In The Magician’s
Nephew a fictional novel written by C.S. Lewis, the two main characters
Digory and Polly eventually find themselves in a desolate, other-wordly city
upon another planet. After exploring the ruined metropolis the two children
come upon a chamber filled with statues of the kings of old and a bell and
hammer at the entrance of the chamber with an inscription tempting any reader
to ring the bell. It is Digory’s decision to ring the bell that confuses me.
While Digory admits later in the story that he rang the bell of his own free
will and that magic had nothing to do with his decision, he does not fully
explain what compelled him to make the choice. This absence of an explanation
leaves me room to interpret Digory’s impulse as a combination of spite and
curiosity. When Polly demands that Digory not ring the bell, he does so anyway
explicitly because of Polly’s command. I believe Digory, in that moment of
ringing the bell represents an inherent capacity of human beings that is both a
blessing and a curse, the drive to explore. This human impulse motivates every
person to move forward into the unknown and the instance from other individual that
such exploration cannot be accomplished only further stoke the fires of
curiosity. I believe this explains why Digory rang the bell in Charn and awoke
the terrible evil of Queen Jadis.
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