This book puts the pieces together. Having read the Chronicles of Narnia as a youth, and the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings later, being aware vaguely of the authors of those works history in the early and mid 20th century, I was enthralled to find them woven together with details of the wars. Decades ago I read Winston Churchill’s history of World War II (The Gathering Storm et.seq.), while I was on active duty. Now it is all connected.
In reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia, the Biblical themes were obvious to me, and to my grandchildren when I read the seven books to them. But the underlying purpose, the theme of this book, was the intention of Lewis and Tolkien to introduce and advocate for the classical traditional values in a way that children would engage and relate to. This grew out of several sources. Both Lewis and Tolkien were World War I veterans, having fought on the ground, seen the carnage, grieved the loss of close friends, and returned home. Both taught at Oxford, the pre-eminent classical liberal arts university in England. Both were devoted Christians. Their lives at Oxford were intertwined far more than both being Inklings who met weekly for beer and debate. Both recognized the moral and spiritual emptiness of the interwar intellectual and cultural mainstream in the West. The upshot of this was their desire to write for the purpose stated above, to introduce and advocate for the classical traditional values in a way that children would engage and relate to.
The bulk of the book ties specific events of World War II to various speeches and writings. Many of Lewis’ well-known works were specific to speeches he gave then or events that occurred, including the Weight of Glory, the Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, the Great Divorce, the Four Loves, the Abolition of Man, and the Ransom Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet et.seq.). One example: the opening scene of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with children being sent to live in the countryside with an elderly professor, was based directly on Lewis’ experience hosting children from London in his house at Oxford during the Battle of Britain. (Portrayed vividly in the movie.) But the reality of evil incarnate, the ability of evil leaders to seduce the common people to turn to it, the worldly power it can muster are all based on the Axis. The events that ensued in the war - the evacuation at Dunkirk, the Blitz, Pearl Harbor, Germany’s occupation of Western Europe, Japan’s occupation of China and Southeast Asia, the Holocaust - all provide a context for what and why Lewis and Tolkien wrote and said what they did. They were trying to influence their immediate peers, the faculty and students at Oxford, that the classics provide the antidote, the inoculation for the nihilism and moral blindness that followed the First World War.
It is important to understand that not all fantasy embodies values, truths, and ideals. Much of modern fantasy is about adventure and rejecting the status quo. But it appeals to young people. Dragons, elves, witches, and so forth were invented millennia ago. So, also, the presence of evil in the world dates back to the garden of Eden, although evil as an entrenched social and political force took a while to appear - perhaps the antediluvian world (Genesis 6:11-12) as the earliest recorded manifestation. The story of Tolkien and Lewis should encourage us to think about our own day, 80 years after World War II, as to how evil has become powerful in a new form, and what approach might be taken to creatively influence our generation to the values and ideals that made civilization good and not evil. Modern technology and media seem the obvious venue, but how can they be used to promote courage, integrity, brotherly love, and self-sacrifice? That is the challenge that Joseph Loconte implicitly gives us.
