The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | Chapter 14: The Triumph of the Witch

Chapter Summary:

Aslan and company travel to the Fords of Beruna to camp for the night. At the Fords, Aslan instructs Peter about how to wage war with the Witch, and ominously says that he may not be there to help. They pitch camp for the night, but neither Susan nor Lucy can sleep--they both agree that something is wrong with Aslan.

Susan and Lucy get up just in time to see Aslan leaving the camp and into the forest heading back toward the Stone Table. Susan and Lucy follow him. After a while, Aslan acknowledges their presence and says that they may walk along with him, if they will stop when he tells them to. Aslan tells them that he is sad and lonely.

Eventually, Aslan tells them to stop, and tells them to not be seen, no matter what. Aslan walks to the Stone Table, where all creatures loyal to the Witch--along with the Witch herself--have gathered. The Witch then orders that Aslan be bound and brought to the Stone Table; this occurs without any resistance from Aslan. Aslan is then shaved and mocked by everyone present.

The Witch sharpens her knife and then tells Aslan that his sacrifice is in vain--she will just kill Edmund after she kills Aslan, and then Narnia will be hers alone forever. Susan and Lucy cover their eyes as Aslan is killed.

Reflection:

And here we have come to the second-most famous image from The Chronicles of Narnia--Aslan being sacrificed by the White Witch at the Stone Table. While being the second-most famous image, it is probably the most well-known event in the entire series. I have tried not to spoil it for those who follow along and don't read the novel, but the progression of events that lead to this culminating climax are pretty obviously pointing in this direction for several chapters.

It's still too early to turn back to yesterday's reflection and talk about Aslan, his vision (or lack thereof) of the future, and what he had planned (or not planned) when he spoke with Witch and agreed to his own sacrifice to save Edmund. We will probably turn to this in tomorrow's entry I think.

In this scene of Aslan's sacrifice, we get perhaps the greatest example of cruelty in the entire series, and it comes to a peak in the following short passage, in which the Witch is addressing Aslan, who she is about to kill:

"'And now, who has won? Fool, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the Deep Magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your own life and you have not saved his. In that knowledge, despair and die.' 

The children did not see the actual moment of the killing. They couldn't bear to look and had covered their eyes" (p. 123). 

Whew! Pretty heavy for a children's story! Can you imagine finishing that chapter and then tucking in your 5-year-old for bed? It almost requires that you would continue, lest your child have nightmares.

But, spoiler alert, there's a good reason that this scene is reminiscent of Good Friday, and the parallels do not end here. Easter is coming.

I'm not sure I have much more of a one-track mind for discussion today, except to chat a little about the rather heavy and horrible scene witnessed by the reader and by Susan and Lucy. It brings to question the violence that we show to our children in society--violence that, though there is a redeeming story, is still violence. I think it's a careful line to walk--to show children that there is bad in the world, but to do so in a way that doesn't have them always living in fear. I think this story does that in an appropriate way (after all, it is allegory for a rather familiar story). The only place where I would be a little disturbed is the passage I have quoted above. I would have to keep reading (and I will).

And can we reflect upon, for just a moment, the fact that Susan and Lucy watch this entire thing? Well, everything except the exact moment during which he is murdered, of course. Thank goodness they do what their mothers should have done for them had they been watching this in a movie theater (they cover their eyes). As Aslan is tied up, shaved, and mocked, Susan and Lucy watch, rather horrified. How traumatic! I wonder if the allegory here is supposed to parallel the women present at the crucifixion, including Jesus's mother and Mary Magdalene (or others, depending on which book of the Gospel you are reading)? Anyway, I feel almost as sorry for the loss of innocence for Susan and Lucy as I do for Aslan who himself made the sacrifice.

Let us move on to Deeper Magic.