'Magic food' a metaphor for drug addiction?

[slideyfoot]

I strongly doubt that Lewis meant anything of the sort, but nevertheless the comparison between the Witch's Turkish Delight and coercion through drugs struck me when I read the book again, and particularly after watching the animated film. The passage I'm referring to is this:

...At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves...

The comparison continues:

"Please, please," said Edmund suddenly, "please couldn't I have just one piece of Turkish Delight to eat on the way home?"...

He then meets Lucy:

"If I'd known you had got in I'd have waited for you," said Lucy, who was too happy and excited to notice how snappishly Edmund spoke or how flushed and strange his face was...

It is probably just, as the book goes on to mention on p42, that he was "feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets", but then Edmund , despite having realised that "the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch...he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else". As the chapter closes, Lucy shows concern about his health; "You do look awful Edmund. Don't you feel well?". He claims nothing is wrong, "but this was not true. He was feeling very sick."

Again, its probably just eating too many sweets. However, then Mr Beaver makes the related comment:

"...He had the look of one who has been with the Witch and eaten her food. You can always tell them if you've lived long in Narnia ; something about the eyes."

The animated film makes this even clearer. Firstly, it is the Witch, not Edmund as in the book, who suggests Turkish Delight. Secondly, there is a scene approaching the Beaver's house where Edmund has a flashback to the Turkish Delight, and starts salivating (albeit in a very cartoon fashion, his tongue whipping round his lips, causing great dollops to fly off in every direction).

It seems extremely unlikely, and I'm sure this is simply yet another instance of an adult looking at a children's story and drawing conclusions from it the author had absolutely no intention of making, but still - did Lewis have any knowledge of the dangers of drug addiction?

NOTE: Oops, sorry - meant to put this in the forum for the relevant book, not the film :o . Could a mod move it, please?

[rosymole]

I'll move it , worry not..

I don't think lewis would have been too aware of the affects of drugs at the time the he was writing, of course drugs were around but not in the circles Lewis was moving in..
The turkish delight was enchanted by the WW certainly so Ed would want more of it and therefore do all he could to get back to her castle with the others, but i don't umagine Lewis was basing Ed's experinec on a drug addiction, although, becuase we know more about it now we can spot the similarities.

[inkspot]

Lewis would have known about drugs -- he fought in WW I, and I believe morphine addiction was known among wounded veterans and others who lived with daily pain for whatever reason, and he was certainly aware of alcohol abuse and opium dens. He was addicted to cigarettes himself. I can't say that he had anything like these in mind when he wrote about the Turkish Delight, but the strong similarities were probably as apparent to him as they are to us. (He might not have known that smoking was bad for his health, but if he ever tried to quit it, I am sure he knew how difficult that was!)

I think maybe he was reflecting on any vice that gets hold of us, anything that controls us instead of allowing God to be in control.

[Pip]

I never thought of the Turkish Delight as a parallel for drug abuse, but I don't think it's what he meant. I did a repot on ght book and I remember a critic saying something along the lines that the Turkish Delight was a very trivial thing that Edmund was willing to betray his family for, just as we give in to sin for very trivial things that look like they mean alot, but in the grand sceme of things really aren't. Now that I thin kabout it though, I huess drugs could fall into that category, but I don't think he meant drugs specifically. Dunno, that's just my opinion based on what I've heard.

[Sir_Peter_Wolfsbane]

slidey, do you ever ask yourself if you think too much? ;)

For goodness sake, it's just bewitched Turkish candy. Let something to your imagination. ;)

[inkspot]

slidey, do you ever ask yourself if you think too much? ;)

For goodness sake, it's just bewitched Turkish candy. Let something to your imagination. ;)
No, Sir Peter, the great thing on this Forum is to analyze every little detail and see what parallels and symbolism you can come up with! Think about it ... was Rosebud just a sled?

[Sir_Peter_Wolfsbane]

Oh alright, point taken. :)

[rosymole]

Think about it ... was Rosebud just a sled?

eh? who? what? I is rather confused! (lack of nicotine is ruining my brain!)

[inkspot]

Oh sorry, an American film that our Holywood critics say was one of the best ever -- it was Orson Welles' first film: Citizen Kane. At the end the dying mogul is breathing his last word, the mysterious ... rosebud

I wasn't thinking of our international fellowship here, forgive me. Perhaps I should have said:
Was the One Ring just a ring?

[slideyfoot]

slidey, do you ever ask yourself if you think too much?

Comes from having a carefully rational mindset, not to mention that when you consider the possibility of debilitating diseases like Parkinsons, I'm not sure I can afford to stop thinking. :)

Of course, in this particular instance, its because I've been going through The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe page by page with a pencil :p. That makes you start noticing things like Mrs Beaver's "wrinkled old paws" and repeated "dearie", developing allusions to C.S. Lewis' relations with adopted mothers, before it all comes crashing down on 'husband'. Pah.

[Sir_Peter_Wolfsbane]

Point taken. :) And that certainly would explain how you keep picking up on these tiny little details.

[inkspot]

That makes you start noticing things like Mrs Beaver's "wrinkled old paws" and repeated "dearie", developing allusions to C.S. Lewis' relations with adopted mothers, before it all comes crashing down on 'husband'. Pah.
LOL! It's so true.
When you have read the books a hundred times, you know the details as well as the main characters and themes ...