Narnia #1

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the character of Edmund lays bare the question: Are humans basically good . . . or basically evil? Edmund has freewill, and he allows himself to be tempted, and he also makes betraying choices. Is Edmund worth ultimately saving? For one, he is a child, so that would probably sway most to think he is worth the sacrifice Aslan makes. On the other hand, if Edmund is a stand-in for us all, a reflection of our humanity, then we look in that mirror. We all make good decisions, and there is not one of us who has not made careless, cruel, or wrong choices that hurt ourselves and others. Are we mostly good? Or will most of us make the wrong choice because of inherent human selfishness?

I relate this question to something that happened to me and my family. My mother took in six siblings whose parents were swept by ICE. Their mom was our cleaning lady, and my mother promised the children would not be separated if something bad happened. Around us, some people were very nice--brought us groceries or cooked us meals. But my mother noticed that, in general, human beings (most) will help UNTIL it becomes inconvenient or "hard" to help. My mom kept helping and our family kept helping even though it was very hard. But little by little, all other help fell by the wayside. Do people only do good--until it hurts? Why do some people "see" the homeless and the sick and orphans and want to help--and others walk right on by?

I am not sure I have an answer to this question. I've seen a lot of love in my life. But I have seen human beings be petty, addictive, cruel, capricious, and even downright evil. I also don't know if I think humans need some intermediary sacrifice to "save" us. I think the novel brings up a lot of these concepts in a mythological way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heidegger (I Guess)

In "The Origin of the Work of Art," Martin Heidegger characterizes the essence of art as work which contributes to the unconcealment ( aletheia ) of reality, i.e. the literal (or perhaps literary, given his emphasis on poetry) construction of truth. This philosophy/ontology seems quite compatible with Lewis's bit in "Myth Became Fact," wherein he describes myth as reality. Heidegger describes unconcealing as the existential project of the Dasein, i.e. the human being, and artistic manifestation of the aesthetic impulse is a prime way of doing this: realizing and bringing-forth qualities of Being, facilitating the dialectical relationship between world and earth. Poetry is a privileged art form for Heidegger, given the profound intertwining of language with the human condition (the Dasein ). "Language is the house of the truth of Being," says Heidegger. Thus, Lewis's proclamation that myth, i.e. narrative, i.e. a particular manifestation of poetic a...
Read more

The Liberal Arts Experience

When I was applying for colleges, I was for more concerned about getting accepted to any  school rather than any particular kind of college. So when it fell to a choice between CNU and Radford after my other 5 choices rejected me outright, it was an easy choice. But that choice was really between two liberal arts institutions. I always thought of those liberal arts classes as some sort of natural phenomena. Most people don't question why the sun has the appearance of rising every day, it's just a part of their lives. Something they accept and live with. So it was also with the fulfillment of my liberal learning classes. I didn't choose them any more than I chose to go to CNU. And with an attitude like that, I can't help but wonder if I was putting in enough effort to get any qualitative experiences out of them. An old English teacher of mine once said that we'll become real scholars when we start taking charge of our own education, and that idea has sort of stuck wi...
Read more

Inklings About Inklings

It seems quite strange to be reading a more autobiographical work about Lewis after spending all this last semester studying his fiction. Being empirically minded it feels like I've done things in reverse - perhaps I should have known the man before I came to know his myth. A poet might say they're one and the same, and perhaps so, but understanding the man can make the myth deeper. Of course, having thought about that concept for one moment longer, it can probably go both ways. I just recalled a band, as well as a series of t.v. shows that were made worse for me by having a greater understanding of the people behind them. So it may be just as well. Regardless, I was interested to learn that Lewis had an early fascination with Norse fiction, and was an avid reader his whole life. Many of his professors would go on to remark that they had never met a man more well-read in the classics. Also I found it quite interesting that after getting a degree in Philosophy, he could not find...
Read more