The poor donkey sees the hide as a mere curiosity, but his companion senses an opportunity for gain. As it happens, a clever ape and a not-so-clever donkey discover the hide of a lion. Was the train wreck scene possibly inspired by Williams?ĭid C.S. Titled accordingly, The Last Battle is the final chapter in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S.

There are some similarities with Lewis' The Great Divorce, in that events after death are imagined, and a vision of heaven is presented.Ĭharles Williams was a fellow writer and close friend of Lewis, but I don't know how the 'twist' ending is reminiscent of his work. One of the strangest features of The Last Battle, in a twist reminiscent of Charles Williams, is that all the principal characters from our world who come into Narnia are already dead as a result of a train accident. Lewis by Colin Duriez, the character's deaths are mentioned: But regarding the train wreck specifically: Did Lewis ever confirm the exact inspiration behind it, or comment on it at all?Īccording to this post on a Narnia community forum, the idea may have been from the devastating Harrow and Wealdstone train crash that occurred just four years before The Last Battle was published. It's fairly obvious that Lewis, who uses a lot of symbolism and metaphor in the series, wrote this to describe death in the physical world leading to the afterlife in heaven. The Magician’s Nephew (1955) and The Last Battle (1956). His most eminent works are Space Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, and the well-known fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The dream is ended: this is the morning.' Lewis was an English scholar and a popular writer and author of more than thirty-five books. The term is over: the holidays have begun. 'Your father and mother and all of you are-as you used to call it in the Shadowlands-dead.

'There was a real railway accident,' said Aslan softly.

And I remember thinking how funny it was that our people were probably in the same train though Lucy didn't know about it-' I remember thinking it was taking the bend far too fast. 'Edmund and I were standing on the platform and we saw your train coming in. In The Last Battle, the main characters of the series arrive in Narnia one last time, having died in a train wreck in England.

The last battle cs lewis