Thoughts on Magic - Jacob (Blog Post 5)

 My favorite book of the Chronicles of Narnia series probably has to be the Magician’s Nephew. There is so much I love about the book. In particular, I love the book’s exploration of the character of Uncle Andrew. He is such a pathetic and wicked character. He believes himself to be a great magician and above the statutes of the common man. Yet, he, himself, has never amounted to anything. Magic is something that he is interested in, but only to exploit. He fails to see the deeper Magic. Magic is a word we discussed a lot in class. The magic of fairie land is not something scientific. To explain it away would be to ruin it. It is at “at the furthest pole from the vulgar devices of the laborious, scientific, magician.” Tolkien in on “On Fairie Stories” changes his wording from magic to enchantment. Yet, I wonder if that was really needed. I quite like the word magic. The error of the “laborious, scientific, magician” is that he only sees the surface of a much deeper reality, much like the White Witch fails to see the truth of deeper magic. which makes death start working backwards. The error of the “laborious, scientific, magician” is hubris. He does not wonder at the working of Magic. He only sees something he can grasp and exploit. 

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