“It's not the size of the dreamer, it's the size of the dream.”
Josh Ryan Evans
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Comparison of Oz vs. Narnia
I think that the worldviews of The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are definately contrasting. In the LWW, Aslan is considered the Christ figure. He even goes through a "resurrection" after being sacraficed for the good of his country. I'm pretty sure you can't get any more Christ-like than that! But in the Wizard of Oz, the "god" that they were searching for turned out to be just like the rest of them. I think that LWW presents a Christian worldview, with the classic "good vs. evil" concept. The witch represents the wrong, and Aslan represents the right. This clashes with the story of Oz, where the ideas of good and evil are all combined into a huge mess.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Mammon in Paradise Lost
In Paradise Lost, the demon Mammon is described as the last demon spirit to fall from Heaven. It says that "his looks and thoughts were always downward bent", and goes on to explain that he was more concerned with the riches of Heaven than God Himself. He then proceeds to lead the demons onward through hell.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Worldview of Oz
The Wizard of Oz holds the view of Cosmic Humanism. Here's why:
The whole story is about searching for something. The Scarecrow for his brain, the Tin Man for his heart, the Lion for his courage, and Dorothy for a way home. They all think that the Wizard, (who they consider the Christ figure) can provide them with these things. However, when they finally reach the Wizard he tells them that he is nothing special, but that he's just like everyone else.They discover that their journey was in vain, the way Cosmic Humanists believe that a search for God is pointless because He does not exist. After their disappointment shows, the Wizard tries to make them feel better by saying that he can't provide them with these items that they seek, because they've possessed them the whole time. This is also a view of Cosmic Humanism, with the idea that we don't need God because we have everything we could possibly need. Because we have no desire for a divine being, we must all be gods ourselves. The characters can all live their lives without any help from the Wizard at all. The final idea of Cosmic Humanism is when Dorothy returns home. Before her journey to Oz, she was searching for something more. But when she finds out that an all-powerful being she believed in was nothing but a fake, she has no need for anything more. She returns home to realize that the place and people she left behind were really wonderful all the time, and were all that she needed in order to be completly happy. Therefore, she elevates them to her level of godhood and comes to realize through her journey that everything is as flawless as God, and therefore is God itself
The whole story is about searching for something. The Scarecrow for his brain, the Tin Man for his heart, the Lion for his courage, and Dorothy for a way home. They all think that the Wizard, (who they consider the Christ figure) can provide them with these things. However, when they finally reach the Wizard he tells them that he is nothing special, but that he's just like everyone else.They discover that their journey was in vain, the way Cosmic Humanists believe that a search for God is pointless because He does not exist. After their disappointment shows, the Wizard tries to make them feel better by saying that he can't provide them with these items that they seek, because they've possessed them the whole time. This is also a view of Cosmic Humanism, with the idea that we don't need God because we have everything we could possibly need. Because we have no desire for a divine being, we must all be gods ourselves. The characters can all live their lives without any help from the Wizard at all. The final idea of Cosmic Humanism is when Dorothy returns home. Before her journey to Oz, she was searching for something more. But when she finds out that an all-powerful being she believed in was nothing but a fake, she has no need for anything more. She returns home to realize that the place and people she left behind were really wonderful all the time, and were all that she needed in order to be completly happy. Therefore, she elevates them to her level of godhood and comes to realize through her journey that everything is as flawless as God, and therefore is God itself
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)