Good and Evil
The main theme of The Magician's Nephew is the conflict between good and evil. Most of the characters can be divided up based on whether their actions are good or evil. Aslan embodies good: the benevolent and wise leader and creator who acts selflessly and for the good of his land, Narnia. The Queen embodies evil. Everything she does is done in order to conquer and subdue those around her. She is ruthless, cruel, and manipulative. The children are characterized as good, with a strong sense of right and wrong. Uncle Andrew's magic facilitates the work of evil in the plot. Ultimately, good wins out, but evil is not completely destroyed, thus setting up the conflict for the next book in the series.
Faith
The Magician's Nephew contains allegories for many tenets of Christianity; naturally, then one of the primary themes of the book is faith. One strong example of faith in the novel is when Aslan sends Digory to pluck just one fruit from a special tree for the purpose of protecting Narnia. Digory desperately wants to bring fruit to heal his mother, but he knows this would violate the inscription on the garden; despite the Queen's tempting, and Digory's own longing, he has faith in Aslan's guidance, and he lets this faith be his guide. Ultimately he is rewarded with fruit from the newly-planted tree of life in Narnia, and his mother recovers. The theme of faith recurs both in this novel and in all of the Narnia chronicles.
Magic
In the world of Narnia, magic is a real, and powerful, force. After witnessing the power of Uncle Andrew's rings, neither Digory nor Polly question the existence of magic; thus, the reader is also required to suspend her or his disbelief and accept magic as real in order to follow along with the events of the novel. Digory's Uncle Andrew is a magician and practices alchemy in his quest to discover methods of travel to different worlds. The theme of magic is central to the entire novel as it is used for both good and evil, and it is needed to facilitate travel between other worlds. Magic is also used to create Narnia, and give the animals in Narnia the power to speak.
Friendship
Polly and Digory's friendship is a strong connection that grows deeper throughout the novel. Together, they decide to go on adventures, take risks, and ultimately stay loyal to each other. They often have to solve problems together, and each of their personalities and strengths contributes to the solutions at which they arrive. They find courage in each other in standing up to the evil characters and fighting for what is right. In the novel, friendship is based on loyalty and trust, as well as the ability to forgive others and to compromise.
Nature and Growth
One important element of Narnia is the beauty and bounty of nature. This natural bounty signifies that Narnia is a good world, a place where living things thrive. In contrast, the world of Charn is barren, with no plant or animal life of any kind. The more evil characters in the novel, the Witch/Queen Jadis, and Uncle Andrew, do not recognize the bounty of Narnia as beauty; the Witch sees it as a power bigger than her own, thus competing with hers, and Uncle Andrew sees it as an opportunity to make money. By contrast, the characters who want to do good, such as Digory, Polly, and the Cabby, appreciate the growth and bounty of Narnia.
Creation
The Magician's Nephew is the creation story of Narnia; Aslan is the creator, and the children get to witness a new and wonderful world. Aslan is a benevolent god, creating a world full of goodness and abundance. Aslan’s creation of Narnia can be paralleled to God’s creation of the world as told in the book of Genesis in the Bible (Torres). The themes of creation and magic are closely related in The Magician’s Nephew, as Aslan uses magic to create. The opposite of Creation is Destruction; thus Charn, and the evil of Queen Jadis, help to amplify the theme of creation by embodying the opposite force, that of destruction.
Temptation
Temptation is one of the driving forces of the plot of The Magician's Nephew, because it is what generates some of the greatest conflict, especially internal conflict within the characters. Temptation also helps to show the progression and growth of the characters, such as Digory and Polly, who learn throughout the novel to control their impulses to get better results. For instance, in the beginning of the book Polly is tempted to touch the rings in Uncle Andrew's study, against her better judgement; this action thus begins the adventure into the other worlds. However, later in the novel, she knows she cannot enter the garden with Digory, even though it looks beautiful and appealing. Temptation is often used in conjunction with the theme of good and evil; temptation is closely associated with being led into evil. When the children are in Charn, Digory is tempted into evil when he decides to ring the bell, thus awakening the evil Queen Jadis. Temptation in The Magician's Nephew can be paralleled to how temptation is portrayed in the Bible as a test of faith, i.e. when Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge, despite God's warning.
