“To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the
Valiant. To the great western woods, King
Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to
the clear northern skies, I give you King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or
queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia” (C.S. Lewis). This is a
quote from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
It both ended and began a journey for the Pevensie children. I am
sure many of you are familiar with this series. There are many lessons in these
books; however, I want to focus on the characters in these books. Mainly the
Pevensie children; because I’m sure you can relate to one, if not all, of these
characters. Each character has good and bad qualities they gain on their journey.
Peter: the Magnificent and filled with pride. While Peter
did have his moments where he was a good King and followed Aslan, he also
failed many times. Peter’s tragic flaw is he is too proud. Now, in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe he
was not too proud. But, in Prince Caspian
his pride came out. In the movie, Peter makes a plan and expects people to
follow that plan. He does not believe that Aslan is coming; therefore, he takes
matters into his own hands. And, he pays for it. He loses many men in that
battle. Another issue is Peter just doesn’t seem to have faith that Aslan is
there to help him. He doesn’t believe Lucy when she says she saw Aslan. And,
that’s where his trouble begins. In the end Peter learns his lesson and trusts
Aslan to fight the war for him. Proverbs 16:18.
Susan: the Gentle and the logical. Susan has her moments
when she steps out in faith, but she also tends to take the logical path. I’m
not saying that being logical is bad. In fact many logical people make the
world go round. What I am saying is that when we always think logically we miss
out on amazing opportunities. Logical people tend to live in their comfort
zones. And, yes, I’m guilty of this too. Sometimes I think way too logically
when I should just trust God that everything will work out. Susan tries to take
matters into her own hands, rather than trusting God. That is the danger of
being logical at times. We need to get outside ourselves and let our light
shine for God. Proverbs 3:5.
Edmund: the Just and the traitor. Edmund’s tragic flaw comes
out rather early in the Chronicles of Narnia. He betrays his friends, family,
and God. Edmund fell into temptation. He put his selfish desires above the
needs of others. And, he paid for it dearly. However, Edmund also learned his
lesson and asked for forgiveness. That’s the great thing: when we fail, God will
forgive us. All we need to do is ask. Failure also leads to us learning. Edmund
became wiser because he failed. That’s why he is called Edmund the Just. 1 John
1:9.
Lucy: the Valiant and the one with the low self-confidence.
Lucy’s tragic flaw is she falls into peer pressure; and she is unsure of
herself. In Prince Caspian Lucy knows
that she saw Aslan, but she does not follow her instinct. She is the youngest of
the siblings and she feels like she needs to follow the crowd. Lucy needed to
find her voice. She needed to speak up for her beliefs, rather than sit back.
Also in the movie The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader Lucy does not think she is beautiful. She was using the world’s
standard of beauty and not God’s. Lucy did not have God-esteem. She did not see
how she looked in God’s eyes. That is all that matters. I feel like we
sometimes forget this when we look at the world’s standards. 2 Corinthians 3:5.
All of these characters succeeded and failed in one way
or another. Just like we all fail and succeed. The best part about this is that
God uses us in his story no matter what. He knows we fail, but he uses those
failures to bring about His perfect plan and story. That is why we know that
our weaknesses bring about God’s strength. We can trust Him no matter what. So
no matter when you fail or whatever you feel your flaw is, remember that God
uses those to teach us. 2 Corinthians 12:9.
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