#my pastor talked about the scene in the book when Eustace is the dragon and Aslan peels the dragon skin off him in layers and oh my gosh

[wilder-fangirl]

This is super interesting! I definitely agree with Susan being Mary Magdalene and the Mary/Martha parallels.

putting this into a separate post BUT here we go

as i've said before i try not to go too much in the religious direction for all my narnia overanalysis posts, but at a point it's hard not to just because of the symbolism that's included, so this post is going to be primarily religion-focused so feel free to skip this if you'd like!!

which apostle each of the pevensies represent and why:

lucy:

this one is a bit obvious, but lucy is quite obviously meant to be a representation of john the beloved apostle. john was the one who never wavered from jesus' side, who stayed with him through the entirety of his mission, who sat on his right side during the last supper, and who followed along the walk to calvary and was the only apostle to stay at the foot of the cross as jesus died.

at no point in the story does lucy's faith in aslan fail. she continues to believe that he will come and help everyone. she and aslan have the closes relationship, he calls her "dear one", she is his favorite child.

i do also think she could be a mix of john and andrew, as andrew was the first apostle called by jesus after his baptism, and he is the one who brought his brother peter to follow jesus, just as lucy was the first to enter into narnia, and she brought edmund in after her, and became the bridge between her siblings and aslan/narnia.

edmund:

in no way shape or form is edmund judas. he is completely and utterly meant to be simon peter, the apostle who denied jesus three times and then repented. peter was one of jesus' closest apostles, part of his inner circle along with james, john, and andrew. judas never sought forgiveness after he betrayed jesus, while peter did, confirming his love for jesus, which is what sets the two apart.

edmund betrays his siblings and aslan, but after his rescue speaks with aslan, and recieves forgiveness for what happened. he is changed after his experience, and follows aslan without question. he becomes a great figure, someone whose justice is respected by his kingdom. he more than proves himself to be loyal and caring towards his siblings, his kingdom, and aslan.

peter:

i fully believe peter is meant to be a representation of thomas, the apostle who doubted jesus' resurrection. thomas was one of jesus' apostle throughout his entire ministry, but missed the first appearance of jesus to his apostles after the resurrection. because of this, thomas refuses to believe in what has happened until he sees jesus, and when he does, he proclaims "my lord and my god".

this is moreso due to the fact that peter does not believe lucy when she says she saw aslan, and is completely convinced that they are alone when they return to narnia. peter loves aslan and believes in him, but does not truly believe he is there until he sees aslan before him.

susan:

okay so personally, i see susan as mary magdalene rather than one of the 12 apostles. mary magdalene, while being one of the main female disciples, was also one of the only people standing at the foot of the cross (she was there with mama mary, mary, the wife of clopas, and john the beloved). mary was also the first that jesus appeared to after his resurrection, and did not realize it was him until he said her name.

susan is the other one with lucy who is there when aslan dies. she's there when he comes back to life, and she is always portrayed as being right beside him with lucy. while lucy is aslan's favorite, susan is close behind. she holds a special place of importance, and though she falls away from narnia for a little while, i like to think that she has dreams of narnia, where aslan says her name and she remembers everything, and she knows she is welcomed and loved.

also i think susan and lucy are VERY martha and mary coded

bonus caspian:

he is so matthew!!!! the tax collector, the outsider of the group, a man who was heavily disliked by the people around him because of who he worked for and what he did.

caspian is part of a kingdom who hurt narnians, his uncle tried to wipe them out. he was seen as an outsider, only to become a great king of narnia and a trusted successor to the kings and queens of old.

@wilder-fangirl