I read this book in isolation from the other Narnia books and found that I had ideas that I missed in previous readings.
King Tirian, the last of the Kings of Narnia, hears word that Aslan is in Narnia. As he is on his journey, he discovers that things are just not working out well. There seems to be a problem with what Aslan is saying, and there are problems with the Calormen. The talking beasts of Narnia ask why this Aslan is so different. They notice and name the issue, but they still accept that Aslan is the person who is directing Shift the ape to command those in Narnia. King Tirian sees the miserable faces of those around him who have been accepting the ideas of Shift. King Tirian recognizes that something is wrong.
“Ape,” he cried with a great voice, “you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like and Ape.
He meant to go on and challenge the Ape but was struck and knocked down. What is it that makes King Tirian different from the others?
The king escapes and seeks to expose the false stories of Shift, along with gathering a force to remove the Calormen soldiers from Narnia, but runs into many troubles. He persists and, though he is outnumbered, will continue to challenge Shift.
“Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Aslan’s name, to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape a manifold traitor, and these Calormenes worthy of death. To my side, all true Narnians. Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?”
So why is Tirian so willing to see what could become of the plan Shift has laid out, but those of Narnia are not seeing? Why do the Narnians not question the differences that they see between the new and old Aslan?
Tirian seems to have a sense of conscience that he will not go against. The animal that has been posing as Narnia is freed from Shift and states: “I see now that I really have been a very bad donkey. I ought never have listened to Shift. I never thought things like this would begin to happen”.
Is one of the reasons that Shift had so much influence? That it would never get this bad?
At the beginning of the story, Shift tells the donkey, “You know you’re no good at thinking, so why don’t you let me do your thinking for you?”
Or is the reason that the thinking was delegated to Shift, it was just easy to listen to someone else tell you what you want to do?
How can we apply this story to our own lives? Where do we stand in the story? Do we stand with Aslan and Narnia or with the false Aslan and Calormen? Which belief system do we choose to embrace, support, and follow?
This book was published in 1956. World War II is over, and the Cold War is in progress. Is Lewis trying to warn up of what is going on? Warn us that we have a choice to make? We have to choose between the real Aslan and those who pretend to be Aslan. Will we choose to follow leaders who promise “to make things better for everyone,” or “it's for your benefit,” or will we choose leaders who expect us to think and figure out how we can make the world a better place?
King Tirian, the last of the Kings of Narnia, hears word that Aslan is in Narnia. As he is on his journey, he discovers that things are just not working out well. There seems to be a problem with what Aslan is saying, and there are problems with the Calormen. The talking beasts of Narnia ask why this Aslan is so different. They notice and name the issue, but they still accept that Aslan is the person who is directing Shift the ape to command those in Narnia. King Tirian sees the miserable faces of those around him who have been accepting the ideas of Shift. King Tirian recognizes that something is wrong.
“Ape,” he cried with a great voice, “you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like and Ape.
He meant to go on and challenge the Ape but was struck and knocked down. What is it that makes King Tirian different from the others?
The king escapes and seeks to expose the false stories of Shift, along with gathering a force to remove the Calormen soldiers from Narnia, but runs into many troubles. He persists and, though he is outnumbered, will continue to challenge Shift.
“Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Aslan’s name, to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape a manifold traitor, and these Calormenes worthy of death. To my side, all true Narnians. Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?”
So why is Tirian so willing to see what could become of the plan Shift has laid out, but those of Narnia are not seeing? Why do the Narnians not question the differences that they see between the new and old Aslan?
Tirian seems to have a sense of conscience that he will not go against. The animal that has been posing as Narnia is freed from Shift and states: “I see now that I really have been a very bad donkey. I ought never have listened to Shift. I never thought things like this would begin to happen”.
Is one of the reasons that Shift had so much influence? That it would never get this bad?
At the beginning of the story, Shift tells the donkey, “You know you’re no good at thinking, so why don’t you let me do your thinking for you?”
Or is the reason that the thinking was delegated to Shift, it was just easy to listen to someone else tell you what you want to do?
How can we apply this story to our own lives? Where do we stand in the story? Do we stand with Aslan and Narnia or with the false Aslan and Calormen? Which belief system do we choose to embrace, support, and follow?
This book was published in 1956. World War II is over, and the Cold War is in progress. Is Lewis trying to warn up of what is going on? Warn us that we have a choice to make? We have to choose between the real Aslan and those who pretend to be Aslan. Will we choose to follow leaders who promise “to make things better for everyone,” or “it's for your benefit,” or will we choose leaders who expect us to think and figure out how we can make the world a better place?
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