Emeth
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==About Emeth== | ==About Emeth== | ||
| - | + | Emeth is one of the most controversial characters in the Chronicles of Narnia. Though he is a relatively minor player in only one book, ''The Last Battle'', Emeth has an encounter with Aslan that has profound theological implications. Emeth is a faithful servant of the Calormene god Tash and has hated Aslan all his life, reviling the Lion as a demon. But upon Emeth's death, Aslan permits the young Calormene to enter his country, saying, "Not because he [Tash] and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him... unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek." Readers have been wrestling with the spiritual dilemma posed by Emeth's story ever since, and he remains one of Lewis' most memorable characters. | |
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==Appearances== | ==Appearances== | ||
===~ The Last Battle ~ (1956)=== | ===~ The Last Battle ~ (1956)=== | ||
| - | [[File:3774.jpg|left]] | + | [[File:3774.jpg|left]]As a young Calormene soldier and loyal servant of Tash, Emeth is delighted when he is chosen to take part in a new attack on Narnia. But that delight soon sours when he learns they are entering Narnia in disguise rather than as soldiers. He finds even more insulting the tale that that his commander Rishda Tarkaan and Shift the Ape are spinning, that Aslan and Tash are one — "Tashlan." When Emeth has the opportunity to come face to face with "Tashlan," he takes it, presenting himself to Rishda and asking to go into the Stable to face his god. Rishda initially refuses, knowing that it is only a trick, but Emeth's argument is so strong that Rishda finally agrees. When Emeth enters, he finds not Tash but a soldier lying in wait to kill any comer. Emeth kills the soldier and throws him out of the Stable. He then finds that he is in a completely new world, and wanders the countryside until he meets Aslan. Because Emeth has always believed that Tash was the true god and Aslan was a demon, he believes that Aslan will kill him. But Aslan tells him that because the service Emeth offered to Tash was good, he was really serving Aslan because Tash cannot accept good deeds. Aslan then leaves Emeth to think this over. Several hours later, Emeth is found by Tirian, the friends of Narnia, and several Narnian dogs who are on their way to find Aslan. Emeth explains his story to the party and then journeys further up and further in with them to Aslan's country. |
