eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge which God forbid them to do.
The motion picture Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis has some significant alterations in plot events compared to the epic poem. The film does an excellent job showing the terror that Grendel imposes on the Danes with his monstrous raids on Herot. It also supports the epic poems famous battle between Grendel and Beowulf with the epic hero killing the monster. But following this battle, major plot events has some key changes contrary to the epic poem Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother in the epic poem but in the movie he makes a deal with demon leading to his downfall.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 1) What does Narnia represent in the reality? It represents fighting for freedom and what you believe in. 2) What events in the Story can you relate to Christianity? When Susan and Lucy walk with Aslan to a quiet place the night of his execution, depicts the Garden of Gethsemane, and similarly after his resurrection he appears first to them in a glorified body. After his death, when Aslan goes to the witches palace and releases his frozen captives, would represent when in Christ’s death "He descended into Hell and set captives free" (however, the meaning of the actual event in scripture is controversial).
Narnia interpreted as a Christian allegory Aslan: It is not hard to see the similarities between Aslan and Jesus Christ. He sacrifices himself in exchange for Edmund’s life, and thus he dies for the sin of man, just as Jesus did. The witch and her followers humiliate Aslan before his death, just as the soldiers tormented Jesus before and while he is crucified. When Aslan resurrects, the stone table is torn in two, just as the stone in front of the grave of Jesus has rolled away, when Mary and Mary return to the grave. When Jesus dies, the curtain in the temple is torn in two as well.
To begin with, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe presents a very Biblical portrait of Christ in the character of the lion Aslan, the King of Narnia. By representing Jesus as a lion standing for power, strength and beauty, Lewis finds a way to make Jesus more accessible to children. The story line does not hold on strictly to the Biblical gospel but presents some of its features in a fictional context without changing the basic message. The great King Aslan willingly humiliates himself and sacrifices his life to save Edmund who has betrayed him, just as Christ gave away his life to save mankind. Through Aslan's death, Edmund is permitted to live as his sin has been washed away.
The Chronicles (which include 'The Magician's Nephew', 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', 'The Horse and his Boy', 'Prince Caspian', 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', 'The Silver Chair', and 'The Last Battle') were written from 1950 until 1956, and tell the story of the fantastical world of Narnia, which is populated by centaurs, talking animals, evil witches, and regular humans alike. It is the story of the bible, from the creation in 'The Magician's Nephew' until the apocalypse in 'The Last Battle'. The Christ figure is a lion known as Aslan, who sacrifices his life for one of the human boys who enter Narnia from our world, through the Wardrobe. Like His Dark Materials, the Narnia books take place in a world parallel to our own, although this one is far more different geographically than the worlds in Pullman's books. Both are filled with intelligent and mythical creatures, some of which aid the children travelers, and others that are hostile to them.
In contrast, The Tyger is about Blake talking to and questioning God. Blake asks God, that if he can make a creature as wonderful as a lamb, why would he make a creature like a Tiger. In the poem Blake compares God to a blacksmith. A prominent theme in the poem is question (questioning God’s creation.) The content of both poems are similar.
Movies and TV shows have been portraying Christians as judgmental, mindless, know-it-alls for years. Cartoons like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park, have depicted Christians as ignorant and condemning. Our culture recognizes wisdom and love as virtuous, but in view of the media’s portrayal of Christians, it is safe to assume that believers are not up to par on either of these things. Believers need to reexamine what it means to love God with all their mind and in doing so love others. Believers practicing loving God with all their mind would be a witness to this world and even a way of reaching out in compassion and gentleness we have left behind by burying our arguments in our Bibles and not engaging the questions raised by the lost.