Digory Kirke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Narnia character | |
 Jim Broadbent as the adult Digory Kirke in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. |
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| Digory Kirke | |
|---|---|
| Race/Nation | Human / England |
| Gender | Male |
| Birthplace | England, Earth |
| Family | |
| Parents | Mr. Kirke and Mrs. Mabel Ketterley-Kirke |
| Other | Andrew Ketterley (uncle), Letitia Ketterley (aunt) |
| Major character in | |
| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | |
| The Magician's Nephew | |
| Portrayals in Adaptations | |
| 1988 BBC miniseries: Michael Aldridge 2005 Disney film: Jim Broadbent |
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Digory Kirke is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. He is in three of the seven books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle, and is also mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
In the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he is played as an adult by Jim Broadbent.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] The Magician's Nephew
In The Magician's Nephew, the sixth book to be published but the first in the chronology of Narnia, Digory is a young boy. Digory's Uncle Andrew has made magic rings that allow whoever wears them to travel to other worlds by passing through the Wood between the Worlds. Uncle Andrew first tricks Digory's friend Polly Plummer into trying the ring; when she disappears, he then blackmails his nephew into following her with another ring in order to bring her back. After leaving the Wood and arriving in another world, Digory breaks an enchantment and inadvertently releases Jadis, the future White Witch, from her dead world Charn, and accidentally brings her back to London, and soon after, into the newly-created Narnia. While there, however, Aslan sends him on a mission, which allows a magical tree to grow in Narnia which will keep the Witch at bay for nine hundred Narnian years. He took an apple from this tree, with Aslan's permission and blessing, back to the normal world, and used it to save his sick mother's life; he then buried the core, which grew into a peculiar, and possibly magical, tree in his world. The tree fell down due to a storm at the end of the book; not having the heart to turn it into firewood, he had it crafted into the wardrobe which is the portal to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
[edit] The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Digory appears (not yet named, as the Magician's Nephew was not written yet), at the beginning and the end of the story as the elderly Professor; his house is the place where the Pevensie children enter the wardrobe that leads into Narnia. The wardrobe was actually carved from the tree Digory planted, after it had been blown down in a storm. Professor Kirke is therefore the first to believe Lucy Pevensie's stories (probably due to his own experiences), though he doesn't tell them why. He instead tells them to look at it logically, saying "Either your sister is mad, or she's lying, or she's telling the truth. She's not mad and you say she never lies, so we must assume she is telling the truth". This form of logical argument is known as Lewis's Trilemma.
[edit] The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it is mentioned in passing that he has lost his fortune and has had to downsize to a cottage with only one spare bedroom (in The Last Battle it is revealed that the old house had "been destroyed" [possibly due to an air raid bombing]). This explains why Edmund and Lucy are forced to stay with their cousin Eustace Scrubb when their parents go abroad, with only Peter being able to stay with the professor so as to be tutored for Peter's upcoming university examinations.
[edit] The Last Battle
In The Last Battle, Digory dies in a train accident and is pulled into Narnia, with other listed major characters. He and Polly both become young again. They are thus allowed to take up lives in New Narnia. The Last Battle also notes that, prior to the events of the book, Digory, Polly, the Pevensie siblings (with the exception of Susan, who comes to believe that Narnia was a youthful fantasy), Eustace, and Jill Pole had been gathering on occasion as "friends of Narnia", to reminisce about their various adventures.
[edit] Portrayals
Michael Aldridge played Digory in the 1988 BBC miniseries adaptation.
Jim Broadbent played the character in the 2005 film.
[edit] References
- Ford, Paul (2005), Digory Kirke (in The Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia), HarperSanFrancisco, ISBN 0-06-079127-6
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