Into Them You Can Return

For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. 

The Magician's Nephew

In the beginning, Aslan chose from amongst the beasts he created, a few to be endowed with consciousness and understanding. He gave the land of Narnia over to his chosen Talking Beasts and ordered them to care for the unchosen, Dumb Beasts. Furthermore, the Talking Beasts were warned against returning to the ways of the Dumb Beasts which, in previous posts, we have understood to mean placing instincts before morals. 

Once so defined we can understand the "punishment" to be meted out against those Talking Beasts who do return to the ways of the Dumb Beasts: they will cease to be Talking Beasts. As we have seen, this is precisely what happens to the Ginger the Cat, who joined with the Calormen to promote Tashlan. Perhaps, however, this is not simply a punishment but also a consequence. 

The Talking Beasts are chosen and given, at least implicitly, a moral framework which includes believing in Aslan, remembering and respecting the past, treating others with dignity and respect, defending those who are weak, and in general maintaining a code of honor. What happens when one breaks from that moral framework? Such an individual has, on their own volition, returned to the ways of the Dumb Beasts and, more so, has lost the uniqueness of being chosen. Thus, this individual once again becomes a Dumb Beasts.

This same moral underpinning of the chosen underlies the Exodus from Egypt that we just celebrated and commemorated on Passover. The Children of Israel were "freed" from the slavery of Pharoah only to become slaves of God. One may question whether anything was gained, are the Children of Israel not still slaves? 

The answer of course, is yes. The Exodus enabled the Children of Israel to fulfill the mission set for them by God when He chose Abraham to father the Chosen People. The midrashic literature tells that a large number of Jews were lost during the plague of darkness because they were not interested in leaving Egypt. Usually this is understood that they were killed, but perhaps they simply chose to become unchosen. They returned to the pagan ways of Abraham' father and were thus returned into them.