The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — Chapter 2

Narration Prompt

Summarize the chapter's narrative arc, then identify the central tension and evaluate whether the author handles it honestly.

Discussion Questions

1. Lewis structures Chapter 2 as a theological parable about sin, confession, and grace — Tumnus sins by planning to kidnap Lucy, confesses voluntarily at personal cost, and receives absolution through Lucy's forgiveness. Evaluate whether this framework enriches or constrains the chapter. Does reading it as parable deepen the human drama, or does it reduce complex moral psychology to a formulaic schema?
2. The enchantment scene — Tumnus's stories and flute music drawing Lucy toward sleep — raises questions about the ethics of aesthetic experience that Lewis addressed throughout his critical work. In An Experiment in Criticism, Lewis argued that genuine literary experience is a form of self-surrender that enlarges the reader. Is Tumnus's enchantment of Lucy a corruption of this principle, or an illustration of it — genuine beauty that happens to serve a manipulative end?

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