The Last Battle

April 19, 2010

Today reading The Last Battle with my two children, I was really struck by the blindness of The Dwarfs who - after being duped by the false Aslan (Puzzle in lion-skin) - decide they will believe in nothing. Their slogan is this, "The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs." They personify the self-interest that is so prevalent today, as well as in C.S. Lewis' day, I suppose.

And, in the chapter where all the protagonists are flung into the stable and find a beautiful world there with all the Kings and Queens of Narnia, the Dwarfs still find themselves in a dark stable. They are in the SAME PLACE. And yet, the Dwarfs see nothing but dark, and feel nothing but discomfort. Even after the King and Aslan try to help them, they are oblivious.

"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."

I know a lot of Dwarfs. It can be hard not to be a Dwarf in the modern world. But I'm with Queen Lucy... It is truly saddening to watch people sit miserably in the dark when they can choose beauty, hope, and life.