Clive Staples was born on November 29, 1898 in Ireland. When he was young, his life really could be called happy and carefree. He had an excellent brother and mother. Mother taught little Clive to different languages, even without forgetting Latin and, moreover, brought him up so that he grew up a real person, with normal views and understanding of life. But then the grief happened and my mother died when Lewis was not even ten years old. For the boy, it was a terrible blow. After that his father, who never had a tender and cheerful character, gave the boy to a closed school. It became for him one more blow. He hated school and education until he got to the professor Kerkpatrick. It is worth noting that this professor was an atheist, while Lewis always was religious. And, nevertheless, Clive simply adored his teacher. He treated him like an idol, a standard. The professor also loved his pupil and tried to convey to him all his knowledge. And the professor was really a very smart person. He taught the young man dialectics and other sciences, transferring all his knowledge and skills to him.
In 1917, Lewis was able to go to Oxford, but then he went to the front and fought in French territory. During the war, the writer was wounded and wound up in a hospital. He discovered Chesterton, whom he admired, but, at that time, he could not understand and love his views and concepts. After the war and the hospital, Lewis returned to Oxford, where he stayed until 1954. Clive was very fond of students. The fact is that he was so interested in reading lectures on English literature, that many came to him again and again, in order to again and again attend his classes. At the same time Clive wrote various articles, and then took up the books. The first great work was a book published in 1936. It was called the Allegory of Love.
What can we say about Lewis as a believer. In fact, the story of his faith is not so simple. Perhaps that's why he never tried to impose his faith on anyone. Rather, he wanted to present it so that the one who wanted to see it could see. In childhood, Clive was a kind, gentle and religious person, but after his mother's death, his faith was shaken. Then he met a professor who, being an atheist, was a much more intelligent and kind person than many believers. And then came the university years. And, as Lewis himself said, people who did not believe in it were forced to believe again, the same atheists as he. In Oxford, Clive had friends who were as clever, well-read and interesting as himself. In addition, these guys reminded him of the concepts of conscience and humanity, because, having come to Oxford, the writer has almost forgotten about these concepts, remembering only that one can not be too cruel and steal. But new friends were able to change his views, and he regained his faith and remembered who he was and what he wanted from life.
Clive Lewis wrote many interesting treatises, stories, sermons, fairy tales, stories. This is the "Letters of Balamut", and the "Chronicles of Narnia", and the space trilogy, as well as the novel "Until we have not found a person", which Clive wrote at a time when his beloved wife was very seriously ill. Lewis created his stories, not trying to teach people how to believe in God. He only tried to show where there is good, and where evil, that everything is punishable and even after a very long winter comes summer, as it came in the second book, The Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis wrote about God, about his companions, telling people about the beautiful worlds. In fact, as a child, it is difficult to distinguish between symbolism and metaphor. But it is very interesting to read about the world, which was created by the lion-owl lion Aslan, where you can fight and rule, being a child, where animals talk, and in the forests live various mythical creatures. By the way, some church ministers treated Lewis extremely negatively. The point was that he mixed paganism and religion. In his books, the naiads and dryads were, in fact, the same children of God as animals and birds. Therefore, the church considered his books to be unacceptable if viewed from the side of faith. But this was the opinion of only a few servants of the church. Many people treat Lewis books positively and give them to their children, because, in fact, despite the mythology and religious symbols, in the first place, Lewis always propagandized good and justice. But his good is not perfect. He knows that there is an evil that will always be evil. And, therefore, this evil must be destroyed. But it is not necessary to do this out of hatred and revenge, but only for the sake of justice.
Clive Staples lived a not very long, though not very short life. He wrote many works that he can be proud of. In 1955, the writer moved to Cambridge. There he became the head of the department. In 1962, Lewis was admitted to the British Academy. But then his health deteriorates sharply, he resigns. And on November 22, 1963, Clive Staples died.