There’s a fascinating scene in the final book of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle, in which a group of Dwarfs have become so isolated from fear of being ”taken in” that they lose touch with reality completely. Though they are actually in Aslan’s country and free from anything that could harm them, they have convinced themselves that they are imprisoned in a dark stable, held against their wills. Lewis describes the scene: “They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round or took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them.”
Queen Lucy and Prince Tirian try desperately to reason with them, even proving beyond all doubt that they are not in any danger. But it is no use; they refuse to listen to anyone else but each other. For every proof Lucy offers, they have an excuse why it’s actually something designed to deceive them.
Suddenly Aslan, the Great Lion, arrives. Lucy begs Aslan to do something for the Dwarves to help them see the truth. “Dearest,” said Aslan, “I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot do.” He shakes his mane and a glorious feast of the richest food and finest wine appears before the Dwarves. They eat it greedily but not in gratitude or with any joy; they are convinced they are being fed hay and given dirty trough water to drink. Soon, their suspicious minds turn against each other and they begin believing that every other Dwarf has better food than them and they begin fighting each other until everything is spoiled. When they finally sit back down, bloody and bruised, they comfort themselves that at least they haven’t let anyone take them in. “The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”
Then Aslan says something I believe we would do very well to heed in America today: “You see,” said Aslan. “They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
The warning for us is dire: When we sit in a tight little circle with only those who agree with us, and face only each other instead of looking into the eyes of someone very different from ourselves, and shut out all other voices except those who will echo back to us our own, then we become disconnected from reality. We create our own version of truth based on fear and suspicion of everyone who is not in our circle. And soon, no amount of truth or logic or reason or proof will be able to free us from the prison of our own mind, amplified by social media algorithms that ensure we will only see what we want to see. We can become so afraid of being taken in that we cannot be taken out.
May God have mercy on us.
