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The Last Battle
Posted by Derrick
on
16:06
I don’t like this one as much as the others. There I have said it. It is the one which doesn’t excite me and the one which scares me the most. That having been said, it is still an astounding story and a fitting end to the series that Lewis wrote.
This story centres around King Tirian of Narnia, a descendent of King Rillian. The other main Narnian characters are Shift (an ape) and Puzzle (Shift’s witless friend and virtual slave). Shift finds a lion’s skin and convinces Puzzle to pretend to be Aslan. This leads to a set of circumstances whereby the king is faced with an invasion of Narnia by Calormene. Puzzle becomes the unwitting tool in a conspiracy between Shift and the Calormenes and the scenes where he appears as the lion become transformed into a grotesque scenario where a new religion is formed. There is an amalgamation of the worship of Aslan with Tash the Calormene god. This Tashlan is portrayed as a vengeful and hateful god to the Narnians and they find themselves increasingly at the mercy of the puppet master Shift. He himself is manipulated by the Calormenes. Tirian mobilises the last of his faithful followers to have a last stand battle against the enemies of Aslan and Narnia. They begin to lose the battle but all is ended when the Great Lion himself comes back to Narnia. We then see the end of Narnia and the end of all things. Standing at a doorway the characters turn around and see Aslan’s own country, their new home forever.
Try talking about this without mentioning the end times. It's very difficult but I think for me the main theme is the mixing of religion. What really corrupts in this book is the nonsense that two very different religions with very different gods could ever mix like this. Tashlan is an abomination and those involved are right to oppose him. Lewis often wrestled with the subject of comparative religion and he always stood in Christianity's corner. There was to be no watering down of the message of Jesus for him. This book is a clear warning of what could happen to those people who do water down the message.
This book doesn't mince it's words and one of the most important messages is the fact that it makes a lie of one of the most well known and well loved statements in the series. Up to this point we see it oft repeated that 'once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia'. In this book we see that this is not the case. Susan does not make it into the new Narnia. The message is clear, our salvation as Christians is not cemented in. It can be lost or rather ignored by individuals. Lewis makes it plain that we need to keep focused and not change with the times as Susan does. It is a stark warning and one that needs heeding.
The series ends with a magnificent scene. The great hero Reepicheep beckons us to come farther in and we end with the revelation of the garden at the centre and we see all the old heroes again looking young and alive finishing with the great King Frank and Queen Helen who were crowned at the end of the Magician's Nephew. Bravo Mr. Lewis, a wonderful series of books.
This story centres around King Tirian of Narnia, a descendent of King Rillian. The other main Narnian characters are Shift (an ape) and Puzzle (Shift’s witless friend and virtual slave). Shift finds a lion’s skin and convinces Puzzle to pretend to be Aslan. This leads to a set of circumstances whereby the king is faced with an invasion of Narnia by Calormene. Puzzle becomes the unwitting tool in a conspiracy between Shift and the Calormenes and the scenes where he appears as the lion become transformed into a grotesque scenario where a new religion is formed. There is an amalgamation of the worship of Aslan with Tash the Calormene god. This Tashlan is portrayed as a vengeful and hateful god to the Narnians and they find themselves increasingly at the mercy of the puppet master Shift. He himself is manipulated by the Calormenes. Tirian mobilises the last of his faithful followers to have a last stand battle against the enemies of Aslan and Narnia. They begin to lose the battle but all is ended when the Great Lion himself comes back to Narnia. We then see the end of Narnia and the end of all things. Standing at a doorway the characters turn around and see Aslan’s own country, their new home forever.
Try talking about this without mentioning the end times. It's very difficult but I think for me the main theme is the mixing of religion. What really corrupts in this book is the nonsense that two very different religions with very different gods could ever mix like this. Tashlan is an abomination and those involved are right to oppose him. Lewis often wrestled with the subject of comparative religion and he always stood in Christianity's corner. There was to be no watering down of the message of Jesus for him. This book is a clear warning of what could happen to those people who do water down the message.
This book doesn't mince it's words and one of the most important messages is the fact that it makes a lie of one of the most well known and well loved statements in the series. Up to this point we see it oft repeated that 'once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia'. In this book we see that this is not the case. Susan does not make it into the new Narnia. The message is clear, our salvation as Christians is not cemented in. It can be lost or rather ignored by individuals. Lewis makes it plain that we need to keep focused and not change with the times as Susan does. It is a stark warning and one that needs heeding.
The series ends with a magnificent scene. The great hero Reepicheep beckons us to come farther in and we end with the revelation of the garden at the centre and we see all the old heroes again looking young and alive finishing with the great King Frank and Queen Helen who were crowned at the end of the Magician's Nephew. Bravo Mr. Lewis, a wonderful series of books.
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