As we look forward to the upcoming
big screen production there are a few key points in the book that
we hope find their way into the motion picture. I am not talking
about scenes or images that I can’t wait to see at the theater,
but themes that bind not only this book but also all the Narnia
books together. Themes like redemption and healing, brotherhood
and the undying Good vs. Evil. C.S. Lewis was a deeply spiritual
man, and being so he could not separate his spiritual ideas from
his books. Ideas like a redeeming savior, however the literary
idea of a redeeming savior is not a new idea. Any book can be
a good one if it tugs on our heartstrings with a savior of man
that has to die. However the themes that propel the Narnia series
past the rest of the literary world are not based upon just one
savior, but more touching themes that hit us at home in our chairs
reading it. If the motion picture can hold true to these, then
it may also one day be a classic story just as the book has become.
The most prominent of these themes,
as it over arches the whole book is brotherhood. The brother that
Edmond is, the brother he should be, and the brother he is to
his sister, especially Lucy. All of the other themes fall into
play under this one idea of brotherhood. The redemption he seeks
from his family after his fall, the redemption given to him, and
the Evil White Witch, choosing him to in act her plan against
the Good Aslan.
The opening of the book finds the
Pevensie children, playing hide and seek in their uncle’s
house. Lucy stumbles into the magical land of Narnia first. After
her comes Edmond, at this time they were the only two to have
come to Narnia. At first when questioned about Narnia he denies
ever being there showing Lucy to be a liar. When the evil witch
tells him to bring his brothers and sister on his next visit,
he finally comes clean with them. When they all are in Narnia
they are befriended by a family of beavers and Edmond sneaks off
to find the white witch. After betraying them many times and lying
to his brother and sisters he finally finds his way back to the
good side after a run in with Aslan. Weather or not the White
Witch wins you will have to read the book or wait for the movie.
Lets take a look at this very short
synopsis of Edmond. When we first meet him he is bad tempered
from pretending. Next he is lying to his brother and sister:
“Oh, yes, Lucy and I
have been playing - pretending that all her story about a country
in the wardrobe is true. Just for fun, of course. There’s
nothing there really.”
He wants to spite Lucy, and put on
a show for his older siblings. Once they all got into Narnia and
they found out Edmund was lying about the whole ordeal, aside
from getting the cold shoulder from his siblings they marched
on after a robin they came to the beaver’s house. Edmund
made his escape then to go to the white witch. All the while planning
to be King and have Peter serve him. He doesn’t want them
turned to stone, but:
As for what the Witch would
do with the others, he didn’t want her to be particularly
nice to them - certainly not to put them on the same level as
himself.
His delusions didn’t end until
people started to die and in the heat of the battle he finally
turned on the witch and broke her wand. After his meeting with
Aslan he was knighted and pardoned.
We can track the journey from being
a selfish bad tempered boy to a knight in Aslan’s court,
A King at Cair Paravel, King Edmund the Just. With all this betrayal
and deceit the other children still take him back, as a brother.
This shows great character on their part, if the movie can portray
the difference between Edmund and his siblings with the great
art of characterization, then we are looking at a good movie.
Susan however, has a dichotomy all her own in the whole series
of Narnia books. I would like to see hints of her disbelief in
this movie.
There is a lot that could be done
in the upcoming motion picture The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,
and all of it could be great. I wouldn’t get your hopes
up to high for this film, because the books were written by one
of the greatest authors of his day and to transpose those to film
would take someone like Peter Jackson. We can only hope for the
best. However if the motion picture can hold true to these themes
and ideas, then it may also one day be a classic story just as
the book has become. Edmond takes his journey through evil to
arrive with Aslan (God), his siblings still are able to forgive
him after his betrayal, and the timeless idea of Good fighting
Evil. These are just a small taste of the themes in this classic
children’s story. If the movie can play out these ideas
through acting and screenplay we are looking forward to one of
the best pictures coming out December 05. I look forward to seeing
the portrayal of Edmond and a tear jerking Lucy, Peter the high
king and his Queen Susan, who should have a dichotomy larger then
the other two but smaller then Edmonds. We can expect a somewhat
open ending to leave way for Susan to become the lady she turns
out to be, and even Prince Caspian in the near future.
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