command. The Devil tries to convinc e her that God’s instruction on not eating the fruit
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is actually done as a way obtaining something good from her. She, unfortunately, believes in the
Devil’s lie. Lewis also manifests Devil’s rebellion against God and its failure in the story. It is
written that the White Witch viciousness and ambition for power makes her wants to fight against Aslan due to his superior power. This fight is started when she tries to fling
the iron bar straight at Aslan head as she enters Narnia. In addition, it is also said that her attempts fails. However, it never stops her and she tries the next fight by trying to
tempt Digory to ignore Aslan’s command. She wants to convince Digory that Aslan’s
command is actually done on a purpose to keep something good from Digory. Furtunately, Digory makes the right decision to submit to
Aslan’s command.
As it is seen fro m the elaboration above, Lewis’ background as a Christian has
a prominent influence on the characterization of the White Witch in the novel. It is likely that Lewis tries to insert Biblical concepts on the Devil in the image of the White
Witch to strengthen her position as the symbolization of vicious supreme power in the story.
3. The Biblical Story on the Origin of Temptation in the creation of The Apple
Tree as the symbol of attraction
The story of the apple tree begins with the command Aslan gives to Digory to look for the apple tree which can be used to protect Narnia from the dangerous Witch.
As he tries to enter to the gate where the tree exists, he sees cautions, saying that he is
only allowed to take the fruit for others for those who wants to steal it for their own needs will find despair after achieving their desire. However, as Digory discovers the
apple, he finds that it has such a kind of charm making everybody attracted to it with its good shine and smell. Digory knows that it is forbidden to eat the fruit for his-own, yet
without asking there arises in him such thirst and hunger to taste that fruit. In this case, the notion of temptation is introduced for the written caution, has indeed aroused in him
a great temptation to eat the tree. To create the apple tree that has the attraction and power that can bring temptation
to Digory and others seeing it, Lewis probably uses the biblical story of the origin of temptation as well. This story is written in the book of Genesis, where God introduces
the tree of knowledge of good and evil to be forbidden to eat. It is said: And the L
ORD
God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in
the day that you eat of it you shall die2:16-17. Although the story is different in the way Bible introduces God to be the one
giving the rule, there is a connection in the way Lewis uses the some object a forbidden tree
in his novel. Not only forbidden, both the apple tree and the tree of knowledge of good and evil are also related to each other they are attractive for its beautiful looks and
smell. It is explained that “
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took
of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6”. As Digory experiences, those factors become the beginning point of
temptation. It is likely that the command of God about not eating the fruit of that tree has given the opportunity for temptation to occur.
As the story goes, Digory’s desire makes him distort the cautions about the apple tree by questioning the truth of the caution as it is written:
“Could it be wrong to taste one? After all, he thought, the notice on the gate might not have been exactly an order; it might have been only a piece of advice
—and who cares about advice? Or even if it were an order, would he be disobeying it by
easting an apple? He had already obeyed the part about taking one “for others” p.172.
The charm of the tree has blinded him about the caution he once read. He starts questioning whether it is exactly an order. He changes the legitimacy of the order by
altering it into advice which he can choose whether to obey or not. Furthermore, he also subtracts the order of the tree for not eating the fruit for himself by justifying to himself
that it may be okay to taste only one apple. There arises in him such a conflict whether to keep his obedience to the rule or follow his own desire.
Similar to what Digory does to distort the God’s word, the Bible also tells of the
similar response of Eve when she is tempted to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil for it “is good for food”, “delight to eyes” and “makes one wise”. At
that moment, Eve realizes God’s command not to eat the fruit, yet those three qualities arouse in her a desire to eat the fruit from the tree. As the justifications of her desire, she
tries distorting the command. As it is written in Genesis: And the L
ORD
God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day t hat you eat of it you shall die’
Genesis 2:16-17.
From that initial command, Eve changes it by adding that they were not allowed to even touch
the forbidden tree. In addition, she also reduces the punishment for ignoring the rule by emitting the word surely. She has lets her self-determination be more desirable
than continuing to believe and trust in God’s command.
The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”Genesis 3:2-3
These details of the prohibition strengthen the possibility that Lewis is really influenced by the Biblical story as he makes the story in his novel.
The magical power of the tree is also explored for its healing power. This power is used by the White Witch to tempt Digory as he is looking for a medicine for his beloved
mother. She tries to assure Digory that this apple must be able to heal his mother. The Witch Witch tells him that she really has tasted the tree and felt the effect it brings to
her. It is said that she has won her heart’s desire to have endless strength like a goddess, yet her violation has made her complexion deadly white and turned her life into misery
as she cannot feel joy for the rest of her life. Digory, once again, faces the dilemma as to find a cure for his mother is the real reason why he goes at first to another world.
The Witch tries to deny the truth of Aslan ’s word by negating it. She gives the
alternative interpretation of God’s intention in His command. She does it by convincing him that Aslan has actually tried to take the goodness of the tree from him as Aslan
wants to enjoy it for himself. However, he also realizes that as he picks the apple to cure his mother, he will bring death into Narnia. She encourages him not to care about
Aslan’s command by autonomously doing what he thinks to be true. This made Digory to be in even more of a dilemma as he thinks that it is such a good deed to cure his
beloved-mother. However he encourages himself to obey Aslan so as a consequence, he brings life into Narnia.
Similar with the Witch, the Bible also tells the story about the Devil denying God’s Law. At that moment, it is written the serpent comes to encourage Eve to eat the
fruit from the forbidden tree by deceiving her by negating God ’s word. The devil tries to
give an alternative interpretation of God’s command. The Devil claims that God has hidden something good for the humans to possess, it is written in:
But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil Genesis 3:4-5.
The Devil says that God tells a lie for they will not die, in fact, they will possess a God- like quality within them. Satan tries to make them decide to break away from obedience
toward God. Unfortunately, Eve believes what the Devil says leading to the human fall. In this case, the command, which was intended to bring life for humans, has given the
opportunity for death to come to the earth. This is likely to be similar with the story of the
Witch’s temptation of Digory. Although the end of the story is different, those two stories are unquestionably related to each other. Lewis may want to teach the reader to
always decide a good choice as it will bring life to the doers. From the elaboration ab
ove, it can be seen that Lewis’ reference to the Biblical story on the origin of temptation is a way to present the apple tree as the symbolization
of attraction creating temptation. It can be seen in the way the author uses the same object, namely the tree which is forbidden and has magical charm. Furthermore, it is
shown from the nature of temptation in both the Bible and the Magician’s Nephew,
including the distortion and denial of a virtuous command.
4. Biblical Concept of Human Nature in the creation process of Digory and
