Summer Challenge 2020 - LWW Sharing thread

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

It's time to begin the Summer Challenge 2020! Here's the reading schedule:

Aug 3 - chapters 1-2
Aug 4 - 3-4
Aug 5 - 5-6
Aug 6 - 7-8
Aug 7 - 9-10
Aug 8 - 11-12
Aug 9 - break/catch-up day
Aug 10 - 13-14
Aug 11 - 15-16
Aug 12 - 17

Each day, share your "reflections" here! These can take many forms, including (but not limited to): artwork, graphics, fanfiction, poetry, or discussion of point(s) that stood out. (Please remember to adhere to rules regarding art, graphics, and links.)

Let the adventure begin....

[Ajnos]

So excited for the Challenge this year! My brain is a little frazzled from figuring out online teaching, but it's nice to do something else fun and more relaxing in the evenings.

Chapter 1:
I was thinking about how we so often gloss over the details in Chapter 1. There are some beautiful details about Prof. Kirke's house and the children's first impressions.

Another thing that caught my attention is how much we learn about the children's character from their dialogue in Chapter 1. So here are some quotations and my thoughts on them.
Peter:
1."We've fallen on our feet and no mistake...This is going to be perfectly splendid. That old chap will let us do anything we like."
2. "No there won't [be a row if they hear us talking]. I tell you this is the sort of house where no one's going to mind what we do. Anyway, they won't hear us. It's about ten minutes' walk from here down to that dining room, and any amount of stairs and passages in between."
3. "It's an owl...This is going to be a wonderful place for birds. I shall go to bed now. I say, let's go and explore to-morrow. You might find anything in a place like this. Did you see those mountains as we came along? And the woods? There might be eagles. There might be stags. There'll be hawks."
4. "Not for me [the wireless and books]. I'm going to explore in the house."
5. (Once looking in the room with the wardrobe) "Nothing there!"

From this, we see Peter as adventurous, especially regarding the outdoors (although also happy to explore indoors). He wants to be active and investigating and isn't interested in other types of entertainment (books and radio). He's not rebellious as such but is keen to get away with as much he can if there aren't grownups trying to stop him. He also has a very practical approach to things (“no one will complain of our noise because we're too far away for them to hear us”).

Susan:
1. "I think he's an old dear," (on the Prof)
2. (Exchange with Edmund): Ed: "Don't go on talking like that." "Like what?" said Susan; "and anyway, it's time you were in bed."Ed "Trying to talk like Mother," ...
3. (Listing animals they would like to see in the woods): “Rabbits!” (“Foxes!” in US edition)
4. "Do stop grumbling, Ed...Ten to one it'll clear up in an hour or so. And in the meantime we're pretty well off. There's a wireless and lots of books."

From this, we see that Susan is the sensible one with mothering tendencies. It may be she feels that Peter’s boyish temperament (wanting to get away with stuff) means she has to act like the grown-up in the group. She is the one who feels that books and listening to the radio (which would have largely given them war news updates, though also played some music) was a good source of entertainment.

Edmund:
1. (In response to Peter and Susan’s praise of the Professor): "Oh, come off it!" said Edmund, who was tired and pretending not to be tired, which always made him bad-tempered. "Don't go on talking like that."
2. (The rest of the exchange with Susan): "Like what?" said Susan; "and anyway, it's time you were in bed." "Trying to talk like Mother," said Edmund. "And who are you to say when I'm to go to bed? Go to bed yourself."
3. (When Lucy hears a noise in the house): "It's only a bird, silly," said Edmund.
4. (Listing animals they would like to see in the woods): “Foxes!” (“Snakes!” in US edition)
5. "Of course it would be raining!"

Edmund comes across as ill-tempered and grumpy. He does not seem to be happy about the situation they are in (or perhaps life in general) and doesn’t hesitate to make it known to his siblings. He also has an argumentative streak and may struggle respecting authority figures.

Lucy:
1. (After Ed and Su’s exchange) "Hadn't we all better go to bed?..."There's sure to be a row if we're heard talking here."
2. "What's that noise?" said Lucy suddenly. It was a far larger house than she had ever been in before and the thought of all those long passages and rows of doors leading into empty rooms was beginning to make her feel a little creepy.
4. (Listing animals they would like to see in the woods): “Badgers!”
5. "Nothing there!" said Peter, and they all trooped out again—all except Lucy. She stayed behind because she thought it would be worth while trying the door of the wardrobe, even though she felt almost sure that it would be locked. To her surprise it opened quite easily, and two moth-balls dropped out.

Lucy is the peacemaker and doesn’t want rows of any kind (between her siblings or from the adults if they catch them talking past bedtime). She also has a sense of nervousness you might expect of a young girl in a big strange house. But she is also curious, as we see in the wardrobe scene.

[Swanwhite]

Chapters 1-2

A big old house
with a hundred doors
and one to another world.

I was thinking about how we so often gloss over the details in Chapter 1.

I've been appreciating those details too Aj. Great analysis from the dialogue! Reading just the dialogue as you have it there really demonstrates how much characterization they accomplish.

[renegadeoftheshire]

Wow Swan!! That clay piece is really cool!!

[Benisse]

Love the posts so far on this thread!
I will be starting a series of photo-haiku (or other short poems) for this challenge.
[My daughter posed for this photo with our family armoire today.]

LWW Haiku #1

Just an old wardrobe
sidelined to this empty room.
But Wait-- Just one peek?

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Chapter 1
@Aj: Wow, I'd quite forgotten about some of those character details, especially Peter! Thanks for laying those out!
Something I'd add to that is that the kids (Peter especially) seem to be almost treating this like a vacation. If it weren't for the opening sentences talking about the war, you might think they were staying with a relative in the country for the summer. There's not a word about the war or even of homesickness (unless one were to interpret Ed's bedtime remark as that, but my impression is that he's just being surly).
Digory also seems pretty cool with just seeing the kids at meals and letting them have the run of the place. Was it a cultural norm to be distant from kid guests (especially when their parents are not present)? Was he too busy to spend much time getting to know them, or not particularly comfortable with people much younger than himself? Did he want to simply build enough rapport that they'd come to him if they needed without making them feel obligated to keep him company? Did he figure his staff would watch them? (Though children back then weren't as extensively supervised as they are today.) Did he remember enjoying unsupervised days in the country as a kid and therefore left the kids to do the same? (I think at least a couple of my questions could be rather decently answered, based on what we know of him as both a child and an adult, but maybe not all.)
(Also, can I just say how jealous I am of the chance those kids had to wander rooms full of books?!)

Chapter 2
It's... seriously scary how fast Tumnus charms Lucy into coming to his home. Not unrealistic, unfortunately (too many examples of this sort of thing in real life).
I'm sure it's been a discussion point before, but from where does Tumnus pull all these stories of pre-Jadis Narnia? My impression of him here is that he's a younger adult (with roughly the lifespan of an ordinary human, especially since he's described as "middle-aged" at the end of the book), but if that is the case, is he just drawing on stories he's heard and his books? Nymphs and Their Ways would cover the water-spirits if not more, The Life and Letters of Silenus (funny, that, since it would appear that he's immortal) would naturally fill in stories of Silenus and Bacchus (quick Google search says Silenus is Bacchus' companion and tutor), and A Study in Popular Legend could have absolutely anything. Or if we go with the Walden interpretation and he was born more than 100 years ago, these could be memories.
Completely switching lines of thoughts on these books, it strikes me as interesting that Jadis hasn't censored one or two. Nymphs sounds harmless enough, Is Man a Myth? could either be dangerous reading or else very useful for one tasked with keeping an eye out for one to kidnap, but what about Silenus? Considering that Lewis puts Silenus in a clean, favourable, on-Aslan's-side light, we can probably assume that the wisdom of Silenus is supposed to be at least decent stuff (I looked at his philosophy on the wikipedia page... not very Narnian), so why would Jadis allow this book to remain in the possession of her follower and/or anyone at all?
Lucy is such a dear. She goes from being frightened to immediately switching tracks and wishing Tumnus would emerge from his sudden fit of despair.
Now, Tumnus. He seems to have changed his tune (heh) on a dime. One moment, he's playing something worth dancing and laughing over (as well as crying and falling asleep to) with the full intention of selling her out; the next, he's bawling hysterically with remorse. At what point did he begin to feel the weight of what he was going to do? Did he dutifully play till Lucy interrupted him and weakened his resolve? Did he enchant himself with his own music only for Lucy to break the spell?
I'm not sure I ever thought before about the weight behind Lucy's announcement of, "I'm here. I'm here. I've come back, I'm all right." Not only has she merely been missing for hours and hours (from her perspective), but she was very nearly kidnapped, never to be seen again. Mind, she doesn't seem to think too much about the kidnapping bit (goodness, does she ever even bring up that part of the story?! I don't remember her ever saying aught of Tumnus but good!), so maybe I'm just reading that extra level of relief into it for her.


I'm going to try making a graphic set per day like I had with MN a couple years ago, but we'll see how that goes....

lyrics from TobyMac's "New World"

[Swanwhite]

Something I'd add to that is that the kids (Peter especially) seem to be almost treating this like a vacation. If it weren't for the opening sentences talking about the war, you might think they were staying with a relative in the country for the summer. There's not a word about the war or even of homesickness (unless one were to interpret Ed's bedtime remark as that, but my impression is that he's just being surly).

Very true. I feel like its valid though, sometimes you can forget things like the war, (or in our case the pandemic) and just enjoy what's immediately around you. The fact that the four of them are altogether would be quite comforting and having a big house and countryside where they could do whatever they liked really would be like a holiday to them. The older kids at least were used to leaving home for boarding school, and Lucy is pretty brave and inclined to find the good in things.

Chapter 2
It's... seriously scary how fast Tumnus charms Lucy into coming to his home. Not unrealistic, unfortunately (too many examples of this sort of thing in real life).

Yeah, sometimes I almost feel like there should be a similar warning here to the "don't shut yourself up in a wardrobe" one.

Completely switching lines of thoughts on these books, it strikes me as interesting that Jadis hasn't censored one or two. Nymphs sounds harmless enough, Is Man a Myth? could either be dangerous reading or else very useful for one tasked with keeping an eye out for one to kidnap, but what about Silenus? Considering that Lewis puts Silenus in a clean, favourable, on-Aslan's-side light, we can probably assume that the wisdom of Silenus is supposed to be at least decent stuff (I looked at his philosophy on the wikipedia page... not very Narnian), so why would Jadis allow this book to remain in the possession of her follower and/or anyone at all?

Perhaps she wasn't wise enough to see the danger in books It was books that snuck past Lewis's own defenses and helped to save him.

I could also see questioning whether or not man was a myth would have factored into his reasoning in agreeing to capture one. Agreeing to catch bigfoot /if/ you find him shouldn't weigh too heavily on your conscious.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Swan: I suppose too that, out in the country, the war is going to be more “out of sight, out of mind” apart from the fact of why they’re out there at all.
Say, yeah! It’s okay to walk off with magical creatures without question their intentions, but under no circumstances are you to shut yourself into a wardrobe?
Haha, maybe! I am curious as to how Myth was written. Does it reach a conclusion? Is it a single author weighing the evidence for and against Man? Is it a collection from multiple authors writing from a single or multiple perspectives? So many ways that book could go!

[Swanwhite]

@ Ariel It's also evocative of the age old tradition of judging a person by the contents of their book shelf which I enjoy doing when visiting people's homes.


@Ren Thanks! and nice Lucy art I appreciate the detail of snow on the branches.


@Benisse I like the photo-haiku format! They complement each other well. Kudos to Eden playing Lucy!

[Ajnos]

@Swan: Love, love, love the picture!
@Ren: Love your drawing! It's a cool angle to look at Lucy from, and you draw so much better than I could.
@Benisse: Haikus are fun ways to sum up chapters. I'm not good at being that brief, so I'm impressed when others can do it. Also, I'm really enjoying the little leaf pattern on the amoire.

@ Ariel: Like Swan said, I think they felt rather far from the war. I believe from the traditional dating, and the fact they were sent to the country for the summer, that this happened during the Blitz. But apart from that, I think the War felt quite distant to a lot of the British because much was happening on the Continent. From what Ed says later, the schools hadn't been closed (though he would have been at boarding school away from the city), so it seems much of life was just going on as normal.

On Tumnus "remembering" the good old days, I think we did have a discussion on this before. Either we have to give fauns a really long life-span (in which case, you'd expect him to already be grey like his father), or he's sharing passed-down memories. In truth, I suspect that Lewis hadn't decided on making the winter last 100 years at this point and he never fixed it Interesting thought about Jadis not censoring the books. I guess he was informally in her pay and as long as he promised to bring information, she didn't care about his private life. Perhaps the books had been in the family for as long as the legends about Silenus.

@Swan: On there not being a warning against "going home with strangers", I kinda think that this story itself is a warning against it. But more so, we then have Edmund also accepting food from strangers so by the time we get to Book 4, the lesson seems quite clearly to be - don't accept food and hospitality from someone you don't know.