C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “I am not quite sure what made me, in a particular year of my life, feel that not only a fairy tale, but a fairy tale addressed to children, was exactly what I must write—or burst” (“On Three Ways of Writing for Children.”). The writing of C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia is modelled after the styling of a fairy tale (Berman). In fact, the similarity between fantasy written for children, the genre of the Chronicle’s of Narnia, and fairy-tale is quite close. How does Lewis use elements of fairy tale in Narnia, and how do they serve to enhance the genre of fantasy?
By definition, the genre of fantasy contains magic as well as occurrences outside of the normal laws of the universe, and usually involve a journey or a quest (“The Fantasy Genre”). Fairy tales are defined as stories written for children, with clearly defined characters who are good or bad, and fantastical elements; fairy tales often do not have a specific time period in which they are set, and usually take place in their entirety in a fantasy world. Fairy tales also have a moral to the story, something to teach children about life, living, or behavior (“Evolution of Fairy Tales”). Lewis’ writing of the Narnia stories includes elements of both fantasy and fairy tale.
The characters in the Narnia series are aware of fairy tales, and thus there is a self-awareness of the fairy-tale nature within the Narnia novels. Literary critic Lindskoog points out that Narnia and the real world are constructed to parallel each other: “Just as our world bears aspects of a fairy-tale world from the Narnian point of view, so the Narnian world is rich with figures of earthly folklore” (Lindskoog). Narnia is written then more as fantasy, because is a story construction which can be set in two worlds: the real, and the secondary or fantasy world (“The Fantasy Genre”). Fairy tales do not usually contain that kind of self-awareness.
This self-awareness is apparent at the beginning of The Magician’s Nephew when Digory tells his Uncle, “I suppose all the old fairy tales are more or less true. And you’re simply a wicked, cruel magician like the ones in the stories. Well, I’ve never read a story in which people of that sort weren’t paid out in the end, and I bet you will be.” (28). Digory knows the rules of fairy tales: the moral of the story is always that good wins, and evil fails. However, the moral of the story is not so simple as that.
Lewis points out in his essay “Three Ways of Writing for Children” that the moral of a story is really what the reader gets out of the story. Lewis did not believe in necessarily putting didactic material into his storytelling; he felt that the moral of the story arose naturally. Although Lewis had strong Christian faith, and included elements of that in his books, the books do not necessarily aim to only teach children Christian morals (Brennan). Lewis was more interested in having children identify with the magic of the story, because “fairy land arouses a longing for he knows not what….far from dulling or emptying the actual world, gives it a new dimension of depth.” (Lewis).
Narnia, as a sort of fairy land itself, helps bring magic to everyday life of its characters, as well its readers (Riga). Lewis’ Narnia may be best classified as a breed of modern day fairy tale, fantasy with fairy-tale elements. Narnia is meant to intrigue the imagination of the reader, to go beyond the moralistic nature of fairy tales to the genuine hope and beauty of a magical wonderful world that can be found inside a piece of fiction such as Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.
