Narnia - Peter Pevensie and Frodo Baggins
- From: Richard Emblem <remblem@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 14:59:49 +0000
I received this interesting observation:
PETER PEVENSIE AND FRODO BAGGINS
It is interesting to compare Peter Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and
the
Wardrobe with Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, and to set them
alongside the authors in whose fertile imaginations they were created.
At the time he wrote the Narnia chronicles, C.S Lewis was a new
convert. His
Christian faith was young and (dare I say it?) still immature - like
Peter
Pevensie. It shone like Peter's armour and it was mounted upon a fine
white
horse of simple certainty. Lewis' religion at that time was very much
like
the young warrior, fresh, vigorous, aggressive and triumphant.
Tolkien, on the other hand, was a cradle Catholic. He had lived with
his
religion all his life. It had accompanied him through all the kind of
uncertainties and perplexities that are the common lot of humankind.
Tolkien's faith was much more like that of Frodo Baggins. Frodo, in
spite of
appearances, was an adult. From the very beginning of his adventure he
was
hesitant, unsure. His heroism didn't sparkle in the sunshine on a
field of
battle; it was shrouded, mostly hidden within his own heart. It only
glowed
dimly in dark places. Frodo never conquered his fears, his doubts; he
learnt
to live with them and to follow such glimmers of light as he was
vouchsafed
day by day.
But the greatest contrast between these two heroes was, I think, in
the
matter of power. Peter (and Harry Potter too for that matter) had
magical
weapons and access to supernatural power, and used those assets to
advantage
in overcoming the powers of evil. Frodo Baggins also had access to
tremendous supernatural power - the ultimate power of the ring. But he
deliberately and steadfastly refused to use such power at any time,
even in
the greatest extremity of need and danger, even to save his friends.
In the gospels, Jesus appears several times to possess magical powers
as
great as Harry Potter, and far more useful and benevolent, but I find
Frodo,
even though he doesn't perform miracles, a more authentically
Jesus-like
figure even than Aslan. While the Narnia story does pick up certain
elements
of the Gospel message, Tolkien's epic echoes this message in greater
depth.
(Author unknown to me)
--
Richard Emblem
"God loves you and there's not a thing you can do to change that."
(Rev Tom Van Culin, Honolulu)
.
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