XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: hayesmstw@hotmail.com   
      
   On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 17:00:18 GMT, Paul S. Person    
   wrote:   
      
   >Tristan Miller  wrote:   
   >   
   >>So you're saying that the entire affair of Aslan's execution and   
   >>resurrection had nothing whatsoever to do with the Jesus story in the   
   >>Christian Gospels?  That all the dozens and dozens of parallels, both overt   
   >>and subtle, are all just a marvellous coincidence?  That Lewis had no   
   >>intention of using the fictional characters and stories of Narnia (at least   
   >>in the earlier books) as a retelling of parts of the Bible for a younger   
   >>audience?   
   >   
   >Aslan is God's Word in Narnia, even as Jesus is God's Word in our   
   >world. One Word, different physical forms. The identity of Aslan with   
   >Jesus is quite explicit, as you note above. Since /EB 2002 Expanded   
   >Edition/ defines "allegory" as "a symbolic fictional narrative that   
   >conveys a secondary meaning not explicitly set forth in the literal   
   >narrative", this explicitness probably does mean that it is not an   
   >allegory.   
      
   Quite.   
      
   The Faerie Queen is allegory. The Pilgrim's progress is allegory. Gulliver's   
   travels is allegory (in part). But LWW and LotR are not allegory.   
      
   Susan is not a thinly-disguised Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Lucy is not a thinly   
   disguised Princess Elizabeth. Peter is not a thinly-disguised Winston   
   Chuchill.   
      
   One may justly see parallels between Maugrim and Heinrich Himmler, Lavrenti   
   Beria, Jolly John Vorster or Rooi Rus Swanepoel, but these are not disgused at   
   all, and the fact that he does not resemble any particular one of them, but   
   all of them, means that it is NOT allegory.   
      
   The word "allegory" seems to be used an awful lot in this NG, and 99 times our   
   of 100 it is used wrongly.   
      
      
      
      
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   Steve Hayes   
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