Winnie-the-Pooh, an Unintentional Allegory of Christian Redemption and of Christ
Although the author of Winnie-the-Pooh didn't intend for his book to be a Christian novel, the truths and parallels that the book shares can be seen as something that is more than just a secular, comforting, whimsical children's book about friendship.
Throughout Winnie-the-Pooh, there are strong Christian comparisons that can be made through the narratives of Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin can be seen as a representation, sometimes of Christ or a new Adam-like figure. This can be confusing at first, but literary symbols don't always represent one thing consistently when interpreting intentional narratives. Winnie-the-Pooh can be seen initially as the fallen man and—through rescuing— an archetype of the redeemed throughout the rest of the book.
Significance of the Name Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh
Christopher Robin is introduced to the readers as a small boy who is being told a story by means of a frame narrative. The narrator unintentionally uses Christopher Robin to explore the character of Christ, such as by pointing out the importance of Christopher Robin's name and of names in general. This emphasis on names can be interpreted as paralleling biblical themes and narratives.
Christopher Robin's name shares the most obvious similarities with Jesus's title of the “Christ.” Christopher Robin's name literally has “Christ” in it, already potentially setting up Christopher as a Christ-like figure at the beginning of Winnie-the-Pooh; but on further inquiry—it reveals an important insight.
The name Christopher comes from the Greek name Χριστοφόρος (Christophoros); this directly translates to "Christ-bearer." The surname Robin is a diminutive of the name Robert, which can be interpreted as meaning “bright fame.” When combined, the name Christopher Robin can be read as a "Christ-bearer of bright fame."
Often times in stories, light or brightness is presented as having some reference to God. In C.S. Lewis's book, Medieval and Renaissance Literature he cites Dr. Edwyn Bevan to explore the idea that,
"by the shape of the human mind. God is, or is like, light, not for the purposes of this bit of poetry but for every devotional, philosophical, and theological purpose imaginable within a Christian, or indeed a monotheistic, frame of reference."
Meaning that in the European cultural mind set and imagination, light often is automatically associated with God. Furthermore, even though the bible intentionally use's light symbolically, the novel of Winnie the Pooh can be seen to unintentional use it. Both use narratives that utilize the concept of divine prescience of God or of the name Christ with radiance or brightness. This association can naturally bring to mind many narratives in the bible that correlate divine presences with light as a symbolic image or literal image of glory or reflected glory. One significant verse identifying divine presences and light in this essay's narrative is Revelation 1:16:
"In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."
This particular verse in Revelation is heavily linked to Moses' appearance in Exodus 34 after he came down from Mount Sinai, where the Lord described Himself as in verse 6: “...the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” Moses was not aware that his face was— in verse 29— “radiant because he had spoken with the Lord,” but he reflected the brilliance of the Lord. This reflected glory lasted till he represented God to the people of Israel after he came down the mountain, a heavy interlinking to the high priest motif. This shining face and high priest motif can be interpreted to be present in the name of Christopher Robin, further linking it to a Christ figure and a New Adam.
The name "Christopher" is also often associated with Saint Christopher, a notable and legendary figure in the Christian literary canon. Saint Christopher is often known for carrying the child Jesus across a river, reflecting the concept of caring for or bearing the divine. Saint Christopher also happens to be the patron saint of travellers, motorists, sailors, and pilgrims. Christopher Robin in the book happens to be a traveller and a sort of pilgrim, and a sailor for two of the five chapters, thereby giving way to another unintesional connection.
Pooh, the representation of the fallen man, the old Adam who needs to be born again by means of the New Adam.
Pooh, the other main character of Winnie-the-Pooh, also has a significant name that is unintentionally rife with meaning and connection to the Bible as well as imagery in his character arc.
Pooh's character can be seen to represent the fall of man in his character arc and, subsequently, his redemption. Early on in the book, Pooh gets the idea of stealing honey from a beehive up in a tree. To do this, he takes a blue balloon from Christopher Robin and rolls himself in the mud to imitate a storm cloud so that the bees don't sting him while he is stealing their honey. Pooh wants something good—not only mirroring the biblical narrative but also reflecting on the common human one— making the balloon's symbolism concrete as a tool of human wisdom to get something we believe is good. Even though this is an effort towards obtaining something good, Pooh, and often humanity, goes about it the wrong way; Pooh is trying to take something that isn't his to take. This reflects the scarcity mindset humanity has always struggled with, leading us into numerous types of failures through history and our own lives. The balloon works at first, raising him up to achieve what he wants, only for Pooh to find out it isn't. Pooh figures out it is the wrong kind of bees and, therefore, the wrong kind of honey. The very thing that he used to elevate himself and take what isn't his traps him in not being able to get down to safety. To get down, Pooh begs Christopher to shoot down the balloon so that he won't die from the sudden fall or bee stings, so Christopher saves him despite having to shoot his own balloon, mirroring sacrificial love, even though far from Christ's sacrifice for us. This storyline closely follows the fall of humanity and the redemption of humanity through Christ in a story that only spans a couple of pages.
Comparing Pooh and the old Adam or humanity; both took what wasn't theirs, taking what was good for themselves apart from God's wisdom—in this case, to get honey that didn't belong to him from a beehive—and reliance on God. Instead of choosing God's way, humanity chose their own via the gift of free will or, in the Winnie-the-Pooh narrative, the blue balloon.
This use of a balloon to rise into the clouds echoes the narrative of the rebellious morning star rebelling and rising outside of the bounds God created for it, getting honey from the bees that wasn't his. This again furthers the unintentional paralleling of narratives of choosing ones own wisdom instead of God's to get where or what they desire.
To save him, Christopher takes on the earthly repercussions of freedom (the blue balloon) to save him, costing him—though obviously in the biblical narrative the cost is more than a toy bullet or balloon— but in the sacrifice of Christ himself.
Christopher Robin even gives Pooh a new name, very similar to what Christ does for us. Pooh bear got his name because of the sound blowing his itchy nose made when he couldn't move his arms from hanging from the balloon for so long.
A concept in the Bible that is similar to wind and breath is God breathing life into Adam—the first human. In the biblical narrative, God breathes new life into those who put their faith in him and repent, making them born again, giving them new identities as heirs from the line of the new Adam/Christ, that brings life, not death from the old who internally is dead.
Book Character Qualities and How It Parallels Real Life
While observing the character and behaviours of the characters in Winnie-the-Pooh, there are some connections a reader can instantly make. Christopher Robin is made out to be very loving and mature, while the other animal friends, on the other hand, are very imperfect. They struggle with jealousy, pride, arrogance, and greed; they also struggle with fear and hostility. This perfection compared to the animals' flaws makes Christopher Robin seem even more like a Christ-like figure—or at least a New Adam figure—leading the animals into right relationships with those around them.
An unintentional way Winnie-the-Pooh shows a parallel between Christ and Christopher Robin is in the way that Christopher loves and encourages. Famously, after Christ ascended into heaven, He said that He must ascend for the Encourager to come. These moments from Winnie-the-Pooh quoted below come after Christopher Robin saves Winnie-the-Pooh from the balloon incident, essentially paralleling Christopher Robin and Pooh's friendship to the role of the Holy Spirit and the believer:
“So, with a nod of thanks to his friends, he went on with his walk through the forest, humming proudly to himself. But Christopher Robin looked after him lovingly, and said to himself, 'Silly old Bear!'”
“'Yes,' said Winnie-the-Pooh. 'I see now,' said Winnie-the-Pooh. 'I have been foolish and deluded,' said he, 'and I am a Bear of No Brain at all.' 'You're the Best Bear in All the World,' said Christopher Robin soothingly. 'Am I?' said Pooh hopefully. And then he brightened up suddenly. 'Anyhow,' he said, 'it is nearly Luncheon Time.' So he went home for it.”
These are only two examples out of many. There are also examples of Christopher acting like a New Adam by traversing the dangerous "chaos waters" from the flood that flooded the forest to save Piglet, or subduing unknown territory in leading an expedition to the North Pole. Both acted in the role of the New Adam by taking part in the opportunity to co-rule the earth and steward it.
"'We are all going on an Expedition,' said Christopher Robin, '...We're going to discover the North Pole.' 'Oh!' said Pooh again. 'What is the North Pole?' he asked. 'It's just a thing you discover,' said Christopher. 'Oh, I see,' said Pooh. 'Are bears any good at discovering it?'”
The ending of Winnie-the-Pooh is also significant. Though a celebratory moment, Christopher Robin decides to throw a party in Pooh's honour, telling Pooh himself to invite his other fellow creatures for the celebration, sort of like how the gospel is shared. This banquet echoes the final banquet that ends the book.
Conclusion
Even though probably one of the strongest outright messages in Winnie-the-Pooh is relationships, it also strongly resembles and portrays divine connectedness and what a divine, connected life looks like. More so than divine connectedness is the revealing of the human heart, and how it can't help but encourage the grander story of humanity and God: the Creation, Fall, and Redemption. This shows that even if it is a story about a young boy and his animal friends in the woods, creation and humans can't help but look for their maker and the truth.
References:
https://namepedia.name/robinson/
https://namepedia.name/christopher/
https://www.catholic.com/tract/st-christopher-the-real-story-behind-the-patron-of-travelers
https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/series/ancient-cosmology/
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