On C.S. Lewis

The children and Puddleglum tread the perilous paths of the Dark Realm. More important themes emerge: (1) The vital role of encouraging fellowship (Only through bearing one another's burdens and encouraging one another are the children and Puddleglum able to continue); (2) Scripture and layers of meaning (As the children are tempted to disbelieve the Signs, Puddleglum encourages them to remember that Aslan as eternal speaks through the Signs with many layers of meaning); (3) What is reality—Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (As the children and Puddleglum spend what seems to be an endless succession of days in the Dark Realm, their view of Reality begins to change and they begin to doubt the existence of Aslan and the world above); and (4) Trusting Aslan and the Signs (Even when filled with doubts and fears, the children and Puddleglum make the hard choice to believe and follow Aslan's Signs).

As the children stray from the Signs, disaster ensues. Important themes from these chapters include: (1) The reality of Evil and its seductive beauty (Our culture wants to say that there is no such thing as evil; however, the Biblical witness is clear that Evil is real and can masquerade as beauty); (2) Safety in wise counsel (Puddleglum's wise counsel literally saves the children's lives and stops the Quest from failing); (3) The danger of being wise in your own eyes (Jill exclaims "Bother the Signs!" She wants her own way, and she wants it now. There will be dreadful consequences from this over-inflated sense of self-worthiness and rejection of Aslan's way); (4) Comfort is often the enemy of the Quest--redux (The children's desire for comfort causes them not only to neglect the practices that will enable them to complete the Quest, but also to become totally derailed and preoccupied by things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the Quest); (5) The danger of naiveté in the face of Evil (Because they so desperately want what the Lady seems to be offering (warmth and comfort and respite), they let their guard down and trust her, to their peril,even though they have ample reason to be suspicious); (6) The slippery slope of neglecting the Signs: Compromise (When we neglect the Signs and compromise rather than fleeing temptation, we can end up in environments where doing the unimaginable not only becomes possible but seems normal); and (7) The importance of conviction and true repentance (Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum are truly and deeply convicted of their failure/sin and resolve to get back to the Quest: metanoia).

As the quest begins, the action heats up, and we explore more important themes: (1) Identity and Courage (Eustace models boldly standing up for what is right and true, even in circumstances where that could have been dangerous); (2)Sins (small and large) have consequences--redux (Jill and Eustace are deeply concerned because they have utterly and irretrievably blown it in terms of following the first of Aslan's signs because of their sinful choices); (3) Comfort is often the enemy of the Quest (Jill is so delighted with the comfort and luxury of the castle that she utterly forgets Aslan and the signs); and (4) To carry out Aslan’s call, we often need people very different from us (Puddleglum is a creature very strange to the children's eyes, with green skin, unnatural height, a peculiar way of speaking, and a diet of unsavory things like eels. Yet, without working with Puddleglum, the Quest would be doomed to failure).

Pole and Scrubb begin their adventures in Narnia, and we examine four key themes in the chapter: (1)There is no other stream (the living water Aslan offers is clearly a symbol for the living water Jesus describes in John's Gospel that He longs to give us, the only water which leads to life); (2) Sin and its consequences (Jill's sin leads to unimaginable consequences for Eustace, and she models taking responsibility rather than a victim mentality); (3) Aslan’s Call and Task (Aslan gives Jill an important and world-changing task that is FAR beyond her own gifts and capabilities); and (4) The Signs (Aslan tells Jill that there are Four Signs that will enable her to complete her task, which she must memorize and repeat day and night, lest she forget [strong echos of Deuteronomy 6).

We meet Pole and Scrubb in this episode, and address five themes from the chapter: (1) Experiment House and education ("Progressive" education was anathema to Lewis, not only because of its disdain for the classics and the Christian foundation of Western civilization, but more importantly because he believed the relativism it cultivates would destroy our society); (2) Outcasts as protagonists (in the 1940s, it was a bold statement to begin a story with a crying, bullied junior high girl as the protagonist); (3) Eustace: Changed by Aslan (The formerly odious Eustace develops qualities like compassion and leadership as encountering Aslan transforms him); (4) Vulnerability leading to Fellowship: (Eustace takes the incredibly risky and vulnerable step of sharing the deep secrets of his heart with Jill); and (5) Calling Aslan OR Aslan calling?(Did Eustace and Jill decide to flee into Narnia, or did Aslan call them?)