Chronicles of Narnia: Good Old (Racist) Christian Values?

Wow, I thought I was the only one!
As a child I completely hated the CS Lewis books for the very reason Pullman states. But rather than being "corrupted" by the books, I was inspired to write my own fantasy stories instead. Kinda like every other super-geeky kid who was even outside of THAT clique. I say, bring it on! It only motivates the rest of us to come up with our OWN ideas of heroes/villains, good/evil, etc. Same thing goes with fairy tales, Walt Disney, and just about everything else in society.

I would seriously like for someone to point out specific examples of parts of the book(s) that have a racist vibe to them. Its been many years since I have read these books, but I seriously don't remember picking up any racist overtones, conotations, etc... and I personally think if this were really and truly the case someone might have picked up on them a long time ago... I don't remember any examples of Christian doctrine being in there either and when I initially read this stuff I was knee deep in catholic school...

Christian, definately. The martyerd lion? Come on. But racist? I don't see it. Certainly no more so than The Lord of The Rings. Didn't see any examples of either in the linked article.

"Certainly no more so than The Lord of The Rings."

That might not be setting the bar very high.. (much as i loved LOTR)

Hmm, interesting. I'd love to see Pullman's comments more fleshed-out. I loved those books as a kid and I totally take issue with his statement that they don't portray Christian love and charity. I remember the takeaway theme of the books being that Aslan (the Jesus lion) is as broken up by his subjects' devotion to war as Jesus was in the Bible. However, given that I read them in middle school and wouldn't have recognized coded Islam-bashing if it hit me in the face, I am prepared to believe that I missed the subtleties.

It's been about 2 decades since I've read the Narnia books so some examples of the supposed racism would have been helpful because my memories are dim.



On a related note if Islam beliefs are trashed and Christian ones heralded that may be narrow or insensitive (by modern standards) but that's not really racism. For example, in the 1600s John Milton viciously attacked and condemned Catholics for their beliefs as he championed Protestantism. You could say he was straight hatin' but that doesn't make it racism.

It pretty obvious that Philip Pullman has a humanist agenda (which is fine), but I think it's pretty hypocritical to criticize a book for being 'thinkly veiled religious propoganda' when his own books are doing exactly the same but from a different perspective.
I saw this graffiti once that said something like 'how you see something depends on where you stand'.I think if you that if you look for it there is plenty of examples of love in the Narnia books,(the whole Aslan thing for a start)but if your agenda is such you will only find what you are looking for.
ps-I think the racist stuff is bullshit as well.

Couldn't stand the books enough to even want to bother reading into specific passages, but overall they did strike me as over-prosteletyzing and quasi-fascist. (Ultimate, unquestioning obedience is seen as model behavior, the enemy is mercilessly stomped out and not just destroyed or subdued, but annhilated, powerful women are seen as evil,etc. etc.)

Not bashing anyone who enjoyed the books mind you, just pointing out where some folks would be less than thrilled with them. Not advocating book or movie banning either--good entertainment is good entertainment, even J-Lo has her moments-- I'm just saying if you didn't read the Chronicles of Narnia you didn't miss much.

There is no thin veil - and the message was all about love - God's love for us, the dangers of being a slave to sin, etc.

The fact is we are all sinners in dire need of God's forgiveness, which He offered on the cross. This is an exclusive, non-politically correct truth. It's hard to swallow and offends many, but regardless of that, it's the truth.

Amen to that.

I agree, I haven't seen any racist issues--I mean, you might could rant about the "white" witch, but that's kinda the wrong direction! :) Certainly, there's an allegorical slant that disturbs some people, but think of it this way: Star Wars is popular because it follows a certain storytelling meme: the "hero with a thousand faces". Narnia--LW&W, anyway--follows another. Some people happen to believe that its archetype is true, but that doesn't make the story any less worthy. If the morals and ethics of the day disturb people, I fail to see how they do so more than, say, those presented in "Anne of Green Gables" or "Great Expectations".

I've read the series through more than once in my lifetime and not only have I never thought that the books were racist, but my impression of the lion Aslan was one of extreme love and Christian charity. To those of you who feel so very offended by this beautiful, classic story, perhaps you are offended more by the Christianity that lies behind its plot than the reality of this harmless children's fantasy. In light of all of the moral corruption and evil in our world, it would seem that such hostility is better directed toward real instances of racism and violence and less toward a story.

It's complicated in the taken-out-of-context way... A Horse and his Boy has some very decidely racist passages, but it's all in a cultural war context and you really have to read the whole series to see where he goes with it. You can message me sometime and I'll be happy to talk about CS Lewis forever and ever if you like.

Whoa! Untangle your panties, please! Who's being hostile or offended, the Narnia series just sucked, that's all. Typical B.S. paradigms that did nothing for me as a kid, sure you can find things in any work of art that rub you the wrong way, that's not being P.C. or hostile, it's called "having an opinion." And like the saying goes, everyone has one (won't elaborate on the full saying, seems like some people here are a tad sensitive as it is.)
Anyway, if you liked the books, good for you. Enjoy. Me, I'll take Harry Potter, Hiyao Miyazaki, Roahld Dahl, Neil Gaiman, or a whole slew of fantasy writers over C.S. Lewis any day. Just my opinion, deal with it.
And yes, I'm sure you can find any number of things to be offended by from the aforementioned writers, and I assure you I could care less.
So there! Hmph! :p

Christian? Atheist? Why is it that people can't simply enjoy a good book or movie without trying to analyse it to death or make it a slave to their own beliefs? If anything, Lewis, like Tolkien, was a product of his native land. Britain and Ireland, in spite of their Christian heritage, are deeply rooted in an ancient and pagan past. One only has to think of the standing stones and holy wells that dot the haunting landscape of these islands; or of the myths and legends of the people of Faery who dwell in the hollow hills. The rich, complex landscape and mythology of these two countries are fuel for the imagination of most great writers of fantasy using the English language, but especially Tolkien and Lewis, who stand at the top. The books, like the fairy tales themselves, are a wistful looking back to those old pagan days when imagination was not checked by reason, and we could truly meet a faun, satyr or elf, speak with the beasts of the wild or the trees of the wood, and even do the impossible. What person has never dreamed of being able to singularly change the world? THAT is the message in these books- that a tiny, unheard-of people rise to overthrow the Great Enemy and "shake the counsels of the wise and great" in LOTR; while children overcome a cruel witch-queen and are themselves made into wise and just rulers of Narnia in Lewis' books....
There is no sexism that I can find in Lewis' books- 2 sons of Adam (boys) and 2 daughters of Eve (girls) are equally represented as the main characters! That the witch was a woman is of no consequence. It simply adds to the character, and is a typical childhood image of evil, thanks to the chauvinism of Christianity and its continuing intolerance of powerful and educated women.
There also is no racism. Do we cry racist when a story based on ethnic folklore is written to the exclusion of all but that ethnic group? These books have their roots in the history and mythology of Northwest Europe, therefore, the characters will reflect the people who inhabit these areas. That they happen to be 'white' is of no consequence!!
Also, remember that charity is not confined to Christianity alone (sometimes I wonder if it even exists there), nor was Christ the first and only one ever to sacrifice himself for the sake of his people.. Aslan the lion my seem like Christ when he does so, but many pagan gods, rulers and heroes have done the same. (Isis & Osiris, Mithras, Persephone, Orpheus, Prometheus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Donn,Lugh and the Sidhe in Gaelic Ireland, druids in their ancient groves, kings sacrificed themselves in the 'Great Marriage' rituals with the goddess of Sovereignty in Celtic lands to name a few). Even Buddha sacrificed himself in his own right, forsaking self-Enlightenment to show us the Way.
In reality then, the books are not about religion, but are simply a story; a wonderful tale written by a man with the vision to see beyond the narrow confines of our world to truly see the world as we once did, and as many children still do, peopled with heroes, villians, gods and demons, creatures of legend and many beautiful and wonderous things that do not exist in our world. Children are fortunately free to see these in the world, that is, until we force them to grow up. Please don't ruin this for them and for all those who love and dare to dream of a better world.....

I just finished reading all of the Narnia books, and while I will not quote passages there were lots of times, esp in the The Last Battle, that I was suprised with the blantant racism. Several times the Calormens (sp...don't have the book on me) are called "blackie"....now come on...context and all...I think even Blackie meant something in 1950-60's england.

I have been a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, ever since my teacher read them to my class in 5th grade, and had read them twice or more. In fact recently I have been encouraging my little brother to read them, because of the great story-telling as well as the underlying Christian themes. However, memories have been popping up in my mind, recently, of some of the books having a sorta racist tone to it. Now when I was young I would have defended the Book of Narnia, till Lord Jesus returned back on earth. But now I have a older mind, and I consider myself to be a critical thinking Christian, and I gotta say Narnia might not be the books I have built them up to be. In general I am talking about the books The Horse and His Boy and the Last Battle, where the country of Calermen (colormen??) play an essential part of the story. They share an obvious connection with Arabs and Northern Africans, as far as their dress, their archtecture, and class structure. I don't know if I would argue a connection between the Calormen religion and Islam, because the Calormens worshiped a bird like creature, and Allah in Islam is supposed to have an Image, just like God The Father is not to have an image. Still, the connection is appearant. This is racist because the overwhelming majority of the Calormen's were evil greedy people who owned slaves, and white Narnians and Archenlanders were good peaceful people faithful to Aslan (God) which is almost ironic, sorry to say, just based on the history of England (C.S. Lewis' home country). But the memory that sticks in my mind the most is when the main character of The Horse and His Boy admirers the "fair" skin of the Narnians as they walk through the capital of Calormen. Now that is offesnisve

The fact that Shasta/Cor was white in The horse and his boy is irrelevant as Aravis ,who was also one of the main characters was darker skinned. The fact that calormenes are dark-skinned means nothing.C.S.Lewis wanted there to be a noticable differance between the people of the North and the calormenes and so he had to choose which was which. If it had been the other way round and the narnians had been darker-skinned there wouldn't have been nearly as much fuss.

Come on people just leave the books alone. No matter what book it is or how well it is written people are going to find some reason to be offended by it. I personally loved the books and have read them several times over. These books were made for children, correct? Their audience is children. Though we as adults may see all of these hidden messages of racism, sexism, love, or Christianity, do you honestly believe that a child is going to look that far into it. The first time I read “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” I was in fourth grade. I never saw a message. I read the book because it gave me a chance to experience events that I wouldn’t have gotten other wise. I got to travel through a magic wardrobe into this enchanted land that I never knew existed and go on countless other adventures from the safety of my own room. It gave me hope that in this wild world somewhere I would be able to find my own place of belonging, just like the adventurers in Lewis’ books. I did not see a “hidden” message till I was in high school, by this time I would hope the parents had already set down good moral values for their children.

P.S. Sorry if this offends anyone...Get over it.

People see what they want to see. Some people just want to see racism everywhere, and so they do.

The accusation of racism in the chronicles of Narnia is absurd; yes Calormen’s are called ‘darkies’ in ‘The Last Battle’, but the characters calling them that are very unpleasant ones who have just mown down large numbers of their own countrymen in cold blood!
Consider this before accusing the Narnia stories of racism – in ‘The Horse and His Boy’ not only is the main female character a dark skinned Calormen but she goes on to marry the white hero, then goes on to become queen of one of the white northern countries and give birth to a mixed race son who we are told went on to be the greatest king that country ever had! Just consider that for a moment – here we have a book written in the 1950’s that contain a mixed race marriage, a black woman as queen over white people followed by a mixed race king known for his greatness! All this at least a decade before television was brave enough even to show an inter-racial kiss! Hardly the work of a racist in my opinion.

I have never read the Chronicles of Narnia, but I have read LOTR. Recently I've read some comments about how both are evil (in one way shape or form) and I think that that is all absurd. First of all the Bible said, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1Thes.5:21) I read the comment on the white witch, does anyone remember that Lucifer aka the devil is also known as the Angel of Light. Also, the Bible is an allegory you can find reference to that in Gal.4:24 when it states "Which things are an allegory". I will also add my personal point of view that you can learn anything from anything, but if it is not good then it should not be used which goes along the "study all things..." statement. You can find good things in LOTR as in getting rid of sin (the ring) is a challenge and when you finally are about to get rid of it you do not want to let it go. I would also like to say that the Bible is discriminatory why don't you take a look at http://www.ensignmessage.com/discrimination.html

What I read at that site is very interesting... These are just my thoughts and quotes I've pulled from the Bible.

"White" Narnians?

They are freakin animals!

Even as a kid I founf thise books very uncomfortable before I even knew the wrods racist, sexist, etc. etc.
They were just not ON...really offended me (am I not good enough as a boy, am I dull and stupid, dirty etc because I live in a country with turbans?

Later on the books came across as racist (maybe because I NOT like a WHITE CHRISTIAN) like all these other people talking about love and religionn...we have had it all before..you only get saved by this one type of religion/behaviour ..any other and you get thrown into hell.
People say the fact that ONE Calorman was accepted is a sign of being non-racist ?? after "converting" over of course.
Very sexist too, again maybe you have to be on the female who object to this to pick on this one.

As I say, just put yourself in otehres peoples shoes and religion...wouldn't mind if people just read them as books, but to have to take them as something Good Morally. Sorry,it not on.

I've been greatly interested by this great comotion that's been going on considering the "Narnia books" because of Christian messages, sexism, racism etc etc etc. As a "Christian i believe any books that show underlining Christian meaning is great, because with all the crap we (Christians) have been copping, (being made fun of, teachings attacked etc etc its about time something shows all good things about Christianity and the good values it posesess and how it triumphs. It is definately not sexist as some of the "good" charcaters are females so i don't see the issue there. As for the racism i don't think that's the case, in the wake of such things as terrorist bombigs and ill-muslim sentiment these comments are a bit overblown. (Might i add i personally know many brilliant Muslim individuals and seek to find them as equals, no matter what there religion is. Yeh i no i'm going off the plot!!)

We must remember it is a kids book meant for kids and all this is ruining a great work of art.

One can look at the Tolkien trilogy and arrive at very similar conclusions. All of the, "evil" men who ally themselves with Sauron are swarthy men of the south, heralding from a land very alien to the lands in the north of middle earth, which geographically and ethinically are analagous to lands in Europe. The Southern lands are similar geographically, biologically, and ethnically to North Africa and the middle-east. This is not a value-judgement on Tolkien or Lewis, its just a statement of fact. I think they are both compelling works of fantasy-fiction which need to be seen in the context of the time in which they are written.

People asked for examples of racism. There probably are none in the "the Lion...". But I'm just reading "The Final Battle", and I'm afraid there's quite a bit more there than the dwarfs using the word "darkie". Let's hear the omniscient narrator (no reason to suppose it's not C.S. Lewis) in his own words:

"...these [people cracking whips, enslaving the Talking Beasts and cutting down the sacred forest] were not the fair-skinned men of Narnia: they were dark, bearded men from Calormen, that great and cruel country that lies beyond Archenland across the desert to the south". (p.26)

"Then the dark men came round them in a thick crowd, smelling of garlic and onions, their white eyes flashing dreadfully in their brown faces." (p.31)

We also find out that the Calormenes wear turbans, use scimitars, talk in a flowery language (adding "may-he-live-forever" after the name of their ruler), and believe in a god called Tash that demands human sacrifice and looks rather like the devil. (Attempts by an Ape and an evil Calormene to convince Narnians that Aslan and Tash were just two names for the same entity, while secretly disbelieving the exictence of both, is quickly followed by the end of the world, I mean, Narnia.)

There is also Tirian saying:
"'Ape...you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like an Ape." While this is a character speaking, he's the noble king of Narnia, Aslan's faithful warrior, and there's hardly any reason to believe the narrator disagrees with him. And when Tirian and the children wash off the brown paint they used to disguise themselves a Calormenes, the same Tirian says; "I feel like a true man again." (p. 98). There's lots more, but less concise than the ones above. (Apart from being cruel and deceitful, Calormenes are revealed to be useless woodsmen, lazy sentries, and naturally cowardly too, with just one exception (Emeth).And no, none of these are taken out of context, I'm afraid: the war between the good white Narnians, believers in the true god, and the evil dark Calormenes, followers of the false one, IS the context. The outcome is the end of the world, with all good Narnians, and one converted Calormene being admitted to heaven (Aslan's country).

On the other hand, the sexism charges are much harder to substantiate - the book is full of very active, courageous, resourceful and self-sufficient female characters. They are all young girls, and Lewis does seem to have a problem with girls growing up and becoming sexually mature women, but then he has an issue with growing up and leaving childhood behind to begin with, in his own life as well.

By the way, I had heard all the talk about Christian allegory but no accusations of racism until my ten year old son read the book (The Final Battle) and told me "this guy C. S. Lewis is a racist", and I asked him why. He told me about the Calormenes and it was then that I also started reading and searching the net to see what others were thinking.

Oops, sorry. The *Last* Battle. I should have at least gotten the title right, you could say. But seriously, the quotes are right from the book, which is right in front of me. I just couldn't see the title for the unicorn, or something.

It is even worse than racist, it is anti-semetic. Someone said there was nothing in LWW but the seeds are sown in this book. The dwarves are the Jews who are instrumental in the death of Aslan/Jesus. Sure there are times shown where dwarves are shown to be good and bad like when the dwarf tries to bring back the white witch. The dawrves are the Jews because they are called the sons of earth, like the Jews are descendents from clay while Christians are descendent from Jesus who was descended from Adam and Eve. I know it doesn't make sense and how can you descended from the same two people and one is consider the rightful descendents while the others have no spirit and are only from the clay. I don't make this stuff up. Think about the last battle and the dwarves are said not to have choosen sides yet and later they are in the stable and are said to not to have accepted Jesus and will dissolve into nothing.

The world crucified Jesus All Jews and Gentiles , because of sin put him on the tree... According to the bible!!! As far As c.s. lewis being a racist im not sure of..Seems to me though you could see a biblical message especially his sacrafice and being raaised from the dead , made since!!

After watching the movie version of the Chronicles of Narnia, and then rereading all of the books, I've started to realize that the books really do have a huge amount of Christian references, as well as some racism. The death of Aslan is certainly a Christian reference. Aslan dies to save a traitor. When he is walking up to the Stone Table to be killed, there are evil, jeering creatures who cut off his beautiful mane. When he comes back to life / is resurrected, there are two girls (aka women) there. Anyone with a reasonable training in literary analysis and knowledge of the Bible can figure out what each of these mean.

Personally, I have found that most of the books in the series are good, exciting, and interesting. However, there are a couple of exceptions. The Last Battle, the worst offender, has more Christian references than actual story. After reading page after page of Christian references and racist descriptions (face it, there is a great deal of racism) with a minimum amount of plotline, the book starts to be both boring and tiresome. Without knowing what the references mean, much of the story doesn't make sense. Knowing what the reference means ruins the story. No bueno.

For me, the Narnia series is at its best when I read it like a child would read it; not paying attention to all of the references and paying full attention to the fantasy world that C.S. Lewis has created.

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i don't like narnia

Umm, ya, read the books please before posting here. It seems most people who say there is no racism in these books have only read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. There are six more books in the series, you know.
Oh, and Narnians aren't just animals, they are people in Narnia, too. White people.

HAY, does anybody have anything better to do then bitch about a goddamn book, you know what fuck narnia

You can't be 26256 serious?!?

Why does everything have to be brought down to religion? The chronicles of narnia are just books. They are meant to entertain readers, mostly children. So maybe there were "racist" or "Sexist" or "religious" undertones. Point out anything that doesn't have one or all of those characteristics. Turn on the tv and watch the news. It is always "black" robbers, the president always brings religion into things even though we supposedly have separation of church and state. And we have yet to have a woman run the US. Now if that isn't sexist I don't know what is. We have world hunger, aids epidemic, natural disasters, a war going on. And all you people are concerned about is proving that a childs series is tainted. People like you ruin all that is good in the world. You take things and make them disgusting. No 8-12 year old is going to sit down and read the chronicles and think anything but, "wow that is so cool". And all you religious buffs out there, when it comes down to it, the bible is just a freaking book. Let that simmer for you.

If someone reads Islam into the Chronicles of Narnia doesn't that say something about what they really think of Islam?

After all neither Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism are mentioned so why not make the association with any of those religions?

You would only make the association with Islam if you thought the association actually existed, which shows what you really think about Islam.

Stop pretending to believe Islam is peaceloving and nice if you are going to make those associations. Be honest and call a spade a spade.

"Friends, if we be honest with ourselves, we shall be honest with each other." - George Macdonald (1824-1905)