Narnia #2

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the children are sent to this house in order to escape London during the war. C.S. Lewis did not have children (though eventually he had stepsons), but he definitely enjoyed children. Thus, he created a world of beauty and joy for the children characters to enjoy and to hide from the realities of war. However, perhaps more magically, he created a world that for generations has provided and will continue to provide a place of escape through myth.

In the character of Aslan, too, he created a powerful beast who would protect the children. He is the perfect companion, wise and gentle--yet capable of battle if need be. In the world of childhood imagination, a world in which "boogeymen" and nightmares sometimes rule, Lewis create an antidote.

Childhood is such a sacred time, but like the war in London, adulthood is there, closing in. Lewis created a world where the characters could happily go even into adulthood, a place of goodness (at least a triumph of goodness) to keep the shadows of war at bay. It is such a special world and no doubt it has been an escapist world for the imaginations of countless children--just like the characters he wrote about.

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