Eden 2.0: (The Magician’s Nephew)

 

Digory goes into a garden with the following rules: “come in by the golden gates” and “take my fruit for others or forbear.” The consequences are hearts being filled with desire and despair. Within the garden he finds the Witch eating the fruit and offering him forbidden knowledge. The Witch tempts him into betraying Aslan which he declines. 


This is an obvious parallel to the Garden of Eden where Eve was tempted to eat from the tree she was expressly prohibited from feasting. The Witch is a stand-in for the snake offering “forbidden knowledge.” Digory follows the commands of Aslan and is not led astray. Lewis is using this story to foster obedience to God in the reader just like G.K. Chesterton liked about myths.

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