Zack Olander - The Chronicles of Narnia pt. 1

 This is mostly about The Magician's Nephew.

One of my interests is learning about different random occult philosophies that have existed through history, like old Greek mystery cults or Eastern mysticism. It's mostly an academic interest of mine. Having this interest, I reflected a lot on the character of Uncle Andrew in The Magician's Nephew because he seems like a perfect story rendition of an Aleister Crowley-type character. He's egotistical and only seems to care about himself and advancing his own power and influence on the world. He's comical too, because he doesn't seem particularly bright, and his desires are incredibly foolish (like his interest in the Queen as soon as he meets her). Later in the book as he is in Narnia, Lewis seems to give some commentary about these types of people. Uncle Andrew, for all his inflated ego and posturing, is taken down a few notches when he is afraid of the animals of Narnia and provides many opportunities for the reader to laugh at his character.

I wonder if Lewis intended this kind of commentary, or if I'm just reading too far into it and he's just meant to be an annoying character. Either way, Uncle Andrew's character arch is one of my favorite things about The Magician's Newphew.

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