I don't know. It's possible. I thought Lewis drew more from King Nero and his persecution of Christians.

No, I don't think so. I mostly got the vibe that the Telemarines represented Atheists. (They don't believe in the old tales...)

Miraz's original public opinion was that the Narnians didn't exist at all.

Oh! I never heard of him. Sounds likely, though. But did Lewis read about him? Plus, Lewis was during WWII, so would they make this seem likely or unlikely that he wrote about the war?

Lu

And M4A (can I call you that) oh...atheists....but trying to kill Christians? Hmm...

Will have to keep discussing and see what makes more sense...

In no way did I interpret that.

Colonists of the Americas, perhaps.

I think the closest parallel to Nazis would be the wolves in LWW. After all, Adolf means "wolf".

I don't think the Telmarines represented Atheists or non-believers; it seems that a lot of Telmarines do somewhat believe in the old Narnia (including Miraz himself to some degree), but it is their totalitarian leader that seems to banish the notion that the old Narnia exists. Sort of like a nation of cognitive dissonance.

I would more lean to the notion of King Miraz being like King Nero aforementioned in this thread.

Well I think its more like Telmarines= WW2 Germans, because there were some (ie Caspian) who weren't trying to kill the Narnians, but the implications are there of a genocide event. There's no denying that.

I think you have a good point. Miraz was a bad leader with his own Telmarines-for-themselves agenda, and C.S.Lewis doesn't explain much more than Trumpkin is willing to tell the Pevensies in their roast apple Cair Paravel picnic. Miraz definitely was anti Old Narnians, probably more so than previous rulers, and I can't help thinking this was the reason why he wanted to do in his brother, not to mention his nephew.

C.S.Lewis, himself, served in the British Army in WW1 and in WW2 he did BBC radio broadcasts to encourage the British people to resist Hitler. In direct opposition to the likes of Lord Haw Haw who propagated Nazi propaganda, and who famously christened Tobruk's Australian defenders as 'The rats of Tobruk'. And I do see parallels between the Old Narnians who are sentient and loveable beings, even if non-human, and the sorts of people the Nazis would so despicably label 'Untermenschen', that is to say, sub-human.

In short, the sort of Us and Them attitudes JKR also talks about in Harry Potter. It doesn't escape my notice that it is Nikabrik in what might be called reverse discrimination, who is also held just as guilty as the Telmarines he reviles.

I thought Lewis drew more from King Nero and his persecution of Christians

You could be right about that, too. Nero didn't have any right to be Emperor. He just had a bossy mother who happened to be the niece of the previous Emperor, Claudius, and who schemed to put Nero on the Imperial throne. Nero's life and times don't make nice PG reading, even in Latin. So I can't give everyone the lowdown about him. But then he was par for the course in that most corrupt of ages in Roman imperial history.

Sorry, I meant Emperor Nero.
Yes, elements of HP are definitely influenced by persecution of Jews during WW2.

Sorry, I meant Emperor Nero.
Yes, elements of HP are definitely influenced by persecution of Jews during WW2.

No problem! I agree it is a bit difficult to keep track of who's who in the Ancient Roman Emperor stakes, especially as Roman Emperors peter out somewhat for about a century following Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Bob Carr and Russell Crowe.

And before the mods start saying 'off topic', I would like to point out once more that the HP books and films in their turn, are heavily influenced by J.K Rowling's reading and admiration of the Narnia stories in particular, excepting LB, which she thought was a bit unfair.

I am also sure that C.S.Lewis would have agreed with J.K Rowling that the racial discrimination practised by the Nazis was an inhuman abomination.

I never thought of the Telmarines as representing Nazis, but I wouldn't put it past Lewis's head!

I can kind of see that point of view. I doubt that was Lewis's main intention, but it probably influenced and inspired his writing for PC. The Telmarines were a bit more extreme, ie avoiding bodies of water and the woods.

I just thought that they were characters representing a more general type of people - the kind of people who are against fairy-tales, or dreaming, or anything happy really, and who believe life should be solemn and "realistic". If Lewis drew from anything, it would probably be the colorless world certain strict schools thrust him into.

~Riella

Because trying to extinct one race has never happened before Hitler's time.
I don't see that Telmarines = Nazis. I don't think the Telmarine Empire was in a financial crisis, which Miraz took the advantage and claimed the power for himself (by backstabbing Caspian IX) and blame the financial crisis on the Narnians.

History and logic in one post! I like it.