C. S. Lewis, best known as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, was also one of the most profound thinkers of twentieth century Christianity. Along with J. R. R. Tolkien, he has inspired millions of people. On Sundays we would like to take a moment to offer up a little Lewis for your consideration.
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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
—God in the Dock
A frightening truth about evil that most of us tend to forget is how difficult it is to recognize it for what it is without the benefit of hindsight. Very few people, not even Adolf Hitler, have committed evil for its own sake.* At the time an act is committed, there is something about it that seems somehow “good,” and, as Lewis observes above, the worst evil is often perpetrated specifically because someone believe he or she is doing it all for the sake of someone else.
Here, as much as I love Lewis and Tolkien, I think that when our literary education stops with Narnia and the Lord of the Rings we contribute to the problem. Both show real evil, but the lines of demarcation between right and wrong are very clearly set. For instance, I haven’t heard anyone seriously argue that Sauron was simply misunderstood and should have been given a fairer shake. When we read those books, we all know who the bad guys are, and we are all happy when, as Lewis put it, “they are soundly killed.” From this and other similar depictions (in movies, for example) we often get the idea that evil is something that should be clearly identifiable as evil. Worse, we come to think that we must somehow recognize something as evil before it really could be evil. After all, I could never be duped into supporting something like that!
For what Lewis and Tolkien were trying to create (particularly for Lewis, writing as he was for children) I don’t see this as a criticism of either author. Narnia is precisely the depiction of evil that I want my daughter (at the ripe old age of 8) to cut her teeth on when she reads a book. The first step is to understand that evil is very real, and that we must show bravery in the face of it.
I do think that I am making a very explicit criticism of what we are as a subculture if we go no farther. In real life, evil is very convincing and we have to be intelligent, critical, and discerning if we don’t want to be taken in by it. Lewis and Tolkien both depicted this sort of evil in their less familiar works. Tolkien did so regularly in The Silmarillion, and Lewis was even more detailed and explicit about it in The Space Trilogy (particularly Perelandra). There is an art to it, and it is a difficult one to master. It is all too easy for an author to simply depict evil as good, and then declare himself/herself profound.** Those who get it right, though, let us see evil as it would like us to see it, but then also help us see beyond the facade to the true monster that lurks behind. We understand how someone could think it “good” but we see it well enough to reject it anyway.
Literature is one of the best places for developing our ability to analyze and think well about these sorts of of situations before we encounter them in real life. So, if you haven’t stepped beyond Narnia with Lewis, now is a good time to start.
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*Hitler literally believed he was aiding human evolution by purging it of those who were polluting it. Viewed from that perspective, not only was it justified but, if he had been right, it would have been the “moral” thing to do.
**I find that many adults who read books with “real” depictions of evil are really reading this sort of moral escapist drivel. In the end, this does far more harm than good by simply blurring the lines between right and wrong without equipping us with the tools we need to see through the haze.
Interested in more about writing and reading from a Christian perspective? Check out While We’re Paused–the official blog of Lantern Hollow Press.
Mere Lewis 
Good point. ‘Til We Have Faces gives the more subtle portrait masterfully, as we watch the deception happening oh so plausibly in the mind of the central character with whom we identify.
I think there are moments of it in LOTR too, though. Denethor comes to mind. He thought he was serving Minas Tirith in the best way available. He went from idealistic patriotism to realpolitik to cynicism to despair. We only see him at the end of the process, but the whole journey is implied in the narrative. Theoden is another example (he thought his inaction was best for his kingdom) who was fortunately redeemed in time. And Pippin: his curiosity was spinnable as innocent in his mind until after the fact.
Great point with Denethor and Pippin. I’d even forgotten about Pippin, how even his attraction to something evil looked innocent to him.
Another great job with this article (you’ll see I’m reading them in reverse order of your publishing!). I especially like your distinction between merely depicting effective and sympathetic evil and actually showing how it still remains evil even if there is a complex human being behind it. This division alone warrants a more in-depth discussion, with examples. It reminds me of something so impressive about Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Pop culture sees that story as the definitive romantic view of pirates, but the actual book makes it quite clear that piracy is evil, and that the pirates are degenerate, desperate, criminal people. A reader who pays attention will come away from that book certainly with sympathy for Long John Silver, but hoping for his redemption, and not wanting to imitate him.