King Erlian wrote:I don't think that Tash is meant to represent Allah. That's the kind of over-simplified reading of the stories that people who want to attack Lewis because of his faith love to make. It's based on the reasoning, "The Calormenes look and sound like Arabs, so their religion must be based on Arab religion" (i.e. Islam - forgetting that some Arabs are Christians). Calormene religion is polytheistic (e.g. Zardeenah, goddess of maidens) and is a far cry from Islam.
Yes, thank-you, I agree. If anything, the Calormene "religion" is a lot more like Hindu or Babylonian and other Middle-Eastern polytheistic myths.
I don't know. I've always had a hard time figuring out what the other gods mean. I hope not to get too theological for this section of the forum, but: To be honest, it's an odd concept - the concept of having a god who is the source of light and then a god who is the source of darkness seems very uncomfortably polytheistic to me as a personal belief. It almost feels as if Aslan has a rival or a darker twin, for lack of better terms. That doesn't really seem to coincide with the theme that Aslan is the ultimate, unprecedented king.
I'd believe something more along the lines that Aslan is the source of all good, and evil present in Narnia is the absence of that good, a willful rebellion against Aslan, since everything in Narnia is Aslan's creation. (The witch's control over Charn, Tash, etc.) I don't know, just throwing suggestions around.
Tash's presence was a little alarming to me. I really wonder what he is. I personally do not think that any one villain in Narnia is supposed to represent Satan. I think they're supposed to represent evil. Apart from the WW and her minions and such, we are really never told if there's an underworld, or really what significance the Calormene gods have... except for what Aslan told Emeth. To be honest, Aslan's speech to Emeth makes more sense in our world than it does in Narnia.
EDIT: But I can see why Tash can seem a parallel to Satan because Aslan attributes evil works done in his name, kind of like Satan being the father of lies.
We are told, however, that there are fallen creatures (as the devil is a fallen angel), Ginger being one of them. I wonder if Tash fits here and was simply worshipped by the Calormenes over time?
Tash just seems to be the one who has no motive for evil, whereas all the other ones do.
Because Lewis never meant to write all the books, I think that the WW represents the Biblical story of Satan a little more cohesively. (WW was created, rebelled, thrown out, tried to control creation, Aslan redeemed it, but Aslan was still orchestrating everything, and the Witch knew she would lose.) I wonder if there's some Tash and Aslan backstory that Lewis never developed. Nevertheless, I do believe that Tash represents the whole idea that "Tash and Aslan can not be the same."
I am uncomfortable taking the "death god" view, because, while I know Narnia is not an allegory and is influenced by the concept of myth, I associate that with the Hindu deity of Shiva as the death god or Hades. That feels a little odd to me, as that allots him equal power as the god of creation. That does not seem to represent the Narnian universe.