In the book series the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a fiction story. With great talent, Mr. C. S. Lewis made this awesome book series. In addition to writing this successful series, he was a professor of literature in Cambridge. His book contains a great deal of symbolism.

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy had to evacuate from London during World War II. The children had to go live with an old professor in the country. Aslan was a big help to Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. In the war against the white witch, there are a great deal of characters in the war. There are Menatorse, Mr. Tumnus, Mr. and Mrs. Bever and more.

Lucy tried to get her brothers and sister into the wardrobe to help Mr. Tummus. Once the white witch knows that humans are in Narnia, she tries to kill them because she wants to rule Narnia. The prophecy foretold that if two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve were to sit in the thrones which the white witch would lose her power over Narnia. Aslan who, helps the children, defeats the white witch.

Peter and Edmund are the two leaders in the book because they are the sons of Adam. During the extremely large battle, Susan and Lucy helped Aslan unfreeze the creatures which were frozen by the white witch. The war of Narnia was between Aslan and the evil white witch because they both wanted to rule Narnia. The battle was extremely fierce.

In the book, there are strong themes throughout the story. During the book, one of the two themes is good vs. evil which is seen in the characters. Aslan, Peter, Susan, Edmond & Lucy represent the good and the white witch and the moators represent evil. With guidance and determination, this story proves that good ways win over evil. The other theme is that the story is a mirror of Christianity. It is a story to know.

Lost Princess, Rejected Hero

By Allison Stein, Age 16

The Snow Goose is a sad and beautiful love story. Written by Paul Gallico in 1941, and published by Alfred Knopf, it is only 57 pages long. Yet, despite the length, the book and its characters quickly captivate the reader, and hold the reader in until the very end. What is it about the simple tale that brings tears to the reader’s eyes?
The story begins in a lonely, desolate and wild marsh on the Essex Coast, in England. Living a forlorn life in the marsh, away from other human beings, is Philip Rhayader, a man whose grotesquely twisted body drove others away from him in scorn. On the contrary, however, his heart was as compassionate, loving and beautiful as his body was ugly and deformed. His only friends were the animals of the marsh, birds and beasts alike, which he cared for tenderly in the lighthouse he called his home. Not long before the Second World War arrived, the land was quiet, but the solitude was temporary, and soon the brutality of the war would have its effect on even this seemingly unimportant place.
One day, a young, blonde Saxon girl from a nearby village summoned up her courage and appeared at Rhayader’s doorstep with a wounded snow goose, a bird which had somehow meandered its way from Canada to the lonesome marsh. The girl, Frith, had heard of the man’s way with creatures, and her curiosity was greater than her fear. As Rhayader tended to the bird, friendship slowly grew between the man and girl. Years went by, and the goose healed, but remembered Philip and returned every winter. Whenever the Lost Princess, as they called the bird, returned, Frith would come every day, and in this pattern the years passed. Still, life was not to continue normally. Frith came one day to the lighthouse to find Philip in his boat, about to leave for Dunkirk, where there were soldiers trapped by the enemy. World War II was full force, but the quiet countryside had not been touched before now.
Rescuing all of the stranded troops, the dark, deformed man became a hero. At this point, the narrative is told in short fragments from the testimony of the soldiers. They tell of the enigmatic character who saved them, seven at a time, from death in Dunkirk. The account of another man tells a different story—for it was he that found Rhayader dead in his sailboat, shot. In addition, he spoke of a bird; a goose that guarded the little boat until it sank into history beneath the waves. Frith, now a woman, was still at the lighthouse caring for Philip’s animals and awaiting his return. But just as she realized her love for the man, she knew in her heart that he would not return. The man society had once so contemptuously rejected was now a hero, but his final act of love and mercy to his fellow man separated him forever from the one who loved him most. Also, the tale demonstrates the dangers of judging people by their appearances, when what really matters is the heart.
The Snow Goose is a magnificent work; haunting, entrancing, and yet troubling, too. The sentences are smooth and flowing, like a river of poetry; a waterfall of words. Strong, the words create vivid pictures, and yet have immense power. The characters are very real. The death of Philip Rhayader is evidence of the power behind Paul Gallico’s words. The scene, and Frith’s realization of her love and his death, moves the reader to tears. The soldier’s accounts of the story are difficult to understand at first because of their strong Cockney accents, which are written into the text as they would sound and require some effort to unravel, but overall the story is poignant, beautiful, and captivating.