| The Magician’s Nephew
Make the choice, adventurous Stranger,
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The rhyme that greeted Polly and Digory in Chapter 4 is an ominous lie. Madness is not the alternative to ringing the bell, it is the reason for striking it. One would have to be mad to risk bringing the evils of Charn back to life. But Digory has already decided, and he uses a bit of twisted logic to justify his choice.
"I’m not going home to be driven mad by always thinking of that," he says. Polly speaks with the voice of reason. "As if anyone would! What does it matter what would have happened?" The Magician’s Nephew follows a biblical motif, but not in the same order. The poetic language of Genesis describes the great themes of creation, fall, and redemption. Here, in the land of Charn, time and evil have already run their course. Narnia does not yet exist, but already the seeds to pollute its new creation are being gathered. There is no good purpose served in awakening anything in this place. The only thing present is a dormant form of infection looking for a new host. When Jadis comes to life her immediate impulse is to search for power. "You are no magician," she says looking into Digory’s face. "The Mark of it is not on you." Why not? Why isn’t the Mark on his face? Didn’t he just ring the bell? Didn’t he just willfully twist Polly’s wrist and force her from returning to the safe place between the worlds? Not only has he welcomed danger, he has also taken an unwilling hostage. Lewis makes a distinction between being evil and participating in evil. There is an irony here that has played a great and devious role in human history. When people are characterized as evil, great evil is accomplished. Vilification of an enemy is just one step away from genocide. Follow that in the story. Digory has acted wickedly, but the Queen sees no kinship in him. What this young boy has done is deserving of harsh judgment, but he is not evil. To target him would be to attack a wrong enemy. Digory, the one who awakens evil, is also the one who will plant the seeds of protection for the yet unborn land of Narnia.
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