Chapter 5: Back on This Side of the Door

Narnia Read-Along Vol. 1, Issue 6

Four young evacuees find themselves in the British countryside living with an eccentric professor. Not only does that describe The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but it also describes C.S. Lewis’ life at the beginning of World War II. Professor Digory Kirke is one of Lewis’ most autobiographical fictional characters.¹

In “Back on This Side of the Door,” Peter and Lucy have a surprising interaction with the professor. They expected him to immediately dismiss Lucy’s claims that she had been to another world through the wardrobe. But, in a shock to both of them, he said Lucy may be the telling the truth. Beyond that, he said, considering all they knew, that may be the most logical conclusion.

For his part, Lewis certainly drew some inspiration from his interaction with the evacuees, but the Pevensie children are more reminiscent of the Bastables in Edith Nesbit’s series. Lewis often spoke of Nesbit’s inspiration of Narnia. The evacuees who came to stay at the Kilns, Lewis’ home, were mostly teenagers girls, unlike the younger Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Yet it is undeniable that Lewis didn’t complete his fantasy series until after he had spent more time with his younger visitors, who first began arriving in September 1939. In a letter, he said he had never learned to appreciate children until the war had brought them to him.