The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (book)



"This is going to be exciting enough without pretending."

- Peter Pevensie

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe presents the story of four ordinary children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, who find their way into the magical land of Narnia where they meet the great lion Aslan and take part in breaking the evil White Witch's reign of power while becoming kings and queens of this world.

Characters

 * Peter Pevensie
 * Susan Pevensie
 * Edmund Pevensie
 * Lucy Pevensie
 * Professor Digory Kirke
 * Mrs. Macready
 * Ivy (mentioned only)
 * Margaret (mentioned only)
 * Betty
 * Mr. Tumnus
 * White Witch (Jadis, selfproclaimed Queen of Narnia, Empress of the Lone Islands)
 * Ginarrbrik (unnamed in book, name adapted from movie adaption)
 * Maugrim (in some editions of book referred to as Fenris Ulf)
 * Robin
 * Mr. Beaver
 * Mrs. Beaver
 * Aslan
 * Father Christmas
 * Fox (only appears in movie)
 * Emperor-over-the-Sea (mentioned only)
 * White Stag (mentioned only)
 * tree people(wispered to peter)

Book Facts
Published in 1950, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was originally written as a stand alone book and was not intended to have any sequels. It was written for four children that had come to live with C.S. Lewis during the Second World War. The original characters were named Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter. The book is dedicated to his goddaughter. It is the first of the series published. However it is the second in order of occurance.

Plot Summary
In England during World War 2, the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent to the country house of Professor Digory Kirke in order to be safe from the bombings of London.

While playing in the house Lucy climbs inside a wardrobe in a back room and finds herself in another world, where it is winter. She meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun, who invites her to his home for tea. He tells her that this is the land of Narnia and is ruled by an evil White Witch, who has made it always winter. He lulls her to sleep, but then bursts into tears. It turns out he was planning to turn her over to the White Witch, who has ordered that any humans in Narnia be given to her, but has had a change of heart, and helps her return back through the wardrobe door. Lucy's siblings don't believe her story because the world doesn't seem to be there when they look in the wardrobe.

Several days later she enters the wardrobe again, secretly followed by Edmund, her older brother, who finds himself in Narnia. He meets the White Witch, who seduces him with friendliness and magical candy. He confesses that his younger sister was once in Narnia and met Mr. Tumnus. She gives him the task to bring his siblings to her when they all enter Narnia again, and promises to make him a Prince and her heir. He then meets up with Lucy and they leave Narnia together and return to England. When Lucy tells her older siblings that Edmund has been in Narnia with her, he lies, saying they were playing make believe, which crushes Lucy.

Finally, one day several weeks later while hiding from the housekeeper, all four children get in the wardrobe and find themselves in Narnia. Peter apologizes to Lucy for not believing her, and everyone realizes that Edmund lied about not being in Narnia before. Lucy leads them to Mr. Tumnus' house, but they find he has been arrested by the White Witch's secret police for harboring Lucy. They are contacted by a talking beaver, a member of the opposition to the Witch, who takes them secretly to his home. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver tell them that the reason the Witch is looking for humans is because of a prophecy (the Golden Age Prophecy) that when four humans, two 'Sons of Adam' and two 'Daughters of Eve', come to Narnia to claim the four thrones in the castle Cair Paravel, the Witch's reign will be over. He also tells them about a mysterious Lion, Aslan, who has come to Narnia to set it right. They will take the children to meet Aslan at the Stone Table, down the river.

Edmund has been feeling angry at his siblings for finding out that he lied about Narnia, so he sneaks out of the Beaver's house and goes to the Witch's castle, telling her where the others are. To his surprise she takes him prisoner, and sets out with him on her sleigh to catch and kill the other children. Meanwhile, when the other children find Edmund gone they want to search for him, but Beaver makes them realize that he has betrayed them, and their only chance is to get to Aslan before the Witch can catch them. So they set out for the Stone Table.

During the long journey to the Table the Witch has the speed advantage with her sleigh, but a thaw comes and the ice melts, bogging down the sleigh, forcing them to walk. Soon it becomes apparent that Aslan's coming has ended the Witch's enchanted Hundred-Year Winter. Within a few hours the country of Narnia blossoms from winter to spring.

The three children and the Beavers reach the Stone Table and meet Aslan and the army of good creatures gathered to fight the Witch. Meanwhile, the Witch decides that Edmund is no longer worth keeping alive and prepares to kill him to prevent the prophecy coming true. Maugrim attacks the camp and engages Peter in battle. After Maugrim is killed, another wolf emerged and fled from the camp. Aslan sends his soldiers after it. Upon the White Witch learning of Maugrim's death, the wolf advises here to fly. Rather than fly, the White Witch orders the wolf to call out the Giants, Werewolves, Spirits of the Trees that are on her side, Ghouls, Boggles, Ogres, Minotaurs, Cruels, Hags, Spectres, and People of the Toadstools amongst others and to rondezvous with her as fast as they can get to her. Edmund is saved just in time by a rescue party sent by Aslan.

The next day, Aslan speaks to him and tells the children that there's no need to talk to him about the past. Edmund apologizes to the other children for his betrayal. The White Witch's dwarf arrives requesting to Aslan to hold a parley. Aslan accepts in exchange that she leaves her wand behind. The demands are met as the White Witch arrives without her wand. She demands Edmund be turned over to her, saying that the Deep Magic put into Narnia at the beginning by Aslan's father, the Emperor-over-the-Sea gives her the right to a kill for every treachery. Aslan doesn't deny this, but speaks with her privately, and in the end announces she has given up her demand for Edmund's life.

That night Susan and Lucy, unable to sleep, follow Aslan as he quietly leaves the camp, and they find out what Aslan's agreement with the Witch was. Aslan surrenders himself to the Witch in Edmund's place. As the girls watch from hiding, with her army of deformed evil creatures the Witch binds Aslan, humiliates him, and kills him on the Stone Table. Then the Witch and her army rush away to finish off the children and Aslan's army.

The girls, overcome with grief, sit with Aslan's body all night. But at sunrise, the Stone Table cracks and Aslan comes to life again. He tells them of a Deeper Magic that the Witch didn't know about, which says that if an innocent is killed in place of a traitor, death works backward.

Aslan carries Lucy and Susan on his back to the Witch's castle, where he depetrifies the many good Narnian creatures who she has magically turned to stone there. Meanwhile the Witch and her army engages Aslan's army, led by Peter and Edmund, at the Fords of Beruna and the First Battle of Beruna begins. It goes badly for the Narnian resistance until Edmund breaks the Witch's magic wand, with which she was turning their troops into stone. Then Aslan arrives with the army of revived creatures from the Witch's castle. He leaps on the Witch and kills her, and the Narnian side is victorious.

The next day they march to castle Cair Paravel on the coast, where Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are crowned kings and queens of Narnia by Aslan and sit in the four thrones. This begins the Golden Age of Narnia. They rule Narnia well for 15 years, and forget their earlier life on Earth.

Fifteen years later, as adult Kings and Queens, they ride on a quest for the White Stag into Lantern Waste, and blunder back through the wardrobe door. They find themselves back in professor Kirke's house, children again, at the very moment they left it. They take professor Kirke into their confidence, telling him the story. He says they will get back to Narnia someday: "Once a King or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen in Narnia".

Themes
Like all books The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has themes or lessons. Some of these may include:
 * Embracing Destiny
 * Death
 * Resurrection
 * Sacrifice
 * Good versus Evil
 * Friendship

Time
The Narnian time of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was 1000 to 1015. It was the second book in the series chronologically. The English time or time on Earth was 1940 AD. The children return from Narnia in the exact moment they left their own world. This allows the children to be adults in Narnia and children when they return. The Professor advised them not to talk too much about it, but that does not mean they ever forgot about Narnia.

Atmosphere
In Narnia, consistent with the acceleration of time, the atmosphere seems different and it changes the children stirring in them feelings of bravery and maturity. This may explain why they grow up in Narnia but are the same age when the return from it.

Locations

 * London countryside
 * Old Professor's house
 * Wardrobe
 * Lamp-post
 * Narnia
 * Mr. Tumnus' home
 * Cair Paravel
 * Mr. and Mrs. Beavers' dam
 * Fords of Beruna
 * The Stone Table

Movie adaption
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney movie) there are many differences.


 * In the book, the bombings of London were mentioned only while in the movie adaption there is a long sequence which shows the Pevensies hiding from death in their shelter.
 * In the book, the Professor hears from Narnia at the end of the story. In the film, he is trying to convince Peter and Susan to believe her younger sister.
 * In the book, Lucy is waiting at Edmund's side to see him recover. In the film, she runs immediately to aid the others with her gift.
 * The last chapter is very shortened realized in the film.