Week Seven: The Novel of Spiritual Education

When you are really young, I feel there’s a drive to explore and a passion to learn new things. One of the greatest outlets for this desire is the world of fiction. But how does one guide children through learning complicated ideas such as religion, morality and death? Today, there is a wonderful selection of stories that are enjoyable for all ages because they take such ideals and breaks them down into a fun and exciting way that’s easy to understand.

            One of these series is the Narnia series, which I personally grew up reading. My older brother always loved fiction adventure stories, and I would often steal his collections off his shelves. One of his favorite book collections was Narnia. I started to read the first book, The Magician’s Nephew (in the book set, not written chronologically) when I was in second grade. I remember being fascinated by the idea of multiple planes of reality and the ability to use the ring to travel between them. I also was amazed how the main characters learned about the consequences they could cause by bringing the “witch” Jadis with them.

            Revisiting this novel so many years later has really opened my eyes to the Christian imagery that lies within the pages. Being raised in a Catholic household, I am used to such imagery as the fruit of knowledge and the garden of Eden. The book uses such a different and imaginative way to explain these concepts in a different way: i.e. the fruit of knowledge grant’s their heart’s desire but not in a way they would enjoy. The story covers resisting temptation of eating the apple and stresses the importance of kindness and honesty. These traits are excellent for any child to learn.

            Another thing that has amazed me not that I’ve returned to it is the way that C. S. Lewis describes Aslan creating the new world. I mean, what an achievement to try and describe something so vague and imaginative. Even the Bible, which I am assuming C.S. Lewis is basing it off of, is fairly vague on the mere magnitude of creation. It’s just a really interesting thing to read and I recommend it to anyone interested in a Child’s fantasy. Although, I do agree that this story is a prequel and should not be read first, even though that is the way C.S Lewis wanted it so be placed. Some of the things in this story just don’t make sense or seem a bit out of place because they tie into later books I.e. the tree and the wardrobe or even who the witch is. It explores this relatable side to the witch which is not really conflicting unless you know what she is to become in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.