39/100: IT & Aslan, The Similarities

And the differences

For some dumb reason I read IT in 2017 when Long Beach was flooded with rain. Then, because I’d read the book, I decided to watch the movie because I figured I’d be able to sense when the jump scares would happen handle (turns out I was very wrong). Shortly thereafter, I picked up The Silver Chair, and I was struck by how similar the interaction between Aslan and Jill is with Pennywise and Georgie. There’s something in me that abhors comparing Lewis and King, but here goes.

When Georgie sees Pennywise in the sewer, he’s terrified. When Jill encounters the Lion, she’s terrified. It’s not awe-inspired fear either. She thinks the lion will eat her.

Both Georgie and Jill initially recoil. Neither run away because both Aslan and Pennywise have something they want. For Jill, it’s a drink of water. For Georgie, it’s his boat. The children are torn. They’re intimidated; their instincts tell them to run away, but both Aslan and Pennywise hold their attention with a question.

Pennywise asks Georgie, “Want your boat Georgie?”

Georgie does, but he’s still hesitant. It’s a clown in a sewer after all. Pennywise persists, offering him more than his boat, but an entire circus.

“Can you smell the circus Georgie?”

“Suddenly he [Georgie] could smell peanuts! And vinegar! The white kind you put on your french fries through a hole in the cap! He could smell cotton candy and frying doughboys…”

Pennywise seeks to overpower Georgie’s instincts by telling him that he can not only have his boat, but indulge in all the treats he wants. It’s an offer that’s too good to resist (and too good to be true).

When Jill speaks to Aslan, Aslan doesn’t try to entice Jill at all. In fact, when when Jill asks if Aslan will eat her, he does the opposite of re-assure or comfort her. He says:

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It [Aslan] just said it.’”

Jill wants a reason to let down her guard and trust Aslan to feel safe. What she doesn’t know is that Aslan isn’t safe. Instead of giving her a sense of security, Aslan increases her fears by telling her he’s swallowed up girls and entire kingdoms. Whereas Pennywise wants to lull Georgie’s instincts into a false sense of security, Aslan wants to heighten Jill’s. It’s odd to think that Aslan appears more menacing, but that intimidation seems to be the very thing that proves Aslan is good.

The idea that an intimidating appearance can be a reliable witness to goodness reminds me of a line from The Lord of the Rings. After meeting Strider in Bree, Frodo and Sam debate whether he’s good or bad. Frodo says, “I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer, and feel fouler.” When Jill encounters Aslan, he doesn’t appear “fair.” He looks like a giant beast. He doesn’t seek to mask who he is because he’s not trying to lure Jill to her doom.

Pennywise, on the other hand, does appearer fair to Georgie. His real appearance is some cross-over between Baby Face from Toy Story and Shelob. If Georgie saw Pennywise for who he really was, he would flee so Pennywise takes on the likeness of a clown to appear fairer to Georgie.