Chronicles of Narnia: Symbolisms
Managed to catch Chronicles of Narnia the other day. It was pretty much how I remembered it when I read the book as a kid. There are seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia, I do not think that I have read all of them but I have definitely read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe since I do remember the Turkish Delight part. Overall, it was a nice story and the special effects were done nicely without overwhelming the story. Some of my friends might not have liked it because of its lack of violence, but then again, this is supposed to be a children's movie.
C.S. Lewis, the creator of the series was a prominent Christian writer and has endowed this story with a few symbolisms from the Christian bible. These are a few that I have noticed. Of course, this is based on my own interpretation and might be completely off so do not quote me on this:
- Aslan
The Christian Bible refers to God as the Lion of Judah so it is befitting that Aslan has the symbol of a lion. - Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve
Humans are still God's chosen race even if they are the ones who fall into temptation most often. - The weapons
Peter's weapon resembles the things commonly known as the Armor of God: Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit. - Aslan's self sacrifice
Almost entirely based on the story of Christ dying on the cross for the sins of the people. - Aslan's mockery before crucifixion
The Witch's minions mocked Aslan just before he was crucified. Removing his mane seems similar to putting a crown of thrones of Jesus' head before he was crucified. - Aslan's resurrection
True, he did not take 3 days to resurrect but he did resurrect in the end after being crucified since he was sinless to begin with. - The two girls who were with Aslan
The two were the ones who were most faithful to Aslan just before he was sacrificed and also were the first to see Aslan after his resurrection. This is similar to the incident in the Bible where Mary was the person who prepared Jesus for his sacrifice (she poured expensive ointment onto his feet) and also Mary was the first to see Jesus after the resurrection. - Resurrecting the dead after Aslan's resurrection
After his resurrection, Aslan went to raise the dead denizens of Narnia. In the Christian Bible, after Jesus's resurrection, the dead also raised up from their tombs. - The creatures on Aslan's side and the creatures on the Witch's side
In the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, there were clear rules on what creatures were considered clean and unclean. It seems that most of the creatures on the Witch's side resemble the unclean animals (slimy animals without scales) and those on Aslan's side resembled those mythical creatures such as the seraphic that were usually placed in the temples.
So those are some of my observations on the movie. There could be some subtle symbolisms that I might have missed, but I should have gotten most of them.
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