Edmund and The White Witch
Our sin, the corruption of our nature, and the reign of the devil
The White Witch
- Always winter, and never Christmas
- First off, isn’t that miserable? Especially think in terms of the children (remember Child-like wonder is the key to Narnia) – Christmas is the greatest holiday ever and she leaves us with no hope of it arriving
- This is the chief metaphor of the Witch’s reign in Narnia
- She herself embodies this coldness and death. As we see Edmund entering the wardrobe, before he even meets her, there are no birds or animals or anything – its deathly still and chillingly cold
- When it begins to break, it is obvious that she is losing her power and Aslan is beginning to take over
- Why?
- Most obviously, because she is attempting to thwart the entrance of Aslan – the Christ figure
- More subtly, she opposes the Theology of the Cross, and is herself a theologian of glory
- Christmas is so great, and yet it rests right in the harshest part of the year – in winter
- This is the outworking of providence, and it displays how God brings good things out of bad things – how he hides behind seemingly evil things, and works them for our good
- Romans 8:28 – “For God works all things for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose”
- Luther, from Bondage of The Will – “when God quickens, He does so by killing; when He justifies, He does so by pronouncing guilty; when He carries up to Heaven, He does so by bringing down to hell.”
- She preserves the harsh, brutal parts of winter without letting them pass to the glorious, wonderful parts of it
- This shows how the theologian of glory assumes that no good can come from bad – so bad must be punishment or judgement
- We, as theologians of the Cross, know that this is a lie. We know that God brings good out of countless evil things
- Marriage, kids, vocation, etc. are very difficult things, but they all are wonderfully good
- The death of a loved one
- Our own death – Heaven doesn’t begin until our life ends
- Beautiful queen of Narnia
- Satan disguises himself as an angel of light
- 2 Cor. 1:14-15 : “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”
- Notice her abrupt change towards Edmund, in order to lure him in
- Later, we see her disguise herself and the dwarf to avoid capture, changing her appearance so swiftly
- This was one of the good aspects of the film. I thought Tilda Swinton was a perfect choice – she almost looks beautiful, but when you look at her close, she’s rather scary looking.
- Satan calls himself the prince of this world but we know Christ is the true King
- John 12:31 : “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
- 1 Tim 6:15 : “which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords”
- The limits of her reign
- When does spring begin? What does the prophecy say?
- “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death, and when he shakes his mane, we shall have Spring again”
- Aslan’s mere presence in Narnia signals the end of the witch’s magic
- Note when the people of Narnia started feasting and began to act without fear of the queen – it was not when she was dead and the thrones at Cair Paravel were filled, nor was it even after the death and resurrection of Aslan, it was his mere presence in Narnia before all that happened
- Remember how shocked the queen is to find this family of squirrels feasting… on Christmas food, no less!
- Note also the queen’s response: “What is the meaning of this gluttony, this waste, this self-indulgence?” (p. 112)
- Legalism can be every bit as Satanic as licentiousness – both have wanton disrespect for God’s law, and both, in fact, end up calling evil good and good evil
- Turning people to stone
- I can’t believe I never noticed this before, because its so obvious – people turned to stone represent those loved ones whom death has claimed
- Note the tearful and joyful reunion of Lucy and Tumnus (p. 168)
- Aslan’s mere breath is enough to melt the stone into living creatures, just as it was the breath of God that gave life to man
- This also goes along with the hardness of heart and callousness that sin brings
- We’ll talk about this more as we look at Edmund
- Hebrews 3:13-15 : “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’
- Ezekiel 11:19 : “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”
- Notice also that she has taken very careful notice of the prophecies as well
- She thinks she is powerful enough to overcome them, but she dare not ignore them
- When she first meets Edmund (p30, 32) she keeps asking him very precisely about just how many brothers and sisters he has
Edmund and the corruption of sin
- Edmund’s descent
- First off, Edmund isn’t exactly the greatest kid to begin with
- We see his open disrespect of elders in his wanting to laugh at the professor
- Even before narnia, he is pretty mean to Lucy
- What are the key weaknesses that Edmund has? Remember what we talked about with childlike faith and wonder
- He is always trying to be older than he is
- He acts like he’s not tired
- He pesters Lucy in a belittling way because she is the youngest
- He is easily tempted by the Queen with thoughts of being a King – for the chance at a grownup job
- Contrast Lucy’s sense of wonder with his complete lack of wonder
- His pride
- Most of his most beastly moments in Narnia can be summed up by his desire to place himself first
- Most of his greatest moments in Narnia (including in other books) are when he has learned to overcome this
- His compassion for the squirrels
- His attack on the witch
- In Vot DT?, Edmund is gracious and compassionate to Eustace, and even confesses his betrayal to him
- Edmund’s false repentance
- p. 26 – He apologizes to Lucy not because he is sorry, but because he is a bit afraid and doesn’t want to be alone in Narnia. He is then disgusted that she wouldn’t accept his apology (which she, in fact, did not hear)
- p. 37 – He sort of quickly apologizes for treating her so badly, but its obvious that he is more miffed about being wrong than he is sorry about having treated Lucy so awfully (and hoping he can head off any repercussions)
- Edmund’s fall and blindness
- After getting a taste of Turkish Delight, he loses all sense of decorum and, much worse, sense of security and tact
- It is by his loose lips that Tumnus is betrayed
- We see its lasting effects on Edmund
- p. 33 People who have eaten of the enchanted Turkish Delight would keep eating it until they killed themselves
- p.38 Edmund is sort of sickened and uncomfortable, but he still wants to taste TD again more than he wants anything else
- It leads to further sin and blindness
- p. 41 He betrays Lucy in the most cruel and evil way
- p. 53 even after being found out, he is all the more turned in on himself and can’t wait to get back at the others (when, in fact, they’ve done him no wrong)
- p. 67 As they are arriving at the Beaver’s house, he sees the rivers that would take him to the Witch’s castle and can’t stop thinking of TD
- An absolutely great truth I don’t recall having seen before – p 84 (read this) He can’t enjoy the food at Mr. and Mrs. Beaver’s house because nothing destroys good, ordinary food like bad magic food
- Sin destroys our ability to enjoy the good and ordinary things God has given us
- What did Edmund get for his sin and what did he give up?
- He got a long, cold walk in freezing snow with no coat, and on his arrival, stale bread and water from an iron bowl
- He gave up a lovely night with family and the company of these amazing talking creatures; he gave up great food, great conversation, and a warm cozy bed. Remember, if he didn’t betray them to the witch, they would have had a nice leisurely stroll to meet Aslan
- Notice how sin appears after the fact – no longer fun and beautiful and harmless, its turned ugly and cruel
- Corruption, addiction, sin and our will
- All of this looks remarkably like our own experience with sin
- Remember I said if you can read these books and not see some of yourself in Edmund, you’re not paying attention
- How often have we let sin blind us? How often have we ignored the consequences of our sin, or let it turn us away from real relationships with friends and family?
- A line from The Devil’s Advocate, spoken by the devil – “Free will. It’s like butterfly wings: once touched, they never get off the ground.”
- Luther’s image of a best with two riders
- God and the devil fight for control of the beast, and the beast will go wherever the rider takes him
- Our will is either bound to God or bound to sin
- There is no way the beast will be free or riderless, its a question of who the rider will be