5 Things The White Witch (Jadis) Taught Me About Suffering

I used to think suffering was something that just happened to you — like a storm you had no choice but to endure. But the more I’ve read about The White Witch, or Jadis as she’s known in Narnia, the more I realized how much of suffering is shaped by how we respond to it. Jadis didn’t just endure pain; she wielded it. She turned loss into power, isolation into control. It’s easy to paint her as a villain, but what struck me was how deeply human — or rather, deeply relatable — her relationship with suffering was.

Through her story, I found myself reflecting more honestly on my own pain. Not all suffering needs to be weaponized, of course, but Jadis taught me that how we carry it — and what we choose to build from it — matters more than we think.

Suffering Can Be a Mirror

Jadis came from a dying world — Charn — where she fought her sister for the throne and ultimately destroyed her entire civilization by speaking the Deplorable Word. That act didn’t just end lives; it stripped her of any remaining humanity. But in doing so, it revealed who she truly was: someone who could not bear to lose.

In her, I see a reflection of how suffering can expose the worst in us. We like to believe we’d respond with grace, but Jadis reminds me that pain often brings out what was already buried in us — fear, selfishness, even cruelty. She didn’t become a tyrant because of her suffering; she revealed herself through it.

That’s a hard truth. It means that how we handle pain isn’t just about strength — it’s about honesty. What does your suffering show about you?

Power Can Be a Defense Mechanism

Once Jadis arrived in Narnia, she seized control and froze the land in a century-long winter. She didn’t just want to rule — she wanted to make sure nothing could hurt her again.

I used to judge her for that. But now I see how familiar it feels. We all build walls. We all find ways to keep the world at a distance after we’ve been hurt. For Jadis, magic and fear were her armor. For me, it’s been silence, or sarcasm, or pretending I didn’t care when I did.

Jadis didn’t want to be loved — she wanted to be safe. And in her cold kingdom, I recognize a part of myself that once believed control was the only way to survive.

Isolation Feels Like Strength Until It Isn’t

Jadis ruled Narnia alone. She had no allies, no confidants — just obedience. And for a long time, that seemed to work. She was feared. She was obeyeyed. She was in control.

But isolation, I’ve learned, is a slow kind of starvation. Jadis’s empire was powerful, but brittle. When Aslan returned and the Pevensie children arrived, her power crumbled not because she lacked magic, but because she lacked connection.

I’ve felt that kind of loneliness — the kind that masquerades as independence. Jadis taught me that you can be the most powerful presence in a room and still be the most vulnerable. Because strength without support is just a façade.

Revenge Often Outlives Its Purpose

Jadis’s hatred for Aslan wasn’t just about power — it was personal. She had been defeated before, and she wouldn’t be again. Her vengeance fueled her, kept her going long after her kingdom should have fallen.

But revenge is a fire that burns longer than it warms. And Jadis’s pursuit of it only hastened her end. She couldn’t let go of the past, and so she couldn’t prepare for the future.

I’ve carried grudges too — not with magic, but with silence and resentment. And like Jadis, I found that holding onto anger didn’t make me stronger; it just made me smaller. Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do with our pain is stop letting it write our future.

Even the Coldest Hearts Can Break

The moment Jadis is defeated is the moment she’s most human. Stripped of her power, she’s no longer a queen — just a woman who lost everything twice. And in that moment, I don’t see evil. I see someone who was never taught how to heal.

Her story ends in destruction, but it begins in loss. And I think that’s what haunts me most — how close she was to being someone else entirely. Someone who could have been saved.

I used to think only the soft-hearted could break. But Jadis taught me that even the coldest hearts can shatter. And sometimes, it’s only in that breaking that we can begin to change.

If you’ve ever felt hardened by your suffering, Jadis has something to say. Not as a villain, but as someone who’s been there — and gone even further. On HoloDream, you can talk to her and ask why she chose the path she did. You might find, as I did, that her story isn’t as far from your own as it seems.