While I was chaperoning my daughter’s Scout Troop at summer camp in July, I took The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe with me to revisit the classic C.S. Lewis tale with adult eyes. It was fun. I fully appreciate now why I loved this story so much growing up. I also can appreciate with even more clarity why I loathed the character of Edmund so much. He’s the younger brother and family traitor who sells out his siblings to the White Witch, setting into motion a series of events that results in the death of Aslan, “King of Beasts”.
Most readers of this book (or fans of the movies) will dislike Edmund. Perhaps there is a legion of younger brothers out there who see themselves in Edmund and hate Peter instead. That seems likely, now that I think about it.
He is awful though. Edmund bullies his younger sister (Lucy) for her belief in Narnia, learns of it himself, and then lies again to make Lucy look foolish. All the while he is conspiring with the White Witch to bring her his siblings and be anointed “king” of Narnia. The Turkish Delight candies the Witch feeds him do legitimately skew his judgment, something the book goes to great lengths to make clear. Edmund is a rotten boy but he is a victim of deceit and malicious spiritual intoxication.
“When faced with people’s bad behavior, turn around and ask when you have acted like that. When you saw money as a good, or pleasure, or social position — Your anger will subside as soon as you recognize that they acted under compulsion. What else could they do?”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
