Hope and Despair: Finding Answers about the Afterlife

The questions surrounding death have plagued mankind for ages and many
have tried to find answers regarding what happens after death. Individuals have used
logic, science, religion, and yes, even literature, to find an answer to this all-consuming
question. Lord Alfred Tennyson and Clive Staples Lewis are two among the many who
have searched and found their own answers regarding the afterlife. It is through the works
of In Memoriam A.H.H. and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle, that these authors
are able to take their readers on a journey to find the afterlife. This journey leads to the
conclusion that the process of finding hope through despair is what leads both of these
authors to their similar conclusions regarding the afterlife, which is that the afterlife is the
place where the Christian God dwells and where we will be reunited with our loved ones.
Though their processes are different, both authors show the relationship between despair
and hope, which they use to lead themselves, their readers, and their characters to the
final conclusions regarding the afterlife.
While hope is indeed a factor in Tennysons In Memoriam, it is not the primary
emotion, and Tennyson must go through a great deal of despair to reach the hope that
leads to his final conclusion. As Adam Robert states in his introduction to the Oxford
Worlds Classics of Alfred Tennyson, Tennyson is well known for writing pieces that
explored the personal agonies of an oversensitive consciousness (Roberts ix). Tennyson
was well known for exploring the darker side of life, as many of his pieces address the
mortality that is a part of life. In Memoriam is a work that is well known for following
this theme, especially in regards to personal agonies, since it was written as the reaction
to the sudden death of Tennysons great friend Arthur Hallam, who also happened to be
engaged to Tennysons beloved sister. Over the course of seventeen long years, Tennyson

composed this poem to attempt to make sense of his feelings and the great doubts that
suddenly plagued him. According to experts on Tennyson, such as Stephen Greenblatt,
these were doubts regarding Tennysons own life and vocation and about the meaning of
the universe and humankinds place in it (In Memoriam A.H.H. 634). These doubts
can clearly be seen in the poem and they are all doubts that Tennyson must resolve if he
is to move from the deep despair that he feels to the hope that will ultimately give him
answers.
Despair is an overwhelming force, and is one that Tennyson feels to a great extent
over the death of his best friend. This despair can be seen countless times over the course
of the poem, and especially relates to the doubts that Tennyson has. From the very
beginning of the poem we are able to see the deep grief that Tennyson has faced:
Let Love clasp Grief lest both be drowned,
Let darkness keep her raven gloss.
Ah, sweeter to be drunk with loss,
To dance with Death, to beat the ground (Tennyson 1.9-12).
As the reader is able to tell from this stanza at the beginning of the poem, the grief of
Tennyson is so great that his thoughts are dark and full of desolation. The last line of this
stanza, To dance with Death, to beat the ground, shows just how depressed he is feeling
as he has personified death and made it sound like he himself also would like to die rather
than face the loss that he must deal with in the wake of Hallams passing (Tennyson
1.12).
Sometimes we experience an emotion that is so powerful that we are not able to
express that emotion to other people, which is a phenomena that Tennyson experiences
that is especially poignant as a writer. The case where we see this happening occurs in the
fifth section of the poem:
I sometimes hold it half a sin
To put in words the grief I feel;
For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within (Tennyson 5.1-4).

It is clear to see that here Tennyson is experiencing a grief so debilitating that he is unable
to articulate how he feels. And, at the same time, he does not want to put what he feels
into words because he thinks that he will be betraying his friend in some way. In this
section of the poem Tennyson is despairing of the fact that his dear friend is gone and
putting this fact into words will make it true and leave him with no hope, or so Tennyson
believes at this point in the poem. And while Tennyson does not want put his friends
death on the page, he desperately needs to for as he says in this same section:
But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
A use in measured language lies;
The sad mechanic exercise,
Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.
In words, like weeds, Ill wrap me oer,
Like coarsest clothes against the cold;
But that large grief which these enfold
Is given in outline and no more. (Tennyson 5.5-12)
Tennyson seeks the familiarity of poetry to ease his agony as it has done so much for him
in the past. However, Tennysons doubts of vocation also come to light in this passage, as
Tennyson wants to write solely for the purpose of forgetting that Hallam has died, rather
than for the pleasure of writing. The word choice in this section of the text really give us
the clues that we need to draw these conclusions, as most of the words in this section
have a very mechanical feel to them; in other words, they lack emotion. The words
measured, mechanic, dull, and narcotics are all indicators of this lack of emotion
(Tennyson 5.6-8). Tennyson is simply going through the motions without much feeling,
in order to keep surviving in this life where he is battling with an overwhelming despair
and seeking answers in relation to death.
As a result of Hallams death, Tennysons despair leads him to question a great
deal of aspects of his life, especially in regards to what happens after death. Tennyson
questions what has happened to Hallam, which can be seen in section seven with the line:

He is not here; but far away (Tennyson 7.9). As of right now, Tennyson does not know
where Hallam is, he only knows that he is in a place where Tennyson cannot reach.
Tennysons deep feelings of loss continue for a great deal of the poem as he struggles to
escape his feelings of despair which bring him to his lowest point. The following passage
shows just how low Tennyson has been brought when he says that Hallams death:
bore thee where I could not see
Nor follow, though I walk in haste,
And think that somewhere in the waste
The Shadow sits and waits for me. (Tennyson 22.17-20)
According to this passage, Tennyson believes that death is unknown and is something
that will forever separate Tennyson and his best friend. At this point, the darkness of
losing Hallam is weighing on Tennyson and it is a weight that does not let him feel
anything but anguish.
Tennyson begins to move from despair to acceptance in the twenty-seventh
section of the poem. This is where Tennyson begins to move into the realm of hope,
rather than wallowing in grief and despairing about death separating Tennyson from his
best friend. The stanza that shows this beginning is the following:
I hold it true, whater befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all. (Tennyson 27.13-16)
This passage is proof that Tennyson is beginning to feel less bleak when remembering the
death of Hallam, and is instead moving onto acceptance. Proof of this can be seen
especially in the last two lines and how they explicitly state that even though Hallam is
gone to him now, Tennyson does not regret the time that they had together even though it
has now caused him a great deal of pain. And more change is coming in Tennyson, for
with this acceptance of loving and losing, has come a spark of hope in life as well as faith
and the afterlife: O Father, touch the east, and light / The light that shone when Hope
was born (Tennyson 30.31-32). As you can see, here is the point in the story where we

know that Tennyson is not dwelling in despair, but is allowing some hope, even though it
may be small, to shine through his pain. The hope that is displayed here is the beginning
of Tennysons renewal in faith and the start to finding his answers to the afterlife.
Tennyson and the reader are able to feel the full turning point in the emotions and
declarations that are being felt in the middle of the poem. In the following section,
Tennyson is not only hinting at his feelings about the afterlife, he is declaring his
thoughts on it:
That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete. (Tennyson 54.5-8)
Here Tennyson is sharing his thoughts with the reader and these are thoughts of hope
regarding the afterlife. Tennyson is beginning to feel that the dead are not simply left to
vanish in a void like he had previously despaired; instead, he is at a point where he
believes that God does not just abandon the dead. This is especially apparent in the
second line of this passage and the sure way that he says that no life will be destroyed.
Another example of this concrete feelings is in the first line of this passage and the
nothing that firmly shows the reader that he believes that no life, nothing, is left to
wander into some nameless void, but, as Tennyson states in the last line, God will care for
them. Tennysons renewal of belief strongly ties to section fifty-five where Tennyson is
telling us that he believes that there is something to hope for:
I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all,
And faintly trust the larger hope. (Tennyson 55.17-20)
It becomes clear here that while Tennyson is beginning to trust in Gods afterlife again,
there are still doubts. However, Tennyson still is feeling the hope and he is at a point
where he will trust that hope to move into the future. This idea is clearly displayed by the
punctuation of this passage; the first two lines of the passage contain quite a few commas,

which imply and indecisiveness and the last two lines contains only one, which serves to
link the statement that Tennyson shares. By placing the thoughts of hope in the statement
portion of the stanza, Tennyson is leaving out any indecisiveness and is making it clear
that while he may not be sure of all of the answers right now, he is sure of the hope that is
present in the core of his being.
Hope and love are similar entities, especially in regards to faith; for it is a
common belief that love and hope are both aspects of the Christian faith and they are
aspects that Tennyson brings together when he really gets at the root of the answer to the
afterlife. This idea is clearly displayed in Jeffery Howards article from The Eplicator:
the nature of eternal love as the predominant divine attribute that Tennyson associates
with Jesus Christ, in whose redeeming and resurrecting power he has faith concerning the
eventual salvation of himself and his friend Hallam (231). As this statement from
Howard clearly shows us, the idea of love is one that is linked with Tennysons idea of
God. The love that Tennyson feels allows the Tennysons hope to grow and his belief in
the afterlife to grow.
Love is and was my lord and king,
And in his presence I attend
To hear the tidings of my friend,
Which every hour his couriers bring.
Love is and was my king and lord,
And will be, though as yet I keep
Within the court on earth, and sleep
Encompassed by his faithful guard,
And hear at times a sentinel
Who moves about from place to place,
And whispers to the worlds of space,
In the deep night, that all is well. (Tennyson 126.1-12)
This section of the poem is the point in the poem where the reader can clearly see the
fruit that Tennysons seeds of hope have produced. You can clearly see, in bold

statements, that Tennyson is sure of his faith again. Tennyson has moved from the dark
feelings of despair to the lighter feelings that hope brings; he knows that there is
something bigger than him in the world and that someone is looking out for him. These
emotions are clearly displayed to the reader through the imagery that the passage brings
to mind. It is a passage that makes one feel lighter for the imagery creates a picture of the
nurturing nature of a higher power. These are feelings that can be felt even if one does not
believe in the Christian God, for the words still flow through your mind, letting you know
that all is well (Tennyson 126.12). The textual evidence shows the reader that Tennyson
has realized that, as Howard says: Christ functions as the embodiment of pure love, and
because of his love, resurrection will occur (232). As can be seen in his poem, Tennyson
clearly has found the answers regarding the afterlife that he has been searching for. This
is confirmed in the prologue, which was written after the rest of the poem:
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just. (Tennyson Prologue 9-12)
It is clear that Tennyson believes that there is a God who will care for him, and Hallam,
even in death. The road to this point was a rough one for Tennyson; he traveled from
heartbreak, to despair, to acceptance, to hope, and to finally reaching answers to the
afterlife. Tennyson has reached a place where he can accept what has happened because
he feels hope that someday he will be with Hallam in the afterlife.
Clive Staples Lewis is another author that questions the afterlife. Lewis uses the
fantasy world of Narnia, especially in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle, to show
how despair turned to hope can lead to answers about what happens after death. It is
common knowledge among scholars and readers alike that the world of Narnia is
analogous to the Christian world, and that the Great Lion Aslan is a strong symbol of the

Christian God. Lewis was born into a family of faith in 1898, but after his mothers death
when he was young, Lewis became angry with God and fell out of faith. Over the years
Lewis encountered many different theories as to the nature of the universe but none fully
satisfied him. It was not until his fathers death in 1929 that Lewis really started to
become interested in the eternal and Christian issues. Over the course of a couple of
years, Lewis developed a deep understanding and relationship with God and this
relationship had a huge impact on his life and his writings. Lyle W. Dorsett in his edited
compilation of C.S. Lewis works, says of Lewis renewed faith that it clearly shined
from within him: The light by which he newly walked illuminated all things in a fresh
way and this was nowhere more apparent than in his writingHis new faith in Christ
apparently ended his agony; at least it propelled him forward and give his life and writing
a new direction (6-8). While the importance of Lewis faith is apparent in a great many
of his works, it is especially apparent in The Last Battle. The issue that Lewis deals with
here is, as Doris T. Myers states in the Mythlore journal compatible with the spiritual
tasks of old age and death (55). Myers believes that The Last Battle is a story that deals
greatly with the questions of old age and what happens to an individual once their earthly
body has died (Myers 54-55). This is a very important question that Lewis answers using
the element of hope to draw the characters, and the readers, to see and understand his
message.
Lewis uses Christian doctrines to reveal his conclusions regarding the afterlife as
well as the world of fantasy to draw readers with him in his journey. Dennis B. Quinn, in
his article published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, recognizes the importance of
fantasy and how it can help its readers to gain a deeper understanding of important issues
(Quinn 106). And while Quinn does not quite believe in the deep importance of fantasy,

he can accept that others feel that fantasy is a genre that tries to share deeper messages
with its readers. Of the Chronicles of Narnia, Quinn admits that There is a great cosmic
war in progress between good and evil, and a part has been allotted to the children (113).
Thus, the importance of the children as a vital part of sharing the message is solidified by
the report from Quinn. Quinn does not wholly believe in the important messages that the
world of fantasy can hold, but he does agree that there is some value to be found in the
overarching ideas behind the story (114). One of these important lessons that fantasy
shares with its readers is hope associated with the Christian theology. This is a tie that
Emily Griesinger discusses at length in her article The Search for Deeper Magic: J.K.
Rowling and C.S. Lewis especially as she says of Lewis fantasy world that it is best
understood as a narrative device that articulates hope (Griesinger 318). This idea really
gets at the heart of Lewis The Last Battle, for it is a story where hope is the driving
force; once one reads this story it becomes clear that though there are moments of
despair, it is the hope that moves the characters forward until they are able to reach the
answers that they have sought.
The characters that Lewis uses to tell the story of Narnia is very important for he
uses the characters of children in a make believe land to draw attention to some very
serious issues, such as death. Daniel Haoe and Mark Oziewicz in their article from the
journal of Mythlore, discuss the importance of children in fantasy stories. They believe
that the presence of children allows issues to be discussed that are too large to be
discussed in adult books (Oziwicz and Haoe 40-41). Involving childrens fantasy in these
issues simplifies the matter and allows it to be opened for discussion (Oziwicz and Haoe
40). As it is clear to see, fantasy, as well as the similar genre of mythology, has often been
used to address serious issues, a fact that is greatly recognized by the author, and personal

friend of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien in his essay On Fairy Stories. In his essay, Tolkien
addresses the presence of death in fantasy, or as he calls them fairy-stories (33). Tolkien
believes that death is one of the serious escapists that appear in fantasy (85). This
simply means that fantasy often tries to escape death, or as Tennyson says, the Great
Escape: the Escape from Death. Fairy-stories provide many examples and modes of
thisFew lessons are taught more clearly in them [fairy-stories] than the burden of that
kind of immortality (Tolkien 85). Lewis takes this idea of escaping death one step
further in The Last Battle; he takes the idea of death and shows readers that it is not scary
at all, and is in fact just a part of life.
In The Last Battle, there are many instances of despair, but we can see through
examples in the text that this despair leads to the hope, which always prevails. The Last
Battle is the final book in Lewis famous series in which the world of Narnia comes to an
end. The story follows the path of two children, Eustace and Jill, as well as King Tirian
and his best friend the Unicorn Jewel, as they have travelled to Narnia and try to aid in
the last hours of Narnia. The children and the Narnians follow their feelings of faith and
hope as they move to a new world where the Great Lion and Christ figure Aslan lives.
The phrase Aslan is here, is one that immediately inspires hope and love in the
hearts of the loyal Narnians who dearly love the Great Lion who is synonymous with the
Christian God (Lewis 17). The Narnians feel very hopeful once word has reached them of
the presence of Aslan; they feel that he will fix all that is wrong, as he has often saved
them in the past. However, the presence of Aslan does not bring all that they had hoped as
the creature that they had believed to be Aslan turns out to be nothing but a donkey
involved in a plot to take control of Narnia under Aslans name. This realization leads to
feelings of great despair in King Tirian as he waits helplessly for his fate to befall him.

This is a very bleak moment in the novel, for it is one where it seems as if there is no
hope for Narnia but that it will fall into the clutches of the evil Ape. The despair that is
felt here is an important point in the novel, for it shows the character Tirian at his lowest,
and it also shows that despair is not everlasting for Tirian begins to reflect upon the real
Aslan and the children that have helped to restore peace and order to Narnia countless
times. Just the thought of these individuals begins to force the darkness to recede and
Tirian remarks: And still there was no change in the night or the wood, but there began
to be a kind of change inside Tirian. Without knowing why, he began to feel a faint hope.
And he felt somehow stronger (Lewis 50). The imagery in these simple statements is a
powerful one for the reader is able to feel the building of the power of hope inside of
Tirian. This is truly a remarkable scene for it shows the power that just a little bit of hope
can hold. At this point in the novel, Tirian has faced some of his darkest thoughts and
through his hope and faith in Aslan he is able to come out the other side feeling stronger
and better able to face the challenges that are surely ahead.
The hope that Tirian felt in the passage above is carried with him as he and the
Narnians begin to battle control of Narnia back from the Ape and his cronies. This hope
can especially be seen with the simple phrase that Tirian yells as he charges into the fray:
The light is dawning, the lie is broken (Lewis 80). As most people are aware, light is
often associated with good and darkness is associated with evil. So in this passage, the
dawning of the light is a metaphor for the dawning of goodness, or hope. This is a phrase
that shows the conviction of Tirians hope, which is a hope that he wishes to portray to
others. Tirian is attempting to gain the support of other Narnians by letting them know
that they do not need to bow their heads in despair because there is hope that the corrupt
rule can be obliterated.

The hope that is felt in the middle of the novel is soon replaced with despair once
it becomes known that there is nothing that the Narnians can do to save Narnia, but must
accept that that their Narnia will soon be coming to an end. The characters at this point in
the novel feel a great deal of sorrow and misery when they hear that Narnia is no more
(Lewis 103). The simplicity of this statement leaves no room for misunderstandings, but
makes it clear that the great land of Narnia is finished. This is a statement that greatly
wounds the Narnians to the core; however, they soon rally together with the hope that
their knowledge of the Great Lion fills them with. They are firm and sure of their
standing with Aslan and know that he will be there to care for them. These feelings then
lead them to a great act of faith where the children and the Narnians fight the last battle of
Narnia and inevitably end facing the door to the stable where they feel a terrible fate will
await them. This is a time in the story when there is an overwhelming feeling of
hopelessness and despair, but these feelings do not last, as the characters are able to find
light in this darkest of times. It is remarkable that even in the face of all the darkness and
uncertainty the characters have faith and hope that everything will work out, for as Jewel
the Unicorn says, It may be for us the door to Aslans country and we shall sup at his
table tonight (Lewis 146). There is no form of darkness in this quote, but instead an
outpouring on hope that the readers are able to feel as they follow these beloved
characters through to the end of their journey. The hope that is felt here gives the
characters the push that they need to begin their battle and enter into the unknown.
Entering into the unknown is an act of faith fuelled by hope even though they face
despair. It is an act that leads the children to the answers that they have been seeking; this
is an act that leads them to Aslans Country-to their afterlife. Here they discover that it is
a world like no other, and Lewis cannot even fully describe it because no one living has

ever been there and so no one can fully explain this amazing land. It is a land of promises
fulfilled and they realize that they have come to their real world:
When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia, he meant the Narnia
you were thinking of. But that was not the real Narnia. That had a
beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia
which has always been here and always will be here: just as our own
world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslans
real world. You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia
that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia
through the Door. (Lewis 195).
The imagery that acompianies this passage is that of a paradise: The new one [land] was
a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more
(Lewis 196). From these passages we can see that the hope has led the children to their
answers, it has led them to a place that they can come home. The words of Jewel the
Unicorn sums up these feelings very well: I have come home at last! This is my real
country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life (Lewis 196).
The simple statements show just how sure the characters are that this is where they
belong; it is obvious that they firmly believe that they have found the answers that they
were looking for. Though these characters have faced many challenges, as well as much
misery and despair as they faced the death of their beloved Narnia, they have come out
on the other side with the help of their unquenchable hope. This hope has helped them to
answer the important questions about the afterlife that everyone has; they have learned
that the afterlife is the place where they will come to their true home and that it is a
peaceful place where they will be reunited with those that they love.

The authors Lord Alfred Tennyson and Clive Staples Lewis both address a very
serious concern, though it is done through different methods. In the forms of poetry and
fantasy, these two talented authors address the very real concerns surrounding the
mystery that is death and the afterlife. Through In Memoriam A.H.H. and The Chronicles
of Narnia: The Last Battle, we are able to see the deep relationship between despair and
hope. These authors show us that it is normal to despair and feel low and bleak, but out of
this misery comes hope. Hope is there when you have nothing left, it is a force that drives
us to believe in something, even if it is only that we can survive another day. Tennyson
and Lewis show us that when you are at your lowest, the only place left to go is up, up to
hope where there are answers waiting for us. Through their awe-inspiring works these
authors bring light where there is darkness and help us to journey through despair, to
hope, and finally to the answer that the afterlife is the place where we will be reunited
once more with all those that we love, giving us the strength to hope in even in our
darkest hour.

Works Cited
Dorsett, Lyle W ed. The Essential C.S. Lewis. New York: Touchstone, 1988. Print.
Griesinger, Emily. The Search for Deeper Magic: J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis. The
Gift of Story: Narrating Hope in a Postmodern World. Baylor University Press,
2006. 317-331. Web. 18 November 2013
Haoe, Daniel, and Marek Oziewicz. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Philip Pullman,
C.S. Lewis, and the Fantasy Tradition. Mythlore 28. (2010): 39-54. Web. 18
November 2013.

Howard, Jeffrey. Tennysons IN MEMORIAM. The Explicator 68.4 (2010): 231-234.

Web. 18 November 2013.
In Memoriam A.H.H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors
Ninth Edition, Volume 2. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. eds. New York: W.W.
Norton and Company, Inc, 2013. 634. Print.
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1984.
Print.
Myers, Doris T. C.S. Lewis Passages: Chronological Age and Spiritual Development in
Narnia. Mythlore 11.3 [41]: 52-56. Print.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors Ninth Edition, Volume 2.
Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. eds. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc,
2013. Print.
Quinn, Dennis B. The Narnia Books of C.S. Lewis: Fantastic or Wonderful? Childrens
Literature 12 (1984): 105-121. Web. 18 November 2013.
Roberts, Adam ed. Alfred Tennyson: The Major Works. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2009. Print.
Tennyson, Alfred. In Memoriam A.H.H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The
Major Authors Ninth Edition, Volume 2. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. eds. New
York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc, 2013. 635-681. Print.
Tolkien, J.R.R. On Fairy Stories. The Tolkien Reader. New York: Ballantine Books,
1966. Print.