Sugar, spice, and everything Christ!

In today's day and age there is widespread religious freedom and diversity however, Christianity has continued to have a major effect on much of the literature and cinema people enjoy. Christianity centers around the story of Jesus Christ, the humble, giving, and healing son of God, that sacrificed himself to humanity to save humanity from itself.

Authors are aware that not everyone reading their book will be well-versed in the Old and New Testament or even Christian, so they make it their job to not really focus on the religious aspect of the story of the man, but choose to focus on the archetypal and symbolic purpose it serves. When authors incorporate Christ-like themes it is about the archetype. The traits of Christ are universal and can be applied to anyone and anything. He was 33, humble, self-sacrificing, forgiving, was resurrected, and the list goes on and on. The application of these traits and situations onto a character turns them into a Christ-like figure. A Christ-like figure doesn't need to have all of these traits exactly otherwise they would be Christ. They just need to have a connection to Christ's situations and traits.  Essentially the author is just borrowing the symbols and situations of Christ and applying them to a character to bring about a point using a commonly known story to advance the plot and deepen the meaning of what he or she is trying to say through the character and its situations.

Christian symbolism can be obvious and exacting or abstract and formative.  I think one of the greatest examples of "in your face" Christian symbolism has to be that of " The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". The book tells the story of how a group of siblings stumble into a magically conflict between good and evil through a wardrobe. The good being Aslan, and the evil being the White Witch. It is clear from the from the mention of Aslan that he represents a Christ-like figure.  He comes  after a long time of suffering and sadness to set things right, like a Messiah. He is portrayed as a lion which in its essence is Christ-like because one of Christ's titles is "The Lion of Judah". The most obvious Christ-comparison is truly the sacrifice. Aslan has to be sacrificed in order to save Edmund, black sheep of the family, who has betrayed his family for personal gain. Aslan is taken, shaved, chained,spit on, beat and finally slain however, unbeknownst to the White Witch, he is resurrected due to an important clause in the Deep Magic of Narnia. This is completely the story Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. He sacrificed himself to save a people that betrayed God.

Authors continue to pull from stories of the past because they are well established and respected. Christian themes in literature are important as all stories of the bast because they add substance to the characters and the story. They serve their purpose by ushering more archetypal borrowing and less a salvation. Well as far as literary analysis goes...........


http://biblehub.com/revelation/5-5.htm