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The Last BattleThe Last Battle is the final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Lewis was awarded the Carnegie Medal for the book. Synopsis In The Last Battle, Lewis brings The Chronicles of Narnia to an end. The book deals with the end of time in Narnia and sums up the allegory of the books by linking the experience of the human children in Narnia with their lives in this world. The story begins during the reign of the last king of Narnia, King Tirian. Narnia has experienced a long period of peace and prosperity begun during the reign of King Caspian the Tenth, whose dynasty was established in Prince Caspian and confirmed by the succession of his son Rilian at the conclusion of The Silver Chair. Tirian, who is the great-grandson of the great-grandson of Rilian, becomes aware that strange and uncomfortable things are happening to his land and that the stars portend ominous developments. The king's magical call for help results in the arrival of Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, the two children who last visited Narnia during the final year of the reign of Caspian, to help him battle an invasion by an army from the southern land of Calormen. The Calormenes have internal allies in Narnia, in the form of an Antichrist-figure, Shift the Ape, and his dupe Puzzle the donkey, who has pretended to be Aslan and spread the heresy that Aslan and the Calormen god Tash (the Satan-figure) are one and the same. The heresy causes the dwarves and some other Narnian talking beasts to lose faith in, and loyalty to, Aslan and the King; meanwhile, Shift proceeds to sell Narnia into Calormene slavery. Tirian has only a small loyal force to fight the Calormenes, and prepares to die in a last stand against the forces of darkness. The Battle concludes with Aslan stepping in to bring Narnia to an end. All creatures, including those who had previously died, are judged by Aslan as they approach a door; those who have been loyal to Aslan, or to the morality upheld by Narnians, join Aslan in Aslan's country (heaven), while those who have opposed or deserted him do not pass through the door and disappear to an uncertain fate. It becomes clear that nearly all those who had travelled to Narnia in previous books have been reunited in Aslan's country where they realise that Narnia and England are linked and that they have in fact died on earth and can enjoy an afterlife in a perfect version of Narnia where they are reunited with characters from previous books, and their deceased relatives. Commentary In the allegorical Narnia cycle, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is broadly based on the Gospel stories, and "The Magician's Nephew" on Genesis. "The Last Battle" completes the cycle and is broadly based on the book of Revelation, and on Christian doctrines of the end of the world, judgement, Heaven, death and afterlife. The religious allegory element and the exposition of theological points is more laboured than in some of the earlier books, and the overall tone is darker, to the extent that "The Last Battle" is relatively hard to enjoy on a purely superficial level as a fairy story, particularly at the end. Lewis has been criticised, by Philip Pullman and others, over the values conveyed by "The Last Battle". In particular, that the Calormenes are crudely drawn Turks or Arabs, with racist overtones; and that Susan Pevensie, one of the children who appeared in previous stories, is described as no longer a friend of Narnia as she is interested only in "nylons, lipstick and invitations" - as if it is inherently sinful for a woman to become sexually mature. Corresponding criticisms have been levelled at previous Narnia stories for being Anglocentric (the magical doorways into Narnia always seem to open from England, and English people are the natural, aristocratic rulers in the Arthurian society of Narnia). The racism charge rests mainly on the clear resemblance of the Calormenes to the dark-skinned Muslims of our world, coupled with the use of the word "Darkies" to describe them, and illustrations which portray the true Narnians dressed like Crusaders, fighting the Calormenes, who resemble Saracens. The Calormenes are the enemies of followers of Aslan's true religion: their god Tash represents Satan, taking away the souls of the wicked characters, and accepting any evil deed as a service to him (the fate of a Calormene non-believer is presented as a warning to those tempted to dabble in black magic). Other commentators draw parallels between Tash and Termagant, the imaginary god whom Christians formerly supposed was the object of worship by Muslim peoples. This gives The Last Battle an unfortunate flavour by the standards of today and in the context of modern relations between the Christian and Muslim worlds. The blanket casting of dark-skinned people as agents of the devil was crude even in the 1950s, however it was a less sensitive issue at that time, and it probably seemed quite reasonable in the allegorical scheme to represent followers of the true religion by fair skinned Narnians, and the followers of the "wrong" religions by darker people from outside. Clearly it caused no offence in England at the time, and Lewis received the Carnegie Medal for this book. One of the better-developed characters is a good Calormene, which at least breaks the stereotype in one case, however the charge of racism in this book, if not the whole series, is difficult to refute. The misogyny allegation is also hard to escape, although based on a single section describing the fall of Susan, however one can at least point out that the role of females in the Narnia books tend to follow those in the Bible itself, including a Pandora's Box allegory by Lewis that has been criticised by some feminists. The Last Battle
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