Aslan = Jesus?

Early in the semester we talked about how when Lewis' started to write Narnia and when Tolkien began to write the Lord of the Rings, they didn't have in mind the Gospel. Maybe just they weren't attempting to write an allegorical version of the Gospel. When we read them though, there is clear connections to the Gospel. I have thought of this throughout the semester. I guess I can understand that these man, very devout in their Christian faith, saw the Gospel story to be the most heroic story. When they themselves were trying to create a heroic epic, naturally what they created was similar to the story they knew so well. As they were made in the image and likeness of their Creator, they were made to create themselves in a clear lesser capacity. I also understand though that not throughout the whole writing process did the just not make any attempt to write with the Gospel in mind. It seems almost impossible for that to be the case with the similarities of characters and their actions. Most especially Aslan. Aslan is a very clear Jesus character in Narnia and thinking that at no point C.S. Lewis thought of Jesus' story when writing of Aslan! I find it very interesting, the idea that it was just in Lewis' being that what he created in the story was like the creation of his Creator.