The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | Chapter 15: Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time

Chapter Summary:

The chapter opens immediately after the Witch has killed Aslan. The Witch instructs her followers to track down the other children and traitors--and they all rush past where Susan and Lucy are hiding. 

Susan and Lucy go to the Stone Table and weep over Aslan. They remove his muzzle. After some time, some mice come and nibble away the ropes that are binding him. The sun begins to rise. Susan and Lucy are cold, so they walk between Aslan and a nearby cliff, which looks toward Cair Paravel and the sea. Upon the rising of the sun, Susan and Lucy hear a loud crack. They rush to the Stone Table to see it broken in two, and Aslan's body gone.

Aslan appears beside them, larger than before. Susan and Lucy worry that he is a ghost, but Aslan is alive. Aslan explains that there is Deeper Magic that the Witch did not know of--that if a "willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward" (p. 125). 

Aslan, Susan, and Lucy frolic with joy. Aslan instructs them to jump on his back. They run at full speed to the Witch's palace, where Aslan leaps over her palace wall and into the courtyard with the stone statues.

Reflection:

OK. So I was right--right? A couple of chapters ago, I took a look at the conversation between Aslan and the Witch. Now we know that during the course of this particular conversation, Aslan agrees to die in place of Edmund to satisfy the Deep Magic prophesy that must be fulfilled. 

And, I had mentioned that this conversation was significant, because there was 1 of 2 possibilities. Either (1) Aslan intentionally deceives the Witch, knowing that this Deeper Magic would reverse his death, or (2) Aslan offers himself for Edmund without the knowledge of what might occur.

The second option, of course, seems more sacrificial (I don't mean to minimize his pain and suffering in the process by any means). But here we are, two chapters later, and we learn that Aslan was indeed aware of this Deeper Magic the entire time, which means he did intentionally deceive the Witch into believing that she had won the battle. Now, Narnia is by no means a direct allegory, but for all of the allegorical references, you would think that C.S. Lewis would not have written that Aslan had intentionally deceived the Witch into getting his way, because deception is, in essence, a form of treachery, which was the entire problem in the first place.

So that's an interesting conundrum. 

But aside from that awkwardness, most of the remainder of these last few chapters have held fast with some pretty strict allegory. I need not belabor the point, of course, but I do wonder about some of the allegorical parallels that C.S. Lewis decided upon. One of the most interesting to me is the choice of the Stone Table (allegory parallel: the cross). I don't have the slightest clue why a Stone Table would be chosen, except that it acts well as an alter, and the splitting of it in two would be a pretty intense image. It certainly removes the issue of having a device of torture in addition to the cruelty that Aslan experiences as well. I wish I had more on this, but I just wonder why it was chosen.

Another interesting thing to consider is who was present. C.S. Lewis chose Susan and Lucy as the two witnesses to Aslan's death--leaving Peter and Edmund by the wayside--presumably asleep at camp. (Peter having killed the wolf and Edmund having witnessed the animals turned to stone by the Witch had perhaps already seen enough death and destruction, so it was time for the ladies?) 

Regardless of the reason, it is most interesting because of this: Aside from Susan and Lucy, no one on Aslan's side of the battle has any clue about his death and resurrection. Will it remain that way? I don't remember. But that would be even more interesting--if Susan and Lucy were the only ones to ever know. Perhaps we will find out.