The British author C.S. Lewis is known for incorporating religious themes into his stories, most notably his series titled the Chronicles of Narnia. These books were published between 1950 and 1956. There are Christian undertones throughout all seven of his books and each book refers to a different story or character in the Bible (NarniaWeb). Despite the reoccurring Christian beliefs present in these books, Lewis was not always the believer in Christianity as shown in his writings. His conversion to the Christian faith came about during his time of philosophical study at Oxford in 1924 while studying for his undergraduate degree (Bassham). Eventually this interest in the Christian faith led him to become the President of the Socratic Club at
…show more content…
Lewis uses this story’s form as a basis for his sixth book, The Magician's Nephew. The story of the Garden of Eden begins with Adam and Eve being created in God’s garden with an endless supply of food and water. The only rule in the garden was not to eat the fruit off of one particular tree: the forbidden apple tree. In The Magician's Nephew the main character, Digory, is instructed by Aslan to go to his Garden and pick an apple off the tree (Brennan). As Digory makes his way to the tree he encounters the witch, whom tries to persuade Digory to keep the apple for himself (Brennan). In her convincing she states, "Do you know what that fruit is?...It is the apple of youth...Eat it, Boy, eat it," (Brennan). By trying to convince Digory to eat the apple, the witch acts as an allusion to the serpent from the Garden of Eden (Brennan). In the Biblical story, the serpent speaks to Adam and Eve about this tree of forbidden fruit. Despite Adam’s efforts, the serpent eventually convinces Eve to pick the fruit from the tree and take a bite from it. In turn, Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden by God and commanded to never return. Lewis does not want Digory to make the same mistakes as his Biblical predecessors, therefore, he chose for Digory to make the “righteous” decision to not eat to fruit from the garden and return the apple to Aslan (Brennan). Digory’s choice to not eat the fruit reinforces his name, “Son of Adam”, as he is referred to throughout the duration of the novel
Lewis uses this story’s form as a basis for his sixth book, The Magician's Nephew. The story of the Garden of Eden begins with Adam and Eve being created in God’s garden with an endless supply of food and water. The only rule in the garden was not to eat the fruit off of one particular tree: the forbidden apple tree. In The Magician's Nephew the main character, Digory, is instructed by Aslan to go to his Garden and pick an apple off the tree (Brennan). As Digory makes his way to the tree he encounters the witch, whom tries to persuade Digory to keep the apple for himself (Brennan). In her convincing she states, "Do you know what that fruit is?...It is the apple of youth...Eat it, Boy, eat it," (Brennan). By trying to convince Digory to eat the apple, the witch acts as an allusion to the serpent from the Garden of Eden (Brennan). In the Biblical story, the serpent speaks to Adam and Eve about this tree of forbidden fruit. Despite Adam’s efforts, the serpent eventually convinces Eve to pick the fruit from the tree and take a bite from it. In turn, Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden by God and commanded to never return. Lewis does not want Digory to make the same mistakes as his Biblical predecessors, therefore, he chose for Digory to make the “righteous” decision to not eat to fruit from the garden and return the apple to Aslan (Brennan). Digory’s choice to not eat the fruit reinforces his name, “Son of Adam”, as he is referred to throughout the duration of the novel