Favorite Narnia moments (4): The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs!

Throughout The Last Battle, the dwarfs refuse to fight for either Aslan or Tash. Their rallying cry is, “the dwarfs are for the dwarfs,” and they are cynical about loyalty to any ruling party. Towards the end of the book, however, the dwarfs’ skepticism and isolationism eventually makes them unable to appreciate or value anything. In Aslan’s terms, they are so afraid of being taken in that they are unable to be taken out. There is much here that is relevant to post-modern cynicism about ultimate truth and meta-narrative.

“Aslan,” said Lucy through her tears, “could you – will you – do something for these poor Dwarfs?”

“Dearest,” said Aslan, “I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot, do.” He came close to the Dwarfs and gave a low growl: low, but it set all the air shaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, “Hear that? That’s the gang at the other end of the stable. Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of some kind. Don’t take any notice. They won’t take us in again!”

Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs’ knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn’t much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn’t taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a stable. One said he was trying to eat hay and another said he had got a bit of an old turnip and a third said he’d found a raw cabbage leaf. And they raised golden goblets of rich red wine to their lips and said “Ugh! Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey’s been at! Never thought we’d come to this.” But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarreling, till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:

“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”

“You see,” said Aslan. “They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”

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  1. […] The simple fact is that I am largely indifferent to whether any person takes the gene therapy shot or not. If they don’t, we have simple therapies that have proven more effective in treating the virus than the shot. From a larger perspective I think that, last year, we inflated a serious new virus into a pandemic. Now, I think we will see a real pandemic, borne aloft by our hubris. I think God has a significant teaching moment in store for us – and as bad and as dangerous as I believe the gene therapy shot to be, I firmly believe God has healing in store for all except those who insist to the death that they are the only titans and they will not believe otherwise even if they were to see a thousand miracles. “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!” […]