Analysis of Christian Symbols in C.S.Lewis' 'The Last Battle'.

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ABSTRACT

Seri buku novel The Chronicles of Narnia karangan C.S Lewis, dikenal

banyak orang sebagai karya fiksi anak-anak. Tetapi sebenarnya dalam novel

Narnia terkandung nilai-nilai kekristenan yang dapat di gali lebih dalam. dalam

Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis salah satu buku dari seri Narnia yang berjudul

The Last Battle atau Pertempuran Terakhir, yang disebut banyak orang sebagai

buku yang sangat padat dengan konsep-konsep kitab Wahyu pada Alkitab.

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis simbol-simbol kekristenan

yang terdapat dalam The Last Battle. Ada empat karakter yang saya analisis

sebagai nilai-nilai Kristen; Aslan yang menyimbolkan kuasa dan kasih ilahi, Shift

yang menyimbolkan kuasa jahat, Puzzle yang menyimbolkan kebodohan manusia

dan Tirian yang menyimbolkan iman. Dengan analisis simbol-simbol kekristenan

melalui karakter-karakter tersebut, saya dapat mengungkap pesan kekristenan

dalam novel tersebut yaitu pesan keselamatan. Dalam Tugas Akhir ini saya juga

mengutip ayat-ayat Alkitab untuk mengkonfirmasi simbolisme dan pesan-pesan

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle

The story of The last Battle begins when Shift, a cunning and evil ape,

who is walking with his friend, Puzzle, and finding a lion’s skin. Shift asks Puzz;e

to wear the lion’s skin so that Puzzle can pretend to be Aslan and rule over Narnia

under Shift’s commands. Shift developes internal allies in Narnia by spreading the

heresy that Aslan and the Calormene god, Tash - a demonic figures- are one and

the same.

The heresy causes the dwarfs and some other Narnians to lose their faith in

Aslan and their loyalty to the King. While Shift continues to bring Narnia into

Calormene slavery, Tirian, the king who rule over Narnia at that time, keeps his

faith on Aslan and tries to convince other Narnians not to believe in Shift’s fraud.

In the end, he has only a small loyal force to fight the Calormenes, and he

prepares to die in a last stand against the forces of darkness.

The Last Battle ends with Aslan coming back to bring Narnia to an end. Aslan

appears and holds the final judgement. All of the people and animals, including

those who had previously died, gather outside the barn and are judged by Aslan.

Those who are not loyal, do not pass through the door and turn to shadow. After

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Those who are faithful to Aslan pass through the door and enter Aslan’s country.

Aslan country is the real Narnia which is more beautiful than the former one.

Those who enter the real Narnia, meet all faithful Aslan’s followers from the

former time, and live happily ever after together with Aslan.

Biography of C.S Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland)

on November 29, 1898. As a teenager, Lewis learned to love poetry, especially

the works of Virgil and Homer. Lewis had been raised as a Christian by his

parents, who were Protestants. However, it wasn't until he was sent away to

boarding school after the death of his mother that he began to read the Bible for

himself and to work out his own thoughts on religion. Possibly Christianity

offered him some consolation at a time when he was feeling great loneliness and

sorrow. Lewis published books that won him acclaim not only as a writer of

books on religious subjects, but also as a writer of academic works and popular

novels. Christianity was to become a central aspect of Lewis's adult life and a

subject of many of his writings, including the Narnia stories. Lewis's first Narnia book is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. After the publishing of the first

Narnia book, Lewis quickly wrote 6 more Narnia books, publishing the final one,

The Last Battle, in 1956. Although they were not well received at first by critics

and reviewers, the books gained in popularity through word of mouth. The Narnia

books have since sold more than 100 million copies and are among the most

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

C.S Lewis is known for his work on medieval literature, literary criticism,

and fiction. It is said that “The interesting thing about C.S. Lewis is that he had a

very clear picture of good and evil as direct personal, human concepts and that he

could bring them to life in his writing.(APA:NESFA #33).

Lewis’ best known work today is his series The Chronicles of Narnia. The

Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children and “is

considered a classic of children's literature.” (“About C.S Lewis”) The books are

rich with Christian ideas which are easy to understand even by young readers;

however, the books can also be read for their adventure, color and richness of

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The Chronicles of Narnia present “the adventures of children who play central

roles in the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is

common, and good battles evil. His most famous works, the Chronicles of Narnia,

contain many strong Christian messages.” (“About C.S Lewis”).

I choose the last series of Narnia, The Last Battle to be analysed because

this last book ends and completes the whole series. Mark Baker says “[The Last

Battle] is a stirring conclusion of a great series. The symbolism is strong, and I

find this book one of the most interesting of the series from that stand point ... it’s

a wonderful ending to a wonderful series...”

The Last Battle is rich with symbolism related to Christianity. However,

in this novel common christian symbols such as the cross that symbolises

christianity or Job that symbolises patience will not be found. In his novel, Lewis

creates his new Christian symbols. Literary symbol is “something that means

more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an action, or some other

item that has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other

meanings as well.” (Perrine 216).The literary symbols that I will analyse in this

novel are the characters.

A lot of critics relate this book to the book of Revelation. One of the critics

says that The Last Battle “speaks of an end reminiscent of that foretold in the

book of Revelation” (Bixodoido). Although it is true that most events mentioned

in the novel alludes to the book of Revelation, I find that the symbolism employed

in the novel connects more widely with the whole Bible rather than only

Revelation exclusively. Thus, my analysis of the symbolism will be more based

on the Bible in general. I use the New International Version Bible as the

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I have quoted above that this book “contains many strong Christian

messages.” (“About C.S Lewis”) therefore, after analysing the symbolism, I will

conclude the Christian message revealed through the symbolism.

STATEMENTS OF THE PROBLEM:

After reading the novel, I would like to analyse:

1. How do characters in The Last Battle function as symbols?

2. How does the meaning of the symbols related to the Bible?

3. What is the Christian message revealed through symbolism?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

This study is done in order:

1. To identify how the characters in The Last Battle function as symbols

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3. To reveal the Christian message revealed through symbolism

METHOD OF RESEARCH:

Method used in this thesis is library research. I use the New International

Version Bible as the reference to reveal the Christian messages contained in the

novel. I also read and compile some text that is taken from the internet.

ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS:

This thesis consists of three chapters. The thesis starts with

acknowledgements. The first chapter is the introduction containing Background of

the Study, Statement of the Problems, the Purpose of the Study, Methods of

Research and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter two contains the analysis or

hypothesis of The last Battle, and the last chapter contains conclusion. The thesis

ends with Bibliography, which contains the synopsis of the novel and Biography

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having studied Lewis’ The Last Battle, I would like to draw the

conclusion from what I have discussed. The Chronicles of Narnia is a series that

have more meaning than the surface meaning, and most of them are related to the

Bible. One of the series of the novel I have analysed, The Last Battle, represents

the concept of the final judgement in the book of Revelation and reveals the

message of salvation.

I have analysed the character Aslan that symbolises divine authority and

divine love, because Aslan is the majestic holder of the highest power over Narnia

that shows the quality of perfect love. The second character I have analysed is

Shift, symbolises false authority, because Shift steals authority by deceiving

Narnians and persuading Puzzle’s pretending to be Aslan. The third character I

have analysed is the donkey Puzzle that symbolises stupidity of man, because

Puzzle is used by Shift to be his partner in crime without knowing that what he

was doing is wrong. I also relate the meaning of the name Puzzle to his being

stupid. And the last character I have analysed is Tirian that symbolises faith

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After analysing the symbolisms by the characters, I find that the novel

indeed represents the concept of the final judgement that is found in the book of

Revelation. But having analysed further and relating the symbolism more widely

to the whole bible, I find that the novel contains the message of salvation. The

background of Christian knowledge is needed to understand the meaning of the

novel better. Thus, the effect of reading the novel will be different to different

readers. I divide the readers of The Last Battle into two general groups, the

readers who have the background of Christian knowledge and the readers who

have not.

The readers who do not have the background of Christian knowledge, will

not be able to relate the story in the novel to the bible. Thus, they will be able only

to enjoy the story itself, which of course is good enough because the story itself is

enjoyable to read, even by young readers. Without the background of Christian

knowledge, the reader will find The Last Battle as a story that is full of fantasy

and adventure.

On the other hand, the readers who have the background of Christian

knowledge, I believe, will know that the novel has more meaning than the surface

meaning. Through the analysis i have made, the readers will be able to relate the

characters or the events in The Last Battle to the Bible and will gain more

enjoyment and understanding from the novel. Having the background of Christian

knowledge is advantageous in reading The last Battle in order to understand the

real message of the novel better and deeply.

Having read the biography of C.S Lewis, I believe that Lewis purposely

wrote the novel containing Christian message. Lewis was raised as a Christian by

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of 30. It is said that “... his conversion had a profound effect on his work.” (“C.S

Lewis”). Lewis is clearly affected by his being Christian in writing his novel.

Lewis has achieved his purpose to tell the readers about the concept of salvation

in Christianity, because most of the characters and events in the novel are related

to the Bible.

Having read The Last Battle, I have gained new understanding. Sometimes

reading the events in the bible can be confusing because the time sequence is not

in order. The Bible also often uses figurative language thus can not be understood

directly. I find that The Last Battle has described the concept of the last battle and

the final judgement in the bible clearly.

Having analysed the symbolisms by the characters, I am also reminded of

the salvation I have in Christ. I am reminded that once I was a prisoner of sin,

deceived and weak. But God, through Jesus, offers His salvation that “… whoever

believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Reading The

Last Battle also has encouraged me to stand stronger in faith because it reminds

me of what the Bible says that “… in the later times some will abandon the faith

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text

Lewis, C.S. The Chronicle of Narnia: The Last Battle. United Kingdom: The Bodley Head, 1956.

Books

Perrine, Laurence. Literature Structure, Sound, and Sense. United States of America: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1978

The Holy Bible New International Version. United States: 1984

Internet sites

“C.S Lewis”. Wikipedia. 2008. 27 Maret 2008.

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Imbornoni, Ann-Marie. “The Creator of Narnia”. 2008. 27 Maret 2008

<http:// www.factmonster.com/spot/narnia-lewis.html>

”Reflections on C.S Lewis”. APA:NESFA #33. February 1973. 1997. 27 Maret 2008

<http://home.tiac.net/~cri/1997/lewis.html>

Bixodoido. ”The ”Apocalypse” of Narnia”. May 21, 2003. 2008. 27 Maret 2008

<http://www.amazon.com/review/K1KNZ1XXCTHXGY>

Baker, Mark. ”Bringing the Scenes to a Close”. November 20, 2003. 2008. 27Maret 2008

<http://www.amazon.com/review/product/006447108X>

Maranatha Christian University