Full Name: Mr. Clive Staples Lewis
Date of Birth: November 29, 1898
Place of Birth: Belfast, Ireland
Died: November 22, 1963
Place of Death: Oxford, England
Classification: Artists & Entertainers
Known for his literary works such as the famous Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis has gathered a worldwide audience of millions due to his imaginative stories and his clear-cut logic. With a clarity that displays his masterful command of the language, he has offered both academia and mainstream audiences both literary and theological arguments that are still debated to this day.
Born in Ireland, C.S. Lewis was tutored privately at home then attended Malvern College. During his early teens, young Lewis decided he would be an atheist and remained so for nearly twenty years. What inspired books such as the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was Lewis’ fascination with animals that had human attributes and abilities, called anthropomorphism, and from an early age, he would write stories based on animal kingdoms. Later, his works would depict Norse mythology infused with Greek mythology and sprinkled with other aspects of classical literature.
In 1916, Lewis attended the University College in Oxford where he would enlist in the British military during World War I. He was wounded in battle and after recovery was sent back to England to continue his studies. In his autobiography entitled Surprised by Joy, Lewis discusses his loathing of England. He missed his beloved Northern Ireland and passed his time writing stories about his home.
In the writings of A.N. Wilson, which amount to a biography of C.S. Lewis, she discusses Lewis’ relationship with Jane Moore and his later views of Christianity. Lewis changed his atheist ways upon a conversion he did not necessarily want to happen. Although many of his friends wanted him to convert to Catholicism, Christianity seemed logical and clear to Lewis, and he felt the “…unrelenting approach of Him [God]”.
This change of religious heart inspired C.S. Lewis to write books with those themes in mind. Lewis claims that the world of Narnia wasn’t an allegory at all, but a look at another world where Christ is the savior. It was an experiment for C.S. He wanted to explore the true salvation claimed in his belief system. J.R.R. Tolkien changed much of Lewis’ early prejudices giving him new insight about a world separate from Ireland in geography, tradition, and religion. In Lewis’ works, The Pilgrim’s Regress, his Space Trilogy called Ransom Trilogy, and The Screwtape Letters, Lewis’ literary and logical genius go hand in hand to take the reader on a journey through another world that is reminiscent of our own.
