Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
The Last Battle: Introduction
A concise biography of C. S. Lewis plus historical and literary context for The Last Battle.
The Last Battle: Plot Summary
A quick-reference summary: The Last Battle on a single page.
The Last Battle: Detailed Summary & Analysis
In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of The Last Battle. Visual theme-tracking, too.
The Last Battle: Themes
Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of The Last Battle's themes.
The Last Battle: Quotes
The Last Battle's important quotes, sortable by theme, character, or chapter.
The Last Battle: Characters
Description, analysis, and timelines for The Last Battle's characters.
The Last Battle: Symbols
Explanations of The Last Battle's symbols, and tracking of where they appear.
The Last Battle: Theme Wheel
An interactive data visualization of The Last Battle's plot and themes.
Brief Biography of C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis grew up in a comfortable, book-filled home, which resulted in an early love for stories and mythology. Lewis's mother passed away when he was just 10 years old, a loss that deeply affected him and influenced his later writings. As a boy, Lewis went to boarding schools in England, where he excelled academically. Later, as a young man, Lewis served in the British Army during World War I and was wounded in the Battle of Arras in 1917. After the war, Lewis attended Oxford University, where he studied literature and philosophy. It was here that he began his writing career and formed significant friendships, most notably with J. R. R. Tolkien. These relationships were crucial in his conversion back to Christianity in 1931, an event that influenced his later work. Lewis became a distinguished academic, holding positions at Oxford and later at Cambridge University. Lewis is best known for his works of fiction and Christian apologetics. His most famous works include The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven-book series that includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Last Battle, to name a few. His other notable works of fiction include The Screwtape Letters and The Space Trilogy. Lewis passed away on November 22, 1963 from kidney failure.
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Historical Context of The Last Battle
Because all of The Last Battle takes places in Narnia, there are very few allusions to the real world and historical events. However, there are ways in which the novel is responding to the politics of Lewis’s time. In particular, Lewis was concerned with atheism, which became relatively popular in Europe starting in the late 19th century. Early in his life, Lewis himself was an atheist, thinking that rationality and science were better tools for thinking and living a just life than religious belief. Lewis changed his mind after J. R. R. Tolkien convinced him that all myths come from fundamental spiritual truths. Following his conversations with Tolkien, Lewis became one of the most ardent defenders of Christianity in the 20th century. He argued that morality and spiritual fulfillment cannot exist without God and worried about what would happen to an atheistic society. In The Last Battle, the creatures who do not believe in any deity are depicted as morally dubious, mirroring Lewis’s worry about England’s future under atheist principles.
Other Books Related to The Last Battle
As the final novel in the series, The Last Battle makes references to all of the previous books in the Narnia series. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—the first published book in the series—is perhaps the most important book to have read before reading The Last Battle, as it introduces the reader to the Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund), who play a pivotal role in the series and in the end of this book. However, to get a full sense of everything that is going on in the novel, readers should experience all of the Narnia books that came before, as it is the final book chronologically and in the published order. Like all of the Narnia books, The Last Battle is full of allusions to the Christian faith. In particular, the Book of Revelations is an important reference for Lewis. In the Bible, the Book of Revelations describes the apocalypse during which God brings those worthy of his grace to Heaven. A similar event occurs at the end of The Last Battle, as Aslan brings those who are worthy to his eternal realm following the end of Narnia.
Key Facts about The Last Battle
- Full Title: The Last Battle
- When Written: 1956
- Where Written: Oxford, England
- When Published: September 4, 1956
- Literary Period: Modernism
- Genre: Middle-Grade Novel, Fantasy
- Setting: Narnia
- Climax: The Calormenes drive Tirian toward the stable. When he sees his fate is inevitable, Tirian forces Rishda into the stable with him. Once inside, Tash appears, grabs Rishda, and then disappears.
- Antagonist: Rishda and Shift
- Point of View: Third Person
Extra Credit for The Last Battle
A Different Beginning. The Last Battle is the only book in the series to begin in Narnia rather than England.
More Books. Although The Last Battle was Lewis’s final Narnia novel, it was not the last novel he wrote. His last novel was called Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, which Lewis thought was his greatest accomplishment, even though it is relatively unknown today.