Luke Taylor Narnia 1: The Good Samaritan: Mr. Beaver

In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, I find it very interesting that of all the animals that ends up helping the humans out, it is the beavers. I say this because when I did a little bit of research on the actual animal: the beaver, I discovered that ironically enough they can be some of the most selfish animals out there. For example, Beavers constantly tear down trees for their own pleasure which has become a problem for animals that need those trees. They also create dams that disturb the flow of a current which also becomes very problematic for other animals that depend on the flow of a steam.

            When I think of how the beaver is an odd choice for Lewis to choose and a helping animal, I think of the story of the Good Samaritan. To summarize the story there is a man that is jumped by robbers and is left on the side of a road beaten pretty badly. First, a priest walks by and sees him lying there but decides to continue walking. Then a Levite walks by but also decides to move on and not to help the man. Then a Samaritan walked by the man and saw that he was in danger and needed help. He quickly put him on his donkey and did everything in his power to see him get back to being healthy. The Samaritan certainly did not have to take care of the man, yet out of the goodness of his heart, he saw someone in need and did what he could.

            I see the Beavers as the Good Samaritan. Both did not need to/were entitled to taking care of the people that needed help but decided to out of the goodness of their heart. I also think that it is very significant that the Samaritan was the one to help this guy in need. I certainly thought as though the priest surely would have seen the man in dire need and gone to help him out; just as I also would have not seen the beavers going out of their way to help the humans out either. I wonder if Lewis purposefully chose a selfish animal to show grace by trying to make a statement that we should be slow to judge and always expect the best out of others. Just a thought!