Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Clever C.S. Lewis

I've been reading The Chronicles of Narnia in the order of the story, not published order. I just finished The Silver Chair and have only The Last Battle to go. I am really enjoying the stories, the allegory, and the wit and charm of C.S. Lewis revealed in the writing. For example, he relates what happened to the leader of the school ("who was, by the way, a woman") after she began behaving like a crazy person when she encountered Aslan, Eustace, Jill, and Prince Caspian upon their appearance back in England at the end of the story. It goes like this:

"After that, the Head's friends saw that the Head was no use as a Head, so they got her made an Inspector to interfere with other Heads. And when they found she wasn't much good even at that, they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after."

I found this amusing, for the progression from crazy behavior to a promotion within the school system to landing in Parliament -- government leader, all the while being deemed less skilled for such positions, seemed humorous and perhaps a reflection on views towards government officials, or perhaps just some good natured satire. The part where "she lived happily ever after" -- the classic fairy tale ending used with time in Parliament was funny to me, too.

1 comment:

Daniel said...

Yes, CS Lewis is very clever. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Narnia (in the order of writings, not story), and even now remember what was written and reflect on its relevance in the Christian life. Recently I read The Great Divorce, which is about heaven and hell. Very interesting.