Puddleglum and The Last Battle

I have previously made known my disappointment in Tirian the last King of Narnia, despite Alsan's tacit approval: (1) Tirian waited way too long to discover the truth of the arrival of Aslan. Immediately upon hearing of Aslan's arrival, he should have (minimally) sent reliable officers to verify the truth.  (2) Tirian rashly (as Lewis describes it) seeks to avenge the murdered dryad without a comprehensive (or any) plan. (3) This leads Tirian and Jewel to kill two unarmed Calormens (rightfully in my mind). (4) At that point Tirian effectively gives up, completely ignoring the possibility of repentance) and hands himself over the Shift and the Calormens. This is nothing short of a complete abdication of his duty as King of Narnia. 

However, there is a more fundamental question regarding the actions of Tirian and all of the Talking Beasts living in the north of Narnia. Why are they willing, without checking (!) to believe that Shift is Aslan's interpreter (even beyond the question of Shift's obvious character flaws)? Can they believe that Aslan would be willing to have such terrible deeds performed in his name? 

Ignored by Tirian is the theological charge of Puddleglum in the Silver Chair, "I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia." Could a Narnian, based on everything known of Aslan, call Shift's command living like a Narnian? Is not the imaginary Narnia in which Narnians are free from human subjugation (as the old Bear argues for) so much more so much better than the Shift's version of Narnia? 

There are some challenges to this. God does indeed send His people into slavery, but to atone for their sins. And even in exile there is a need to 'Live like a Narnian,' to refuse to accept the world as is but to strive to create the world that Puddleglum perceives. God's chosen people may be slaves, exiled, discriminated against, but it's irrelevant if the people themselves refuse to believe it. 

This is lesson of the just observed holiday of Passover. Our Sages insist that the Children of Israel were redeemed early as they were in danger of complete assimilation...

This probably needs some further thought as well, but hopefully it's coherent enough... 

In Every Generation...

Those Northern Witches always mean the same thing, but in every age they have a different plan for getting it. (The Silver Chair) 

In every generation they rise up to destroy us, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, saves us from their hands. (Passover Haggadah)

I have no idea whether or not C.S. Lewis was at all familiar with the details of the Passover seder, the ritual meal Jews partake in on the first night of Passover. At this meal, Jews celebrate and relive the Exodus from Egypt. The seder (Hebrew for 'order') ritual is laid out in the haggadah (Hebrew for 'tale') which presents the order of what is done at the meal. This includes the when to read the various texts about the Exodus, when to drink the four cups of wine, when to eat matza (the unleavened bread of affliction) and marror (the bitter herbs), and so on. 

Whether or not C.S. Lewis was familiar with the details of the seder, his description of the Northern Witches’ endless quest to rule over Narnia exactly echoes the haggadah’s assertion that evil will always attempt ultimate destruction of the Jewish people. Let us take a moment to understand the statement made by the oldest dwarf to Rilian, soon to be the young King of Narnia, in light of the statement in the haggadah, and vice-versa. 

In the haggadah, the assertion that evil will arise in every generation parallels a similar statement, “In every generation one is required to see themselves as if they left Egypt.” What does this mean? On the seder night, the night dedicated towards enmeshing and weaving Jewish youth into the tapestry of the Jewish people, time is put on hold. The myriad of threats, enemies, and evil that endanger Jews today, and have endangered them over the millennia, all become one with Pharaoh and his minions. Pogroms, inquisitions, and concentration camps all meld into an ongoing story of evil seeking to destroy the Jewish people. But no matter what form or shape evil takes, God will never allow it to triumph. Just as God emerged victorious in His battle against the Egyptians, He will also emerge victorious in the war against the current evil. 

This same lesson is that given to Prince Rilian. The prince spent ten years living in darkness. As Puddleglum worries, “Constitution ruined with living underground, I shouldn't wonder,” and this concern is certainly valid. How can someone recover from that experience? How can such a person see light without wincing? 

The oldest dwarf understood this challenge and devised a solution. It is the oldest dwarf who fits the Lewis' previous description as one who, “could just remember how his father, King Caspian, had looked when he was a young man, and saw the likeness.” And in this observation found a way to fully redeem the prince. The assertion that all Northern Witches mean the same thing takes Rilian back in time and demonstrates that he is part of a chain. His experience is only the latest battle in an ongoing war against evil. And just like Caspian and even Peter, with the help of Aslan, could overcome tremendous odds to defeat evil, so too Rilian can escape the trauma of his experience and emerge to rule justly and righteously. Times have not changed, the story is still the same, only a few irrelevant details of the plot have been rewritten. 

The oldest dwarf also has something to teach the Jewish People. What is the common denominator of the Northern Witches (of which we only know two, the White Witch and the Lady of the Green Kirtle)? What characteristics do they share that they embody God's warning to Jeremiah, “From the North the evil will come forth” (Jeremiah 1:14)? Both witches deny the true God, and see themselves in His place. Any being that believes itself divine must conquer Narnia to demonstrate its power over Aslan. Any people or ideology, be it Communism, Nazism, or even humanism, that sees itself in place of God, must attack or erode the Jewish People to demonstrate they are not merely a cheap substitute. The war is ongoing. Each battle is the same, only the means of attack have changed. But, no matter the strategy, God will emerge victorious. 

Stay safe everyone! I’m back to blogging so come back soon!

Narnians Without Narnia: Exile

I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. 

Thinking further, Puddleglum’s resolve to “live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia,” may not be a theological statement but a socio-historical one. Such a view, I believe, speaks more to Judaism than to Christianity. Let me try to explain…

For all that the Chronicles of Narnia are Christian works, Narnia is not a religion, but a state. A citizen of a state may experience a phenomenon that is inapplicable for a religion, exile. People in exile are separated from their homeland, but does this mean they are separated from their religion? Well, perhaps they are geographically kept from the performance of certain rituals, but with respect to the core belief system, the answer is no. Religion is portable. While a religion may designate holy places, theological truths are not bound by geography.

Puddleglum, trapped in a pit which is the witch’s lands, is very much in exile. He is separated from his wigwam, his reeds and rushes, and even from the blessed places of Cair Paravel and Aslan’s How. Nonetheless, Puddleglum rightly declares, “I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it.” Indeed, even though there appears to be no Aslan in the lands ruled by the witch, the theological truth of Aslan is universal and eternal.

Not as obvious is living as a Narnian. Must a Narnian separated from Narnia observe its rituals, adhere to its moral teachings and follow its customs and mores? Perhaps here, in exile, it is sufficient to hold on to the theological truth, without all of the trappings and formality? Puddleglum addresses this as well, “live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.” It may be hard to follow the morals and rituals of Narnia while in exile, but he will nonetheless.

Judaism is a nation-based religion. It has a homeland, Israel. When suggestions were offered to form a Jewish homeland elsewhere, be it Uganda or Ararat, these were rejected, because Judaism is not just a religion but a nation. When Jews were exiled from their homeland, they questioned their role in the Diaspora. Assuming there is a God, does He still desire our service once he has divorced us from our homeland? No less an authority than Nachmanides suggests that adherence to commandments in the Diaspora is simply to ensure continued fidelity to them until such time the exile is over.

Nevertheless, while in exile, Jews did continue to hold on not only to the theological truths of Judaism, but also to the commandments and moral teachings. Adhering to the same declaration of Puddleglum, Jews declared that they will be on God’s side even when the surrounding culture shunned them for doing so and lived like Jews even when there was no Israel.

Narnia is not a model of the Vatican and certainly not of other Christian countries such as England or Spain. Narnia is modeled on Israel, and in that role the exile from Narnia has what to say to the Jew still living in the Diaspora.

Narnians Without Narnia: Theology

I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. 

Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is, I believe, one of the greatest heroes in the Chronicles of Narnia. Lacking the flair of Reepicheep and the positivity of the Beavers, Puddleglum faces all challenges assuming the worst, and then charges forward anyway. Perhaps the most extreme example of this is when he recites the above quoted lines. Puddleglum’s willingness to side with Aslan and live like a Narnian despite the possibility that they may not exist, is more than just his conclusion of a logical deduction based on the Ontological Argument, it is the acceptance of a covenant with God and morality despite the (possible) non-existence of those concepts in reality. The circumstances which give rise to this declaration are as follows.

The Lady of the Green Kirtle, upon witnessing the attempted escape of Prince Rilian from her evil clutches, seeks to re-enchant Rilian and his would-be rescuers: Puddleglum, Eustace, and Jill. She casts a hypnosis spell by burning an incense which gave off a sweet and drowsy smell, and monotonously strumming on a mandolin-like instrument. Despite the efforts of the protagonists to fight against the hypnosis they are slowly overcome, until Puddleglum makes his sacrifice. With his bare feet, Puddleglum extinguishes most of fire burning the incense thus breaking the enchantment. The sharp pain combined with the dispersion of the enchantment, provides him with a moment of extreme clarity, in which he speaks to the barrenness and helplessness of the witch’s world, ending his speech with the above words.

How are we to understand Puddleglum’s declaration? It could mean, that even though the truth of Aslan and Narnian culture are in doubt, he will follow them anyway because perhaps they are, in fact, true. Given that the world would be much more interesting, moral, exciting, and so forth if there were a God (Aslan) and an objective morality (living as a Narnian) Puddleglum declares he will lean on the side that they do exist. 

Another possible explanation is to suggest that though it can be proven that Aslan and Narnia do not exist, Puddleglum refuses to accept the world in such a state and will make them exist despite proofs to the contrary.

This thought process leads us to contemplate some of the following questions. What would we do if it were proven to us that our religious beliefs were fundamentally flawed? What would Christians do if it could be proven conclusively that Jesus was not God but a human? What would traditional Jews do if it could be proven conclusively that God did not give the Torah to Moses at Sinai? Would we question these conclusive proofs saying that they only seem conclusive due to our own lack of intellectual or spiritual capability? Would we say that we will continue on our path irregardless of proof because we have a lifestyle that brings us joy, (perceived) meaning, and makes us better people (whatever that might mean)? Could our belief perpetuate and make true something that is not?

An example of this latter point: as a Jew, I believe that our nation is eternal. No enemy who sets out to destroy us, no religion who attempts to convert us, and no nation that seeks to assimilate us will ever be completely successful. God promised this to us in the bible and though tested, His promise has always allowed us to survive. Of course, Jews are a notoriously stubborn people. So how much of our survival is God's intervention and how much is our own belief that we are eternal? 

Or maybe it really doesn’t matter too much…

To be continued…