Once Upon a Wardrobe

Megs resumes the story. When Lewis was 16, he arrived in Great Bookham, Surrey, to be privately tutored by William Thompson Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was his father’s former headmaster, informally known as “the Knock.” Lewis replaced Warnie as Kirkpatrick’s residential pupil when his brother left to train for the British Army at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. At first, Lewis was intimidated by his new tutor’s interrogation of his ideas and opinions. However, he soon settled into a pleasant routine in the book-filled cottage, where he had a room of his own. His days were made up of intense study and reading, walks in the countryside, and intellectual conversation. Kirkpatrick was an atheist and taught Lewis the skill of debating. Whenever his tutor said “I hear you” to one of his arguments (133), Lewis was delighted.

One day, Lewis found a copy of Phantastes by George MacDonald at a bookstall. The story’s combination of fairies, medieval romance, and quests spoke to the author’s soul, and he wrote to his friend, Arthur Greeves, to tell him about it. Arthur was a boy of the same age who lived near Little Lea and had a debilitating heart condition. The boys became friends when they discovered their mutual love of Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods. Discovering Phantastes led Lewis to seek out similar stories, including The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser.

George comments on the coincidence that Lewis’s friend Arthur was also confined to bed with a heart condition. Megs confirms that Arthur is still alive, as Lewis continues to visit him in Belfast. George suggests that the professor from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is based on Kirkpatrick. However, Megs says that the professor reminds her of Lewis himself.

Megs reads few novels and cannot imagine experiencing the joy that Lewis and George derive from reading. Part of her resistance to fiction is that it makes her feel emotional when she is trying to be strong. She reflects on the tragedy that George will not live to read all the books he desires.

Megs visits the Bodleian Library, which possesses a vast collection of books and attracts scholars from around the world. Discovering a section devoted to George MacDonald, she sits and reads Phantastes, transfixed by the story. When Padraig approaches her, Megs suddenly feels like she is wasting her time with fairy tales when she should be studying for mathematics exams. However, Padraig disputes her dismissive claim that they are “silly stories.” He reveals that he once attended one of Einstein’s lectures with his father, and the famous scientist stated that imagination was a sign of intelligence. Megs argues that literature cannot be as important as science, but Padraig insists that they are equally important, as the universal truths in stories help us understand the world. Suddenly despondent, Padraig says that Megs is just like his father, who is a math professor. Megs is surprised to learn that she has been to the lectures of Padraig’s father, Professor Cavender. She apologizes to Padraig, explaining her desire to help George and her sense of powerlessness.

Megs continues reading Phantastes in her room instead of revising. Heading for another appointment at the Kilns, she realizes that she enjoys these visits for her own sake as well as for George’s. The Lewis brothers suggest a walk in the snowy woods.

Lewis resumes his story, explaining that he almost failed to get into Oxford University due to the algebra test in the entrance exam. He was sent to France during World War I but eventually graduated with a Triple First in English, Greek, and philosophy.

Having completed her exams, Megs returns home for the holidays. However, the house is deserted, and a note explains that her parents have taken George to the hospital. George’s bed is covered in drawings of lions. Megs runs the two miles to the hospital.

Mrs. Devonshire explains that she found George in his wardrobe, struggling to breathe. Connected to tubes and oxygen in his hospital bed, he is now stable. On seeing Megs, George asks if she has brought him another story. Megs warns him that the subject matter is somber, as Lewis’s new stories are about his harrowing experiences in the war. George is undeterred, insisting that he wants to hear about how the author who writes books about courage “was once scared” (164).