Jamin Bradley

“Years afterward when he was an old man, Digory said he had never in all his life known a woman so beautiful. It is only fair to add that Polly always said she couldn’t see anything specially beautiful about her.”

C. S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew (57)

There are two times in particular where sin is extra tempting: (1) when you’ve been caught up in the allure of it for too long, and (2) when you forget what it was like.

Jadis, the White Witch of Narnia, captures this dynamic in Lewis’s allegory. She has no human blood in her, but is part demon and part nephilim. Evil has so overtaken her that she has ruined more than one realm. You’d think that someone this sinful, dangerous, and terrifying would have a natural way of chasing people away, but her beauty tends to allure people closer.

Despite Digory’s awful experience with the White Witch, when he recalls her as an old man, he remembers her beauty. Likewise, his twisted Uncle felt the same way and often obsessed over her with a specific catchphrase:

• “A dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman. A superb creature.” (78)
• “A spirited gel, sir. It’s a pity about her temper, but a dem fine woman all the same, a dem fine woman.” (105)
• “A devilish temper she had … But she was a dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.” (160)

Uncle Andrew’s fondness for the witch is even stronger than Digory’s because of how deeply he’s aligned with sin. But despite his fondness for her, even he would become aware of how scary she was from time to time. Though these moments were only temporary, for once “the Witch was no longer in the same room with him he was quickly forgetting how she had frightened him and thinking more and more of her wonderful beauty” (78).

I remember a similar dynamic when I was trying to fight my way through porn addiction. First was the allure of beauty, then the deep shame, and then the allure of beauty again after some time had passed. Perhaps we have all faced some besetting sin that follows the same cycle. The good news is that there is a way out. But to get there, we’re going to have to leave the White Witch behind once and for all and stay on the path with Aslan.