On Revealing and Unrevealing Disguises (Part 1)

Our sages tell us that you can learn of someone's true nature if you observe them in three contexts: their wallet (their business dealings), when they are angry, and when they drink. On Purim, which for non-Jerusalmites falls out on Friday (March 14), two of these factors come into play: money, where there is an extra emphasis and command to give money to the poor, and wine, which is traditionally drunk due to the centrailty of wine in the commemorated story of Queen Esther. 

In place of anger, however, I have often suggested that the Jewish people have developed another method of demonstrating their true nature, which is the custom of dressing up. How this custom arose is not the goal of this post, but I nonetheless think that how someone dresses up may provide insight into their nature. I think people inherently realize this when in English they will colloquially say, "I am going to be ______ for Purim?" And of course, that's silly. People are who they are and do not become a princess, Batman, or Aaron Judge on Purim. But perhaps there's more than just a shortening of language in this formulation, when someone says they "want to be," rather than saying they "want to dress up as." Because, to some degree, the person really would like to be Queen Esther, a soldier, or a fireman - why else would they want to dress up as that person or object?

This is true dressing up - in fact we might say it's a revealing disguise, because while the disguise may make someone look like someone or something else, in fact, it reveals an aspect of who they really are. 

Before tying this into Narnia, I'll just note that personally I do not dress up on Purim because I am perfectly happy being myself (not that there isn't much to criticize in that). However, this year, I will wear my math tie in honor of Pi Day.   

Anyway... on to Narnia...

There is quite a bit of dressing up in Narnia and I think what we'll see is that there are good ways and bad ways to dress up. When Lucy first enters Narnia she meets the faun Tumnus who is unknowingly dressed up look "just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping." Of course, as we've discussed elsewhere, if there was one thing Tumnus was NOT doing it was Christmas shopping. But Tumnus, perhaps still unconsciously yearned for the time that he would be able to, and I have no doubt that less than 12 months later he was in fact Christmas shopping. This "disguise" was revealing. It showed us the true nature of Tumnus' soul - he was yearning for redemption. He knew there would be redemption and he disguised himself to reveal the coming of redmeption. 

Next, when the Pevensie children enter Narnia for the first time together they don fur coats leading Lucy to exclaim, "We can pretend we are Arctic explorers," and she's in some senses correct, but it is an unrevealing disguise. It does not truly demonstrate who they are or what they want. Peter responds correctly, "This is going to be exciting enough without pretending." This adventure cannot be pretend, it must be them, themselves, not disguised as somone else. 

The same thing happens shortly afterwards. Peter suggests thinking of a stratagem to save Tumnus from the White Witch. He says, "I mean couldn't we dress up as something, or pretend to be - oh, pedlars or anything." These are unrevealing disguises. Peter has desire to be a pedlar. And here, Mr Beaver has the proper reply. No, you cannot pretend to be someone or something else. True hope, true redemption will not occur through you on your own no matter what you do - only through Aslan can you participate in the redemptive process, "No good your trying, of all people. But now that Aslan is on the move..." Peter, like Lucy earlier, was trying to hide. Redemption comes through truth. 

Several years later, future Narnian heroes do dress up in an effort to hide their true nature. It fails miserably. Shasta, Aravis, Hwin, and Bree are attempting to get safely past Tashban on their journey to Narnia and decide that Aravis, Hwin, and Bree must disguise themselves. Bree cannot be seen as a warhorse being used as a packhorse by a grubby child and Aravis, hiding from her family, certainly cannot be noticed as a royal Takheena. They go through great pains to make unrevealing disguises, ones that would hide their true nature and destiny. And the disguised almost immediately fail. Bree is instantly recognized as a warhorse, and Aravis can't make it halfway through Tashbaan without being noticed by a (not very close) friend. Of course, this works out for the best, but it shows once again, that redemption does not come about by hiding and sneakiness, it must be quested after in truth, honesty, and determination to do what is right.

This now takes us to The Last Battle, where we have a number of characters who again disguise themselves and the disastrous results. 

We will explore that in our next.  

The Air of Narnia

"The Narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the Eastern Seas with King Caspian..." 

The Silver Chair

The concept of having a place dedicated for certain tasks finds itself in many areas of life. Indeed, it may even spark the modern debate of returning to the office. But the concept of hallowed ground, made sacred by our own actions or those of our ancestors, finds its source at the beginning of Jewish religious consciousness. The Talmud praises one who has a set place for prayer (Brachot 6b), "Rabbi Ḥelbo said in the name of Rav Huna: One who sets a fixed place for his prayer, the God of Abraham assists him," and goes on to assert that Abraham himself did the same. Pray in a place once, and you have prayed. Continue praying in the same place, and the place becomes a place a prayer: a place that helps you pray and where God himself comes to listen. In fact, King Solomon requested that the Temple serve as this place (1 Kings 8:29), "May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers that Your servant will offer toward this place." 

Upon Eustace's return to Narnia in the Silver Chair he demonstrates strength and a sense of adventure that Jill did not expect from her schoolmate. Lewis attributes this to the Narnian air restoring to him the strength he had won decades ago (Narnian) during his adventures on the Dawn Treader. Lewis notes the same phenomenon with respect to Edmund and to Jill herself upon their second returns. Concerning Edmund, Lewis writes, "The air of Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island, and all his old battles came back to him, and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill." 

There are two complementary ways this occurs. First, a return to a place makes it appropriate for actions that have already occurred there. When I sit in my place in the synagogue, I will naturally default to the right mindset for prayer. Second, the place itself returns to me a capability. I always pray here and thus, even if I'm not in the appropriate frame of mind, the place itself gives grants me the ability to pray. 

So too with Narnia. When Eustace, Edmund, and Jill return to Narnia they are naturally poised for adventure including the skills and hardships it comes with. Eustace's alertness, Edmund's swordplay, and Jill's stealth may have been aroused elsewhere, but in Narnia it emerges on its own. 

But even more, Narnia itself lends itself to such positive traits. Lewis makes this point via the observations of Tirian when considering Eustace and Jill, "in fact they both seemed to be already much stronger and bigger and more grown-up than they had been when he first met them a few hours ago. It is one of the effects which Narnian air often has on visitors from our world." 

Why, or how, does Narnia do this? No doubt it is due to the actions of the Narnian Lords and her other heroes who define Narnia's character. If Narnia is a place of bravery and strength, it is due to Peter the Magnificent. If it is a place of justice and righteousness, it is due to Edmund the Just. And if is a place of valiance and complete faithfulness, it is due to Lucy the Valiant. So, when Eustace and Jill (or anyone else) leave our world, one also resplendent with heroes, but also too much with the opposite, and enter Narnia these characteristics will emerge. 

There is another possible explanation specifically tied to the fact that visitors to Narnia are almost always children. Perhaps Lewis is making the following point. For better or for worse, our world keeps children as children. The Pevensies enter Narnia to insurrection, weapons, and war. Eustace is forced to join a quest of historic magnitude. Jill to responsibilities of the greatest importance. Are our children ready for that? Would we send our preteens on winter searches with a marshwiggle as a guide? Would we entrust even our young adults with national responsibility?

Children in Narnia are stronger, bigger, and more grown up because they are allowed to be just that. And that is Lewis' goal with the Chronicles of Narnia. They are children's tales with the express goal of doing something more - inculcating moral and divine truths. When our children enter Narnia, they are asked to become something even better than bigger and stronger, they are asked to be moral, truthful, and dedicated to God.