Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Fordim
The claim that Susan was denied Narnia because of cosmetics and sex was endurable when made by the Madonna of Modern Fantasy but I simply cannot let a fellow Downer go unchallenged on this point. Susan is not condemned for anything so trivial: she is condemned instead for "forgetting" Narnia and pretending that it was all a game. She lost her faith and her belief. In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Edmund's first (and, to my mind, worst) act of betrayal was his cruel denial that he and Lucy had been to another world, and his lie that he and she had only been pretending. He is redeemed of this lie but only after going through some terrible things. For Susan to turn around in her supposed maturity and thoughtlessly do the same thing is the height of arrogant pride and foolishness. She is not "kicked out" of Narnia any more than Satan was "kicked out" of Heaven--they are both rebels who turn away from their true home. (Very Important Note--I am not saying that Susan is Satan, nor am I suggesting that she is in any way shape or manner Satanic: I am merely making an analogy for the sake of illustrating my argument.)
|
Hmm. Interesting.
I always thought that Susan forgot Narnia and began to believe it to be just a game (in other words, she lost it) BECAUSE she became interested in boys and lipstick. She wasn't, I agree, thrown out of Narnia...but I think she lost it or it let her go as her interests shifted, so she saw her memories of it as just a game. Perhaps this is because I just can't grasp the idea of having something so vivid as finding another (real) world through a wardrobe be dismissed years later as a game...at least, not without some kind of reason for it.
Perhaps I am guilty of over-thinking the incident. It does happen.
I think that the manner in which it was presented is an issue, then, if what she was really being punished for was her denial of Narnia. It could have functioned just fine on its own--Susan is all grown up and she looks back and laughs at their childish games, and can't believe that her siblings are still playing. Why, then, is the mention of boys and makeup necessary at all? It's as though Lewis is condemning those things, things that most girls can't help but be interested in (though I'll admit I never had much patience for makeup, myself). And even then, the issue is still there--Susan loses Narnia in the process of growing up...therefore, growing up is a bad thing...still not a particularly desirable message.
I see redemption/forgiveness/absolution as major themes of Christianity...I don't like the idea of a condemning God. I think a more powerful message would have been Susan being welcomed back in spite of those things. That would read more as the power of forgiveness and redemption as opposed to whoops, you lost your faith, too bad for you. That's probably moving into personal belief territory, where I'd rather not go, though.
I do agree with Lal--whatever messages Narnia sends, I think that perhaps a better series for young girls would be HDM, or even Harry Potter...and also that when I re-read it, it did seem to generally be missing something. Other books are more exciting, including HDM.