Nicole McLellan - Uncle Andrew's Reaction

In the book, The Magician’s Nephew, I could not help but notice the difference between Uncle Andrew’s reaction to Aslan and the reaction of the children and cabby. Unlike the children and cabby who are enthralled at the sight of Aslan and the sound of his singing, Uncle Andrew is horrified. It even says that he would have run away and hid in a rat hole if he had not been frozen with fear. It seems that what Uncle Andrew is experiencing is something that Rudolf Otto labels mysterium tremendum. It is the “aweful mystery” of the Divine, which in this case would be Aslan. The Divine is considered to be something “wholly other”. Because Aslan is a lion, he can be considered something “wholly other” than Uncle Andrew and the other humans present. It is because of this “wholly otherness” that Uncle Andrew experiences feelings of terror. He does not understand Aslan or his singing, and he recognizes Aslan’s ability to overpower him. It is interesting that Uncle Andrew experiences mostly terror, while the children and the Cabby experience mostly awe when watching Aslan coming closer to them. Both are aspects found within Otto’s concept of mysterium tremendum.