“The house [of the White Witch] was really a small castle. It seemed to be all towers, little towers with long pointed spires on them, sharp as needles.” (p. 100)
“As he [Edmund] got into the middle of it [the courtyard] he saw that there were dozens of statues all about – standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chessboard when it is halfway through the game.” (p. 104)
“And she [Lucy] stopped looking at the dazzling brightness of the frozen river with all its waterfalls of ice and at the white masses of the tree-tops and the great glaring moon and the countless stars and could only watch the little short legs of Mr. Beaver going pad-pad-pad-pad through the snow in front of her as if they were never going to stop.” (pp. 112-113).
“Wherever is this?” said Peter‘s voice, sounding rather tired and pale in the darkness. I hope you know what I mean about a voice sounding pale.” (p. 113).
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today,
reviewed homework questions,
read part of chapter 9, where Edmund arrives at the Witch’s house. A theme of chapter 9 is “fear”. The theme for chapter 4 is “temptation”.
What are the themes for chapters 7 and 8?
The themes for chapter 7 and 8 are “hospitality” and “the wisdom of the past”.
Mini-lecture on C.S. Lewis’ ideas:
“enemy-occupied territory”: (from Book II. What Christians Believe, in “Mere Christianity“「 キリスト教の精髄」. This has been translated into Japanese, but I cannot find an online version of it. If you find one, please tell me the URL.) * 2. The Invasion * “Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory-that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. * Christians, then, believe that an evil power has made himself for the present the Prince of this World.”
“Better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven” (spoken by Satan in “Paradise Lost” by John Milton).
Homework:
Vocabulary – what is the meaning in context of the following words from chapters 9-10?
cold shoulder
flask
scheme
grave
spire
solemn
lithe
sluice gate
cordial
What makes Edmund afraid (list as many examples as you can find in chapters 9-10)?
How does he respond?
What does this tell us about his character?
Find examples of jealousy in chapters 9-10.
What items do the Beavers pack?
List the presents Father Christmas gives to the children.
What do the presents tell us about the children’s characters?
Father Christmas says, the girls are not to fight in the battle. Why not? Do you agree?
Mini-lecture on some key ideas or themes in C.S. Lewis’ books:
Seeing and believing. In “Prince Caspian“, at first only Lucy can see Aslan while the older children do not, and they do not believe Lucy at first. In “Till We Have Faces” 顔を持つまで, the older sister Orual cannot see the palace where her beautiful sister, Psyche, lives, because Orual is jealous and does not accept that Psyche can be happy without her. In the New Testament, in Matthew 5:8, it is written “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Perhaps Lewis’ message is that the pure in heart can see certain things that others (who are not pure in heart) cannot see.
Natural Law. Lewis believed that there was a natural law that all people everywhere understood. This law is deeper than religion, because it can be found in almost every religion on Earth. In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, Lewis writes about Edmund on page 97, “deep down inside him he really knew the Witch was bad and cruel.” There is more to the Natural Law than this, but this is a good example of it.
Homework: Quiz questions for chapters 10 and 11:
Chapter 10 questions:
QUIZ
Which of the following things could the Beavers not take?
ham, tea, sugar, loaves, matches, handkerchiefs, sewing machine
At the Beavers’ house, which character stayed calm?
Can the Beavers and the children get to the Stone Table before the witch? Why/why not?
Was it snowing when they began their journey?
What did they do in “the old hiding place for beavers”?
