1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Stay in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to this Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: a show that flips through the pages of history to 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: deliver old news in a new way. I'm Gay Bluesier 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: and in this episode we're talking about one of the 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: most influential writers of the mid twentieth century, the man 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: who stuffed a whole wide world of fantasy into the 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: back of a wardrobe. The day was November twenty nine, eighteen. 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: British literary scholar and children's book author C. S. Lewis 10 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: was born in Belfast, Ireland. Among his many claims to fame, 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: Lewis was an esteemed literature professor at both Oxford and 12 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: Cambridge Universities, not to mention, a poet, a theologian, and 13 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: of course the best friend or maybe frenemy of J. R. R. Tolkien. 14 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: That said, C. S. Lewis is perhaps best known as 15 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: author of the Chronicles of Narnia book series, which to 16 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: date has sold more than one hundred million copies, including 17 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: translations in over thirty different languages. According to a national 18 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: PBS poll in twenty eighteen, the Narnia series also ranks 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: as the ninth most beloved novel in America, just behind 20 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: Little Women at number eight and Lord of the Rings 21 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: at number five. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast 22 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: to Albert James Lewis and Florence Augusta Lewis. His father 23 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: was a solicitor, so a kind of lawyer, and his 24 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: mother worked from home looking after Clive and his older 25 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:54,279 Speaker 1: brother Warren. Both parents were well educated, with Florence Lewis 26 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: having graduated from the Royal University of Ireland at a 27 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: time when very few women were earning college degrees. The 28 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: couple passed their love of learning onto their children, both 29 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: of whom became avid readers at an early age. C. S. 30 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: Lewis seemed especially eager to learn, and one of the 31 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: first things he found out was that he'd been given 32 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: the wrong name. One fateful day back when he was 33 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: a toddler. Lewis insisted that his family call him Jack 34 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: or Jackson, and for the rest of his life they 35 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: did just that. His older brother Warren later recalled that 36 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: fateful day, saying quote, in the course of one holiday, 37 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,839 Speaker 1: my brother made the momentous decision to change his name. 38 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: Disliking Clive and feeling his various baby names to be 39 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: beneath his dignity. He marched up to my mother, put 40 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: a forefinger on his chest, and announced he is Jackson. 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: He stuck to this next day and thereafter, refusing to 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: answer to any other name. So to his intimate friends, 43 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: he was Jack for life. CS or Jack. Lewis was 44 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: precocious us in other ways too. He learned how to 45 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: read when he was just three years old and began 46 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,519 Speaker 1: writing his own stories by age five. As you might expect, 47 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: he mostly wrote fantasy stories, and they were largely inspired 48 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: by his own favorite books. For example, Beatrix Potter was 49 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 1: publishing her Peter Rabbit stories at the time, and the 50 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: Lewis boys couldn't get enough of them. Pretty soon, the 51 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: brothers were making up their own stories about talking animals 52 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: who dressed in clothing and lived in a fantasy land 53 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: called Boxing. C. S. Lewis started writing down those playtime stories, 54 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: and some of them were actually published years later in 55 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: a collection called Boxing The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis. Tragically, 56 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: Lewis's mother died of cancer when he was only ten 57 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: years old. Not long after he joined his brother at 58 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: a boarding school in England, and although he excelled in 59 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: his studies, he was often bullied because of his strong 60 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: Irish accent. When the First World War broke out, Lewis 61 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: joined the British Army and fought in the infantry in France. 62 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: After being wounded by shrapnel, he was sent back to England, 63 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: where he chose to live as a surrogate son with 64 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: Jamie Moore, the mother of a friend of his and 65 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: fellow soldier who was killed in combat. During this time, 66 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: Louis began to focus more and more on his writing, 67 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: but he wasn't working on novels or spiritual treatises just yet. Instead, 68 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty, Lewis was writing poetry. In fact, 69 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: the first book he ever published was a collection of 70 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: poems assembled from his teenage years. It was called Spirits 71 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: in Bondage and was released under the pen name Clive Hamilton's, 72 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: another made up name. And while Spirits in Bondage is 73 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: a perfect title for a book of angsty teenage poetry, 74 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: the public didn't go for it, and only a handful 75 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: of copies were sold. The same was true for his 76 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: second volume of poetry, which also failed to find an audience. 77 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: Those early setbacks left a bad taste in Lewis's mouth, 78 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: and he rarely wrote poetry from then on. Luckily for him, 79 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: he hadn't hitched all his hopes for the future on 80 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: his success as a poet. After his time in the war, 81 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 1: Louis began attending Oxford on scholarship. He graduated a few 82 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: years later with two degrees, and became an English tutor 83 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: at the school in nineteen twenty five. He kept his 84 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: position at Oxford all the way until nineteen fifty four, 85 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: at which point he became a professor of Medieval and 86 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: Renaissance English at Cambridge, where he stayed until nineteen sixty three. 87 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: A resume that impressive can be a bit intimidating, but 88 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: by all accounts, Lewis didn't take himself too seriously. For example, 89 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,559 Speaker 1: his favorite outfit was an old tweed coat, a pair 90 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: of baggy flannel pants, and a beat up felt hat 91 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: that he always wore around campus. According to one report, 92 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: Lewis once lost that hat while on a picnic, only 93 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: to find it months later under a bush with a 94 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: family of field mice living inside it, and since it 95 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: was his favorite hat, he put it on anyway. In fact, 96 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: Warren Lewis wrote about that story as well, and it's 97 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: worth sharing, he said. Quote. Jack once took a guest 98 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,039 Speaker 1: for an early morning walk on the Magdalene College grounds 99 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: after a very wet night. Presently, the guests brought his 100 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: attention to a curious lump of cloth hanging on a 101 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: bush that looks like my hat, said Jack. Then joyfully, 102 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: it is my hat, and clapping the sodden mass on 103 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: his head, he continued his walk. Lewis's home life was 104 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: a bit more exciting than you might expect as well. 105 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: Remember the friend's mom he was looking after, Janie Moore. Well. 106 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: There were persistent rumors that she and Lewis were actually lovers, 107 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: and Moore's daughter, Maureen, later alluded to the same. Biographers 108 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: have since speculated that Lewis eventually broke off the affair 109 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: as he became more serious about Christianity, though he would 110 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: continue to provide for more and her daughter for the 111 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: rest of their lives. Louis's home life became even more 112 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: complicated once his brother Warren moved in with him. Warren 113 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: had become an alcoholic after his time in the British Army, 114 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: supposedly drinking as much as three bottles of whiskey a day. 115 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: According to Lewis's secretary, it all made for a decidedly 116 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: unstable household, but amazingly, that's the background against which Lewis 117 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: wrote his most celebrated works, including the Narnia series. Of course, 118 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: none of that drama was public knowledge at the time, 119 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: as Lewis valued his privacy and was rather shy and 120 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: his everyday encounters. He never spoke in detail about his 121 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: personal life for his emotions, even to his close friends 122 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,679 Speaker 1: and colleagues. That's not to say he was standoffish, though, 123 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: he just always thought there was something more interesting to 124 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: talk about than himself. As one of his friends at 125 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: Cambridge put it, quote, Louis was too shy to be seen, 126 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: to want to be known, and too modest to think 127 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: that anybody would want to know him. We've covered a 128 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: good deal about Louis's life so far, but there's one 129 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: crucial aspect we've barely touched on, and that's his spiritual faith. 130 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: But to talk about that, we also need to discuss 131 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: the other fantasy writing elephant in the room, the Lord 132 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: of the Rings himself, Mr J R. R. Tolkien. The 133 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: two authors first met in nineteen twenty six at a 134 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: gathering for the Oxford English Department. Tolkien was a tutor 135 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: there as well, but they really didn't become close friends 136 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: until the early nineteen thirties. Around that time, Louis and 137 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: Tolkien joined a literary discussion group at Oxford called the Inklings. 138 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: As members, they gathered once or twice a week in 139 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: university offices or at a local pub called the Eagle 140 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: and Child, where they held informal meetings and workshopped each 141 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: other's writing. At those informal get togethers Inkling members would 142 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,839 Speaker 1: sit in leather armchairs in front of a crackling fire 143 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: while drinking brandy and smoking cigars, and they talk on 144 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: and on about story ideas and whatever else for hours 145 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: on end. It all sounds pretty on brand for a 146 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: bunch of nerdy British professors, and it was in that 147 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: somewhat cliche setting that Lewis and Tolkien got to know 148 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: each other, quickly bonding over a mutual love of fantasy 149 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,959 Speaker 1: and myth. They didn't see eye to eye on everything, though, 150 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: and one of the biggest points of contention between them 151 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: were their differing views on God and religion. Tolkien was 152 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: a devout Roman Catholic, but Lewis, who had been raised 153 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: Irish Protestant, actually became an atheist in his teens and 154 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: remained one during his early career at Oxford. That's bizarre 155 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: to think about if you're at all familiar with Lewis's writing. 156 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: Much of it is rooted in spirituality, and nearly all 157 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: of it is filtered through a Christian lens, to the 158 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: point it's hard to imagine that the same guy spent 159 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: decades of his life as an atheist. To be fair, 160 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: though by most accounts, he wasn't a very resolute atheist. 161 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: In fact, it might be more fair to say he 162 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: was agnostic and not really sure what he believed. Lewis 163 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: later wrote about having a deep spiritual longing that he 164 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: could never quite square with his own disbelief. He later 165 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: referred to it as quote the God sized hole in 166 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: his life, and strangely enough, it was a conversation with 167 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: Tolkien that finally set him on a path towards filling 168 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: that void. In nineteen thirty one, Louis and Tolkien went 169 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: on a long walk with a fellow inkling named Henry 170 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: Victor Dyson. Lewis had been struggling to make sense of 171 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: his spirituality for quite a while at that point, and 172 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: during the course of their walk, the three men began 173 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: to talk about the relationship between God and myth. Specifically, 174 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 1: Tolkien expressed his belief that ancient stories, things like folklore 175 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: and mythology were actually ways to articulate higher truths about 176 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: the nature of reality. He said that's how he viewed Christianity, 177 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: as it was a myth, but a true one. To Tolkien, 178 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: the message of Christianity was the truth about the world, 179 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: and all the other myths and fables and ancient stories 180 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: and religions out there were also attempts to express that 181 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: same truth. Something about that viewpoint struck a chord in C. S. Lewis, 182 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: so much so that within two weeks of that conversation, 183 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: and probably a few more in between, Lewis declared his 184 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: return to Christianity. And not only did their talk rekindle 185 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: Lewis's faith, it also inspired not one, but two of 186 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: the greatest fantasy series ever written, Tolkien's Lord of the 187 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: Rings and Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. All that talk of 188 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: myth making had the author's itching to pend their own stories, 189 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: the earliest drafts of which they presented to their fellow 190 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: Inklings over the next several years. Thankfully, the other members 191 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: of the club were nearly as into fantasy writing as 192 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: Lewis and Tolkien. It probably helped that they were all 193 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: well read writers themselves who shared a love of classic 194 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,199 Speaker 1: fantasy stories like a Beowulf and The Tales of King Arthur. However, 195 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: their experiences in World War One likely made them more 196 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,559 Speaker 1: open to the fantasy genre as well. Rather than focusing 197 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: on the surface level ugliness of the world at large, 198 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: the authors chose to invent new fantasy worlds where they 199 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: could explore a broader, less pessimistic view of life. And again, 200 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: it goes back to that idea of there being some 201 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: deeper truth or significance to the world, one that were 202 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: able to experience and engage with through storytelling. Tolkien and 203 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: Lewis both believe that it's one of the reasons why 204 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: their books remain so compelling to such a wide range 205 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: of people, and it's also a big reason why the 206 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: two men became such close friends. They shared a similar 207 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: view of the world and of how writing and myths 208 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: could help make sense of that world. Still, despite all 209 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: they had in common, Tolkien and Louis had a falling 210 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: out during the late nineteen forties and fifties while they 211 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:09,680 Speaker 1: were working on their respective fantasy series. Apparently, Tolkien was 212 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: a stickler for clarity and precision, and he felt Louis's 213 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: Narnia books lacked those qualities. In fact, Tolkien once said 214 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: that the series suffered from quote incoherent mythology, which must 215 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: have been quite a blow to a fellow myth lover 216 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: like Louis. There were also personal disputes that drove a 217 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: wedge between the two authors. For example, Tolkien felt that 218 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: Lewis had developed anti Catholic views which he took personal 219 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: offense to, and he also didn't approve of a romance 220 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 1: that Lewis later struck up with an American divorcee. Still, 221 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: the men never lost touch completely, and in public they 222 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: continued to praise and support one another's work right up 223 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: until Louis's death in the early nineteen sixties. In the end, 224 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: they both probably cared about the other a lot more 225 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,719 Speaker 1: than they let on. Last Lee before we go, I 226 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: want to go to bat a little for Lewis's incoherent mythology. 227 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: I actually think that's a crucial part of the Narnia 228 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: series appeal and why it still continues to capture the 229 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: minds of readers from all different beliefs and backgrounds. People 230 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: label it as a simple Christian allegory, but it's so 231 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: much more interesting than that. The World of Narnia borrows 232 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: bits from Greek and Roman mythology, Norse mythology, Germanic folklore, 233 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: medieval romance, European fairy tales. Even Santa Claus shows up 234 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: at one point. It's a real kitchen sink approach to 235 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: world building, but somehow it works. I can't speak for C. 236 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: S Lewis the theologian, but C. S Lewis the artist 237 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: clearly knew that if you want to communicate something true 238 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: to the most people possible, then your best bet is 239 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: to weave it into a story that feels universal. And 240 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: you know, growing in a talking lion never heard either. 241 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 242 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 243 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: want to keep up with the show, you can follow 244 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at T D I 245 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: h C Show and if you have any comments or suggestions, 246 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way. At this day 247 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot Com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 248 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll 249 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another day in 250 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: history class.