Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

White, Heather

Keywords

Lewis, C. S., Pullman, Philip, The Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Materials Trilogy, Fall of Man

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis examines two twentieth century children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S Lewis and the His Dark Materials Trilogy, written by Philip Pullman. The aim of this thesis is to analyze each author’s treatment of the story of the Fall of Man. In order to examine Pullman and Lewis’ Fall narratives, I look at each author’s alternate Fall narratives and analyze the use of the roles of the tempter and the fruit within these narratives. Additionally, I examine each author’s use of innocence and maturity as a metaphor for the Fall. These two parallel analyses help me prove that C.S Lewis portrays the Fall as an unfortunate fall from grace and a loss for humanity in his novels. On the contrary, this parallel analysis of Pullman’s treatment of the Fall narrative and his use of maturation as a metaphor for the Fall is evidence for Pullman’s portrayal of the Fall as an event that should be viewed positively and not as a loss.

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