Some Thoughts Allegorical

Recently I watched the movie Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I will try to keep this from being a review (though I do like reviewing) but I wanted to share my thoughts on allegories. I have heard time and time again that the Narnia stories (and, an even more ridiculous claim, Lord of the Rings) are allegories. These claims are not only false, they annoy me. C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien both stated clearly that their works were not allegory.

A nice claim, but can they prove it? Well, check the definition of an allegory. Dictionary.com calls an allegory "a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms." An allegory must represent something spiritual by something physical. Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory. Christianity, Despondency, Vanity; these are all represented by people, swamps, cities.

Now take, for example, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. People cite this as the most blatant allegory because the correlation to the cross is so obvious. But take a second look--is Aslan dying on the Stone Table a physical representation of a spiritual event? Absolutely not--and this thinking can be dangerous. Christ's death on the cross was neither abstract nor primarily spiritual. It was a physical, real, historical event. Aslan was not a picture or type of Christ--He was Christ.

Anyone familiar with the series can tell you that Aslan the Lion was simply the form Christ took coming to Narnia. In the world of men, He came as a man. In a world of talking animals, He came as an animal. Narnia is not a world where the spiritual is made physical--it is portrayed as a world where real, physical things that happened on Earth such as Creation and the Crucifixion happen in a slightly different way, but just as real and physical.

What I find interesting is that some say Prince Caspian is less allegorical than the first book. I disagree. Neither are allegorical, but Prince Caspian includes some physical representation of spiritual events. It is less clear in its purpose because it does not portray a past Bible event--it portrays a struggle we have today. Peter tries to fight the battle in his own strength--and loses. His failure is graphically shown as many die for his choice. But when he puts his trust in Aslan, all is well. We do not fight physical battles, but we still need to trust in God. Only by His strength are we kings and queens.

That said, I would like to return to the idea of allegory. It is important that we realize that things portrayed in so-called allegories like Narnia and Lord of the Rings are just as real as they were in the stories. The events described in the Bible are not abstract, and they are by no means only spiritual.

There is a difference between having a spiritual point and being an allegory. Any good movie or book will have a spiritual point. This often leads to ridiculous claims of type and allegory. Superman is often compared to Christ (especially in Superman Returns) because he is a hero. I have even heard Harry Potter called a type of Christ because he was willing to give his life to help is friends. This is missing the point! Any good hero will be self-sacrificial! This does not mean he is anything like Christ, and it is nigh blasphemous to presume so. Yes, most protagonist show Christlike attributes, but this is because Christ is the ultimate example. Anything anyone does right is Christlike.

I look forward to more Narnia movies--while some cite the first as the best because the symbolism is most obvious, I like many of the others because they give lessons not just in the events of the Cross, but in the character of God and in righteous living (though the first had much of this as well). Be careful not to spiritualize the events of the Bible or carry allegories too far. Don't look for symbolism where it's not there when watching movies based on Christian tales--just try to see where you can learn from what the characters learn. Every allegory falls apart eventually--even the parables of Christ cannot be taken as detail-by-detail correlations. But a good story giving deep spiritual points--these will last a long time.