Mysterious Monkey #1

The Chronicles of Narnia is an allegory. It is, actually, allegory in the mostest classicalest sense: it is a direct retelling of certain parts of the Bible. Lots of people know this; not everybody figured it out when they were eight.

In the same way that the torturing and killing of Aslan serves as a narrative element to retell the execution of Christ, my slightly-too-early understanding of the allegorical nature of the Chronicles retells the experience of my entire childhood. My mother always told me I was two years ahead of myself intellectually, and a year and a half behind emotionally. Thanks, mom; but it turned out she was right.

I finished The Last Battle (where everyone goes to Narnia permanently, because Narnia is actually Heaven and the world has ended) and sat and thought for a little while. I told my mom, "I don't think this is just a fantasy book. I think it's about God and things too." And she said, "Um, well."

Figuring out allegorical references did not make it any easier to relate to my friends at sleepovers, few of which I was invited to; nor did my superhuman powers of fantasy-book analysis deliver any attention to me from girls in high school. So imagine my surprise when I realized the other day that I'll actually have a date to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when it premieres.