Analyzing the Character of The White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

When it comes to performs of fiction, it is constantly most exciting to see exactly where the author draws inspiration for the key characters from and what the underlying message of the story at hand. Disillusioned from faith as a child, C. S. Lewis would uncover himself re-embracing Christianity in his adult life, which likely played a key part in the not-so-subtle Biblical messages presented throughout The Chronicles of Narnia. Exactly where antagonists can often double as the unsung, misunderstood hero of the story, Lewis utilizes The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to bring to life a villain that is evil to the core and equate her to the reality of evil and temptation. In this paper, which will concentrate on the character of the White Witch in Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I will examine the common qualities and the role of her character with respect to the other characters and the author’s intent in writing her character in the way that he did and how I consider it could have been enhanced.

The White Witch’s role as the principal antagonist of the story divulges her as a single of the most blatantly evil, unremorseful villains of any operate of fiction. Upon the introduction of her character by Tumnus in chapter two, there are a lot of things that the reader can assume about the essence of her character just due to the details given or the lack thereof. Very first, the reality that she is addressed as the White Witch and never ever referred to by a real name sets her apart from the rest of the characters and says a lot about her character prior to the reader even learns much more about her. It holds a unfavorable connotation currently as white is in reference to the pale, ghostliness of her skin and the white snow of the endless winter that she caused. Witch clearly refers to the powers she possesses but as opposed to a very good witch, she utilizes her powers for negative. With his identification of her as the purpose why it is “always winter and in no way Christmas,” she can be swiftly recognized as a malevolent particular person, a cold, power-hungry woman whose identity centers around her position of power and utilizing her magic skills for evil. His surprise at how innocent and good Lucy is is a testament to the way that the White Witch has brainwashed the Narnians into pondering that humans are the enemy. And when he reveals that it is his job to report all humans back to her, it shows the lengths she has gone to in order to prevent any prospective threats to her throne from allowing the prophecy that tells of her overthrow to come to fruition, something a good, fair ruler would not have to place such an emphasis on. But what offers the reader the most insight into the Witch’s nature is Mr. Tumnus’ fear that she will: …have my tail cut off and my horns sawn off, and my beard plucked out, and she’ll wave her wand more than my gorgeous clove hoofs and turn them into horrid strong hoofs like wretched horse’s. And if she is extra and specially angry she’ll turn me into stone. (Lewis, 15) Some thing so detailed is hard to fabricate so this lets the reader know that what he describes cannot be far from the truth and the elaborateness of the punishment indicates that she does not punish for justice but rather out of enjoyment or the love of evil. Where she could simply imprison those who incorrect her or have them punished in a far more humane manor, she prefers to turn the creatures to stone.

In addition, the absence of a king or of any mention of a traditional companion also adds to the perception that she is so sinister, unpleasant and focused on keeping ultimate handle of Narnia that she is incapable of displaying love and possibly unlovable. The reader can assume from her partnership with the Dwarf, who is probably the closest point to a companion that she has in this book, that in any connection she has, the White Witch have to nonetheless be the dominant 1 and subservience is a necessity. Her character seems to be defined by the selfish, carelessly cruel way that she rules Narnia, and the use of her dark magic to keep the Narnians oppressed and afraid of her. Her magic and her lack of emotion then acts as her biggest strengths since they are what permit her to have leverage over the other people and commit wicked acts with no any regard for how it impacts her victim, as exemplified by the several situations of her turning creatures to stone for small offenses. However her weakness lies in her greed for unchallenged power and her sense of entitlement to a throne that was by no means meant for her. Her rules are only helpful to her and perform to manipulate circumstances in her favor, as she would likely be killed if she applied her laws to herself. A prime instance of this is when she is about to kill Edmund but is interrupted by Aslan and says, “You know that every single traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for each treachery I have a correct to a kill… And so, that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my house.” (Lewis, 41) This mentality is what makes it possible for her to forcibly seize the throne in the 1st place and kill so mercilessly. She could have gained far more respect from the Narnians and worked with them in her reign but alternatively, she chose to rule with fear and hence, she herself continually fears the usurpation of her throne. Her unrestricted authority has created her superior to every person else in her thoughts, and that coupled with her aforementioned sense of entitlement are what led her to believe that she had a possibility against Aslan, and her eventual demise.

The White Witch holds rank in the story as the basic symbol of malice and sinfulness and her influence is felt most strongly by Edmund. She is as purely evil as Aslan is excellent. She is the source behind any evil lurking in Narnia and her operates portray the evil that is always present in life, whether it is sin, cruelty, hatred, lies or selfishness. She does all she can to disrupt and destroy those about her in order to gain manage of Narnia, yet she struggles to preserve the upper hand. One particular of her powers was her capability to recognize Edmund’s insecurity and use her magic to act on it, swaying him to grow to be as power-hungry as her but with no him realizing the error in what he did. In chapter six, when he speaks to Peter about her, he says, “If comes to that, which is the proper side? How do we know that the Fauns are in the right and the Queen (yes, I know we’ve been told she’s a witch) is in the incorrect? We don’t actually know anything about either.” (Lewis, 60) Although Edmund knew deep down that he was wrong about the possibility of the Witch being excellent, he wanted to convince himself that it may possibly be accurate so that he didn’t feel guilty about operating with her and against his siblings. She also influences the way that the Narnians reside and behave. Her spell over Narnia that has developed an endless winter tends to make her presence felt at all occasions and creates a melancholy overtone that offers the Narnians nothing to appear forward to but the many winter days to come. In one instance, a fox wanted to give a toast to the queen but when the Witch asked him about exactly where he and his herd had gotten the meals and he replied that he got it from Father Christmas, the witch was so angry that she turned them all into stone. She was so blinded by the coming of Father Christmas and what his arrival foretold about the return of Aslan that she did not contemplate the fox’s life and how she would be affecting him. By way of this persistent malice and unfair therapy of the animals, however, Edmund is capable to realize the error of his ways.

Lewis successfully creates an archetypically villainous antagonist in the White Witch and her part as a creature that is pure evil tends to make her synonymous with Satan when compared to the God-like Aslan and representative of all things poor. At the fundamental level, the globe of Narnia enforces justice and will not allow for wickedness to really or permanently take root just as it cannot take root in Edmund. Seeing that it was Lewis’ intent to develop a story that could serve as a metaphor for Christian temptation and the power of Christ via the use of symbolism and conflict, her unwavering greed and need to have to get ahead at the expense of other individuals tends to make her a best symbol for sin and the basic goodness of Narnia makes the best symbol for the innate goodness of folks ahead of evil is introduced. The moment that ideal exhibits her villainous nature is when she deceitfully discusses her plans for Edmund saying, “There are whole rooms complete of Turkish Delight, and what’s much more, I have no youngsters of my personal. I want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone.” (Lewis, 26) Significantly like the serpent that tempts Eve in the book of Genesis, the White Witch tempts Edmund with food that leaves any person who consumes it eternally desiring far more. In this instance, he represents humanity and its willingness to sin for objects of their desire and throughout significantly of the rest of the story, Edmund experiences a deep yearning for more Turkish Delight, which symbolizes human greed, 1 of the seven deadly sins. Likewise, right here, the Witch represents the temptation that Satan possesses that makes it possible for him to lure individuals to give in to sin. Though she was currently preparing to use him in order to discover out about his siblings and safe her power, her ability to hide her agenda and appeal to his personal greed and selfishness is a high quality any great villainess ought to possess.

Lastly, and the most prominent indicator of the Witch’s role, in the book of Revelation, discovered in the Christian Bible, Satan rules more than all the Earth before God eventually comes to take all His followers to Heaven. In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the White Witch has claimed to be the rightful ruler of Narnia in Aslan’s absence and as soon as he returns, winter ends and the Witch is dethroned. These are all examples of the underlying Biblical message that seems all through the whole story and in most of the characters’ identities. Nonetheless, the lack of depth or a true motivating element makes for a rather two-dimensional character, in my opinion. Although I realize how the White Witch’s tendency to perform acts of unnecessary evil adds to the Biblical metaphor by equating her inherently evil nature to that of Satan, Satan is at least believed to have attained his wish to promote evil as vengeance for his expulsion from Heaven. And whilst offering an incentive for her evil acts may lend as well significantly complexity for the intended child audience and trigger other readers to sympathize or relate to her character, with out it, a single is left to wonder what the larger picture is and why she lacks compassion. As a result, presenting some sort of justification in this story is preferred. Along these very same lines, info about her previous, such as the state of her family, her age and the extent of her magical capabilities, could have been employed to advance her character’s story line and give her depth beyond just getting Edmund’s manipulative temptation in his search for consideration. Nonetheless, for the purposes of what Lewis hoped to convey with her character, he succeeded in carrying out so.

On the surface, the White Witch is a individual driven by the really like of evil and the wish to do whatever it requires to sustain energy more than Narnia for as lengthy as feasible. Upon examining her role in the story, however, she can be recognized as the symbol of sin required to tempt Edmund, who is himself a symbol of human infallibility, and the evil force that unites the siblings with Aslan against her. Lewis, in his huge analogy for Christian ideology, designed a character basic adequate that the undertones of what she meant have been imbedded but not so evident that it was also complex for young children to stick to along with. Despite the fact that, her depiction and what she stands for tends to make it effortless to dismiss her as one hundred% evil, I feel that giving her much more of a backstory and more depth in this book would have helped. Nonetheless, the White Witch is a classic figure that delivers a lot of lessons on morality to the characters and the reader.