Friday, May 08, 2009

Narnia's Seven Sins

Rumor has it that C.S. Lewis wove the seven deadly sins into his Chronicles of Narnia series. If true, it would make them into an interesting teaching tool, but more than likely C.S. Lewis would respond to our speuclation:
Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument, then collected information about child psychology and decided what age group I’d write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn’t write in that way. It all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord... apart from that, I don’t know where the Lion came from or why He came.  But once He was there He pulled the whole story together, and soon He pulled the six other Narnian stories in after Him. -C.S. Lewis, Of Other Worlds
The classical-medieval seven deadly sins may have, then, pushed themselves in of their own accord and from Lewis' own Oxford training but here they are.
  1. Gluttony: The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe - Edmund's taste for Turkish Delight leads him to betrays his siblings.
  2. Anger:  The Magician's Nephew - Digory and Polly's angry quarrels result in Digory waking Jadis the White Witch, whose own anger brings trouble to Narnia.
  3. Lust:  Prince Caspian - Lust is difficult for a children's book, however, King Miraz may portray lust for power and progeny.
  4. Greed:  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Eustace Scrubb's greed for gold gets him turned into a dragon.
  5. Sloth:  The Silver Chair - Jill and Eustace are told of four signs they must remember which through apathy and carelessness are forgotten during crucial moments.
  6. Pride:  The Horse and His Boy - The horse Bree, the girl Aravis and Prince Rabadash all must be humbled by Aslan.
  7. Envy:  The Last Battle - Shift the ape is envious of the respect given Aslan.

Ecclectia of the Seven Sins:
Whitestone Journal
BBC
Seven Deadly Sins Sampler
DeadlySins.com
All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at a Church Bake Sale

Now, more on the Seven Sins in Narnia:
Dr. Don W. King
Martin LaBar

Narnia as the Seven Planets here

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