Lucas Reyes

January 26th, 2023

Professor Koskela

Paper #1

C.S Lewis opens up a world of wonder and takes us on a magical journey in the second

installation of his Chronicles of Narnia series. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe explores a

plethora of profound topics such as trust, forgiveness, sacrifice, power and more. His characters

capture the characteristics of loyalty and hopefulness remarkably. With the addition of the many

inspiring moments throughout the novel, it is no wonder that The Lion, the Witch, and the

Wardrobe is a children’s classic. Some would go as far as to call it an essential. However, with

the many major themes displayed in the book, other subject matters are often overlooked. In this

scenario, the major underlying theme overshadowed by the others is the seven deadly sins which

include wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth, pride, and greed. C.S. Lewis implemented many aspects

of religion throughout the novel. From this, we can say that he intended to implicate the seven

sins within the characters and scenes to make it the underlying theme of The Lion, the Witch and

the Wardrobe.

We are first introduced to the sin of pride with Edmund in the beginning of chapter 3.

“He sneered and jeered at Lucy if she’d found any other new countries in other cupboards all

over the house.” (pg. 26). When we are first introduced to the Pevensie children in the first

chapter, Lewis explains that Edmund is the penultimate child among the siblings, with Lucy

being the youngest. Because of this, Edmund is prideful and feels like he has superiority over his

sister, despite the one year age gap. This explains his constant sneering and jeering to Lucy after
she announced her discovery of Narnia to her siblings. We see more instances like the

aforementioned in chapter 5. “When Peter suddenly asked him the question he decided all at

once to do the meanest and most spiteful thing he could think of. He decided to let Lucy down…

And Edmund gave a very superior look as if he were far older than Lucy (there was really only a

year’s difference) … “ (pg 44-45). Rather than swallowing his pride to cheer up Lucy, he chooses

to do otherwise and disappoints her in order to feel bigger and better than her. As expected, she

rushes out the room bawling, meanwhile his older brother scolds him for being unnecessarily

prideful and spiteful.

As we progress through the book, we begin to see more sins being portrayed through

Edmund. For instance, in chapter 4, we are met with the White Witch, whom Edmund is

convinced is the Queen of Narnia. In order for her to gain his trust, she offers him a nice hot

drink to soothe his shivers but also some delicious, addictive and enchanted Turkish Delights.

Lewis describes “... but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as

much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat…” (pg. 37). In

this instance, we see a clear example of gluttony, the sin of mindlessly indulging and the excess

desire for food. Gluttony has the power to consume the individual (pun intended) and let it

dictate their everyday life. We see this occurring in chapter 7 when the children arrive at Mr.

Beaver’s dam. While the children were admiring the beaver’s humble home, Edmund was too

focused on the two small hills in the distance. The hills where the witch’s palace and an infinite

source of Turkish Delights lie. In addition, Lewis writes in chapter 9, “He had eaten his share of

the dinner, but he hadn’t really enjoyed it because he was thinking all the time about Turkish

Delight…” (pg. 88). Lewis mentions this to emphasize the impact gluttony has on Edmund,

especially with his relationship with his siblings. In the same chapter, we see a clear example of
how envy is portrayed in the book. However, we must first understand how each sibling initially

felt when Aslan’s name was introduced in chapter 7. Lewis describes on page 68, “Edmund felt a

sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some

delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the

feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize it is the beginning of the

holidays…”. Now that we have this in mind, chapter 9 explains that not only did Edmund escape

Mr. Beaver’s home because the mentioning of Aslan’s name gave him unpleasant feelings, but

also because he was envious of the fact that the name made his siblings feel lovely and could’t

experience the same emotions.

Similarly, the White Witch portrays many of the other seven sins. To begin with, she acts

the same way as other crooked royal figures of authority do, having a servant constantly perform

tasks for them rather than doing it themselves. This is an example of sloth, the sin of

carelessness, apathy and laziness. In this case, the dwarf takes on that role, constantly being

pestered and following orders from the witch. For instance, when we are first introduced to the

White Witch, Lewis describes, “On the sledge, driving the reindeer, sat a fat dwarf who would

have been about three feet high if he had been standing.” (pg. 31). In addition to this, we see the

witch demand “‘Bring the human creature food and drink’ she said” (pg. 111). From this, we can

not only see her apathy toward her servants but also the characteristics of a lazy unjust royal

authoritative figure. Among these characteristics lie the sin of wrath, portrayed predominantly

through the witch. For instance, on page 116 of chapter 11, Lewis writes “Edmund saw the witch

bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek. Then she raised her wand.” She

was enraged so much by the fact that Father Christmas gifted the party of creatures, she inflicted

pain on herself when turning the animals to stone. The witch’s wrath is also displayed in chapter
14, when she exclaims “‘Muzzle him!’... “ (pg. 154). Her uncontrollable anger plays a massive

role in the book, especially toward the end when Aslan is tortured.

Lust is defined as the sin of tempting sexual desire. However, considering this is a

children’s novel, in no way shape or form is there going to be any evidence that displays this

definition. Lust doesn’t always mean this way though. One can demonstrate lust as an unhealthy,

strong and excessive desire. Lewis portrays this sin in the book as a lust for violence and power.

Both the witch and Edmund fall into that category. With Edmund, he is constantly being

controlled by his lust to obtain the throne the witch promised him and craves the authority over

his siblings he never possessed. “And he thought about Turkish Delight and about being King.

(‘And I wonder how Peter will like that?’ he asked himself) and horrible ideas came into his

head.” (pg. 70). Terrible ideas lurking in your mind is a common effect of lust, creating illusions

and living out unrealistic fantasies in one’s own mind. In the scene where Aslan is being tortured

by the other creatures, not only do we see the witch’s wrath and lust to continue to inflict pain on

him, but we also see the mob’s desire to violate Aslan. We see this crude act in chapter 14,

“Another roar of mean laughter went up from her followers as an ogre with a pair of shears came

forward and squatted down by Aslan’s head…And they surged round Aslan, jeering at him…”

(pg. 154).

Lastly, the remaining sin of the seven is greed, a selfish desire for power or wealth for

one's own benefit. One of the first instances of greed we see in the text is when Edmund denies

the existence of Narnia in front of Peter and Susan. He does this for his own benefit, in order to

feel like an older sibling for once. Additionally, the witch acts in a similar way. In chapter 13, we

see her demand, “‘And so’ continued the Witch, ‘that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit

to me. His blood is my property.’” (pg. 142). Although Aslan sacrifices his own life to save
Edmund’s, her tone when spoken is possessive and indicates that she’s been trying to kill not

only Edmund but also Peter, Susan, and Lucy throughout the book before they take the thrones in

order to protect herself and her hierarchical position.

In conclusion, the seven sins are shown throughout the book and overall provides the

overall underlying theme of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. These aspects define many

pivotal turning points as well as the primary conflicts within the story. This theme gets

overshadowed more often however, it remains the underlying subject matter of the entire novel

since C.S. Lewis intended there to be based on religious aspects.