Too old for Narnia

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miniver
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by miniver » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:54 pm

The great thing about this topic is that each of us is coming up with thought-provoking ideas that don't contradict the ideas of the others but that add to them and flesh out our understanding and enjoyment of the books. I love this thread!

(P.S. Ajjie, if you present your ideas in your university papers the way you do in your comments on TLC, your professors must love your work. You're so articulate and enlightening.)
Lily of Archenland
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Lily of Archenland » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:55 pm

I've got an idea, and I'm trying to figure out how to say it right. It's not coming well into its words. But basically, I think oldness may not be the same thing as grown-ness or maturity. I don't know if there is anything to support this aside from Susan, but if "old" meant something more like jaded... that they were in danger of losing the ideals which made them Narnian... but that sounds a bit harsh to the others, and doesn't quite make sense for Aslan. It would explain how a Frank and Helen could come in full-grown without being too old, but not how Aslan would let totally un-Narnian persons stumble in through chinks and chasms and such if he was being so hyper-protective of the purity of that world. <.<
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Benisse
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Benisse » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:55 pm

Another aspect of what has been discussed is the theme in the Chronicles of the young, small or humble characters being used to accomplish great things or say wise things, like
*Lucy leading the way in LWW and PC and being so spiritually sensitive
*Reepicheep in PC, the ultimate oxymoron: a valiant warrior Mouse
*Trumpkin learning to not write the Pevensies off just because they are children when they meet at Cair Paravel in PC
*Shasta the low class fisher-boy shows surprising and redemptive courage and stamina not only in facing the lion at the Hermit's March but also in going on to warn Archenlanders and Narnians of the Telmarine invasion
*the tiny creatures who minister to King Tirian's thirst and hunger while he is lashed to the tree in LB
*the nameless Lamb in the Last Battle who speaks the Truth in a time of darkness on Stable Hill

Lewis perhaps cycles out older human children from the Chronicles so younger inexperienced ones can respond to the challenges in Narnia with fresh new eyes and be transformed in new ways by their contact with Aslan and Narnia. In their weakness and youth, personal transformation + virtue+ strength + courage shine forth all the brighter.
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Swanwhite
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Swanwhite » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:56 pm

Wow :) I'm really impressed by the discussion that followed. I really enjoyed reading your insights.
"One was the ending of LWW, where the story stops rather abruptly with the children coming home to the nursery, as it were, just like any E. Nesbit or Mrs. Molesworth story. If you look at that ending the way Lewis wrote it, there's no emotion at all from the kids--no monumental sense of loss or shock or displacement."


On this point Mini, I think I understand what you mean, but I actually like it. Partly I like the trope of 'no matter what wild adventures you go on you always end up safe at home in the end', and partly I have my own explanation for the lack of emotion that satisfies me. It also helps me explain the other conundrum at the end of LWW, that of their only remembering England faintly like a dream. It seems to me that at least in this case the world travel was to them like waking from a dream.. where the world they are not in feels distant. It seems to me like they weren't strongly attached to whichever world they weren't in, which was a blessing to them really.
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by miniver » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:57 pm

It's interesting the way we all manage to process the odd parts of the stories (for want of a better word) in a way that satisfies us. It's one of the ways Narnia is so wonderful: it's almost flexible, as if it's custom-made for each one of us. Another simile just struck me: it's like that medicine of Mary Poppins', which is a different flavor for everyone who takes a spoonful. (That moment is in both the book and the wonderful movie.) For myself, I've always imagined that Aslan prepared the Four for their return to England. Lewis just didn't write about it. As for the "too old to come back," that's one of the things that The Last Battle resolves and even rectifies. There's a Country that none of us is ever too old, too worn, or too broken for. Our passports are already stamped.
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HermitoftheNorthernMarch
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by HermitoftheNorthernMarch » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:57 pm

Probably most of us on this forum are too old for the recommendation of 8-12 year-old readers of Narnia, so maybe we are all biased. (I'm kidding here.)

I kind of doubt that Lewis wanted people to stop reading Narnia just because they grew up. I don't think he would have put the dedication in the front of LWW if he had. So why were Peter and Susan, and later Edmund and Lucy told they had grown too old? I'm not sure, but I think Benisse is right in saying it is so other characters can have adventures. Would Eustace have grown as much (in the Prince Caspian sense) if Peter and Susan had been there and been playing the roles basically of older brother and sister?
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well." - John 14:6-7a
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Eva of Cair Paravel
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Eva of Cair Paravel » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:57 pm

I agree with all of you.
i think this is also like that Lucy was quite mature in the first book already, but she still had to learn things, like in the third book she wanted to be pretty, and Peter and Susan already learnt everything.
And about grown ups being in Narnia, Frank and Helen weren't needed in England anymore, so they could come and live in Narnia were they were needed, because Narnia needed a king and queen. And when the Pevensies could grow up in Narnia, they were needed, but in PC, there was Caspian and everything was alright in Narnia so they could go home. Then they were needed in England to tell others about the Aslan in England and everything, and bring Eustace in England, but not all of them had to come back with Eustace, and in SC, Eustace could come alone with Jill, because he already knew almost everthing.
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by amarlie24 » Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:52 am

I think in all aspect, age doesn't matter and what really matters is you enjoy your own company and what you love to do not only on your free time but for your everyday routine. And when I get hooked to Chronicles of Narnia, I found a place where I freely can go and explore things in my own perspective way. And for me, this movie/book really never tells you to stop being fond of things what children love to do. Besides, Aslan wanted to be known in the other side of the world where the 4 siblings were living that was why he called them through Lucy's curiosity of the Wardrobe and found a friend in the presence of Mr. Tumnus. As they grew up they still fond of Narnia and wanted to stay there forever, except Susan. But I really like this story even if my age is being added to one every year until I see some white hairs on my head. :D
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Petraverd » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:49 pm

I tend to view it in light of Lewis's dedication in LWW - that there comes a point where we start to draw close to the real and the tangible as opposed to the imagined and the numinous, becoming "too old for fairy tales," but eventually we come to realize that there's more than simply what this world has to offer, and we become old enough to read them again. We can't be a light to the world we live in if we don't take the time to live in it, after all.

And while Peter may have been told he's getting too old - you'll note he makes it back anyway, having become old enough to come back. Susan hasn't got to that point, apparently, but it gives me hope that she will eventually. She just needs to grow a little more. ;)
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Benisse
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Re: Too old for Narnia

Post by Benisse » Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:50 am

Excellent point Petraverd,
that Peter made it back when he was old enough... and that hopefully Susan will make it to Aslan's country/New Narnia when she has grown up more, although her portal to New Narnia may have to be Heaven.
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