FREEDOM TO DO WHAT EXACTLY? Andrew Likoudis
Aristotle states - “Freedom is the ability to do what one ought. To act always as ones’ desires dictate is not freedom but slavery, and slavery to a hard master. Even an animal or a slave can live according to its desires.” Author, Christian apologist, and Oxford-Cambridge professor C.S. Lewis dealt extensively with this philosophy and made it his own, working it out through exchanges and debates with his contemporaries and friends which comprised his literary enthusiast group, the Inklings. His influence extended most notably to, fellow author and Oxford colleague and professor, J.R.R. Tolkien. This counter-cultural transcendent notion of true freedom, (the strength of character to choose rightly,) which, according to Lewis, is drawn from an awareness of, and adherence to the intrinsic and universal code of morality is manifested prominently in his writings, personal life, and politics. True to his beliefs, Lewis’s integrates these fundamental concepts into his many varied works. He deems
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their universality to be essential, and urgently impresses this idea upon his readers. Ironically, his writings are often miscategorized as solely fantasy or children’s literature. While he was certainly in favor of using fantasy elements in his books, as his membership with the Inklings, (a primarily fantasy-driven-discussion group) makes clear, much of what he wrote tended to be more intellectual & scholarly. The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are the best known exception to this general rule, but even this book has a more complex “sacramental” reality behind it and was written for wider audiences than just children. Its popularity alone proves this to be true. His incorporation of Christian mysticism and symbolic elements and characters was meant not only to capture the audience’s attention, but rather to transport them to a greater contemplation of sublime realities, portraying the characters themselves as “texts to be read” (Muth). A great example of this is captured in the scene in which,
