Themes and Characters
The Magician's Nephew presents a complex web of character interactions, centering primarily on Digory Kirke. At the beginning, Digory and his ailing mother are staying with his aunt, as his mother's severe illness prevents her from caring for him. A significant theme in The Magician's Nephew is Digory's growth throughout the story. Initially, he is impulsive and stubborn, often pursuing his desires at the expense of others. For instance, on Charn, he harms Polly to ring the bell that awakens Jadis.
Conversely, Polly, who lives nearby, is less driven than Digory. Since her mother is healthy, Polly's main interest is making friends, and exploring the attic leading to the abandoned house seems like an exciting escapade. However, she places too much trust in adults. Digory's Uncle Andrew convinces Polly to touch one of the magical yellow rings: "And immediately, without a flash or a noise or a warning of any sort, there was no Polly."
This incident marks the beginning of Digory's positive traits emerging. He quickly discerns that Uncle Andrew is "a wicked, cruel magician." Moreover, he exhibits loyalty to Polly, deciding without hesitation to follow her and offer help, demonstrating his bravery despite the unknown dangers of touching a yellow ring and vanishing. Later, Digory's imagination and intelligence shine through when he explains the Wood between the Worlds, likening it to the shared attic space in their block of houses:
"It isn't a room in any of the houses. In a way, it isn't really part of any of the houses. But once you're in the tunnel you can go along it and come out into any of the houses in the row. Mightn't this wood be the same?"
He understands that the pools function like doors, and the worlds they lead to are akin to houses, showcasing his insightful thinking.
The Magician's Nephew features two villains: Uncle Andrew and Jadis. While Uncle Andrew is foolish, he is not as wholly malevolent as the Queen of Charn. His character reflects some traits of despots that may have particularly infuriated Lewis after World War II. Uncle Andrew claims, "Men like me who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules." This serves as his justification for experimenting on Polly and masks his true cowardice; if he genuinely wanted to know the effects of the yellow ring, why not test it on himself instead of a child? Uncle Andrew's rationalizations become even more sinister when echoed by Jadis.
"I, Jadis, the last Queen, but the Queen of the World," she declares about herself. Her sister had nearly overthrown her in a rebellion, but Jadis possessed knowledge of "the Deplorable Word." She explains to Digory, "The great kings of our race had long known of a word which, if spoken with the proper ceremonies, would annihilate all living things except the one who uttered it." She eradicates all life on her world using this method. In her profound wickedness, she believes ruling a desolate world is preferable to not ruling at all, asserting that "what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I."
One of the central themes of The Magician's Nephew is the contrast between practicality and goodness. Initially, Jadis only addresses Digory: "In Charn, she [Jadis] ignored Polly (until the very end) because Digory was the one she wanted to exploit," but once "she had Uncle Andrew, she disregarded Digory. I expect most witches are like that. They are uninterested in things or people unless they can use them; they are terribly practical."
For Jadis...
(This entire section contains 1337 words.)
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and Uncle Andrew, prioritizing practicality over goodness leads to the loss of a paradise. The world Aslan creates is not particularly practical with its myriad of talking animals, spirits, grand forests, majestic rivers, and vibrant sky, but it is beautiful and uplifts the spirits of those who are less "practical" than Jadis and Uncle Andrew.
Uncle Andrew suffers the consequences of his failure to appreciate the wonders around him with his sanity. He returns to Earth no longer entirely evil, but also not fully comprehending anything. Jadis faces a far worse fate. She defies the rules of the walled garden in the west, climbs over the wall, and consumes the forbidden fruit. By eating the fruit, she gains eternal life—her heart's desire—but that life is forever tainted, as the fruit imparts the knowledge of her own corrupt nature and profound loneliness. She becomes Aslan's eternal adversary and the greatest source of evil in Narnia. Although she is determined to ruin Aslan's creation, she can never surpass Aslan's vast creative power. Being "terribly practical," she masters all the magic she can in this world, yet she cannot fathom any power greater than what she learns. This will lead to her downfall in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Aslan is a towering presence in The Magician's Nephew. His song shapes and forms the world of Narnia, creating seas, lands, plants, and animals. The song changes based on what he is creating, but it generally evokes a sense of joy and grandeur to everyone except Jadis and Uncle Andrew, who detest it. Jadis even throws a piece of a street lamp at Aslan, hitting the golden lion on the head. Aslan ignores it, and the piece falls to the ground, eventually growing into the street lamp that Lucy discovers in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which forever marks the Lantern Wastes of Narnia.
In "the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard," Aslan commands, "Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters." Consequently, "Out of the trees wild people stepped forth, gods and goddesses of the wood; with them came Fauns and Satyrs and Dwarfs. Out of the river rose the river god with his Naiad daughters." There is both laughter and seriousness, as Aslan embodies both fun and duty.
However, Uncle Andrew hears only animal noises, while Digory, Polly, and others hear animals conversing and joking. "Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are," says the narrator, "is that you very often succeed," and Uncle Andrew's insistence on practicality has rendered him very foolish, as he is determined not to comprehend the miraculous events unfolding around him.
Aslan is both stern and joyous, noting that Jadis represents the introduction of evil into his brand-new world, and he holds Digory responsible for her presence, as Digory had revived Jadis while harming Polly and brought her to Narnia. "And as Adam's race has done the harm, Adam's race shall help to heal it," declares Aslan, referencing I Corinthians 15:21, which states, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." Digory demonstrates his growth by accepting Aslan's task of retrieving fruit from the walled garden in the western mountains and later shows his maturity by resisting temptation in the garden and delivering the fruit to Aslan intact.
Aslan appears in each book of "The Chronicles of Narnia," and generally, he seems larger in every installment. This is because the more someone understands Aslan, the more significant he becomes to them. As characters in "The Chronicles of Narnia" get to know him, he appears to grow larger. In The Magician's Nephew, he reveals a crucial quality—his willingness to take on the wrongs of others. He states, "Evil will come of that evil [Jadis], but it is a long way off, and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself." This implies that from the very beginning of Narnia's creation, Aslan has already committed to the sacrifice he will make in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where his death at the hands of Jadis and all the evil in Narnia will reverse death itself. He can laugh with the jackdaw, weep with Digory over his mother's suffering, and possesses the bravery and resolve to anticipate and carry out a dreadful sacrifice to aid others.
