"It means that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."
-Aslan, from the novel
I read this book years ago when I was teaching school, but seeing my granddaughter play a role in a drama adaptation at her school inspired me to reread it. It was a quick and easy read but I did enjoy it, even knowing how it would end. I will rate it a 3.
At the time of WWII, four English children are sent to live in the country estate of a professor. While exploring the home the youngest, Lucy, discovers a magic wardrobe through which she is able to enter the fantasy land of Narnia. Eventually all the children enter this place "where it is always winter but never Christmas" because of a spell by the White Witch who calls herself Queen of Narnia.
The novel could be seen as an allegory with a Christian theme. Aslan, the lion, resembles Jesus Christ in his sacrificial death and resurrection. I have recently done a bit of study of Revelation and the final battle where evil is defeated is reminiscent of that book of the Bible. It seemed to me the breaking of winter into spring in Narnia could symbolize the arrival of a "new heaven and a new earth." (Revelation 21:1) I think the parallels with the Bible made this reading more fascinating for me.
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