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The problem of Susan
(file.garden)
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this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2024
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Technically, it's a short story by Neil Gaiman. Practically, it's definitely Narnia fanfiction except just legally distinct enough Neil Gaiman didn't get sued for it.
It's basically shorthand for, "it's kinda fucked up that they left Susan Pevensie out of Narnia towards the end just because she liked lipstick and dudes now."
IIRC, it wasn't that "she liked lipstick and dudes" but essentially that her thoughts of Narnia became "oh, that funny game we played as kids".
It's not her gender or orientation, it's that she lost her belief in an effort to become more "adult". The lipstick and boys bit is more to emphasize this.
Narnia is apparently like Neverland in this regard. You stop believing and the magic is gone.
The faith of children is also a recurring theme in the Bible.
Matthew 18: 2-4, for instance
1 Corinthians: 13 (one of the most-quoted chapters in the Bible, and a beautiful description of love even if you don't have faith) also compares the difference between childishness and adulthood to the difference between the partial understanding of the universe we have now to true understanding.
In order to see the magic of Narnia, childishness is required, because to see it as an adult is to see beyond the fantastical. In understanding, the ability to see the magic is lost.
Especially when Peter was more than happy to sell her off for political gain in A Horse and His Boy, until he found out the slavers weren't Christian slavers.
A Horse and His Boy was terrible. Gave up halfway through and put off the series for years. Just desert desert desert lazy Muslim analogue desert desert.
Holy shit, I’m glad I’ve never read this drivel.
It's a good series, broadly speaking. You'll find a lot of the story beats repeated in subsequent fantasy novels and isekai manga (Terry Brooks, in particular, loves CA Lewis tropes, Terry Pratchett isn't shy about cribbing from them either, and Brian Jacques's Redwall plays heavily with Lewis's style).
The earlier material is definitely better. Lion, Witch, Wardrobe has been reproduced a zillion times for a reason. Prince Caspian is good. The Silver Chair is good. A Horse and his Boy is good, in large part because it heightens the drama of that last chapter of LW&W so well.
And the books are fairly short. Perfect for younger readers. We pick at the bad parts because they spoil what is largely recognized as a genre setting masterpiece. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's a lot of good material and some incredible worldbuilding in these stories.
If I’m going to read juvenile high fantasy from a controversial figure of the fifties, I think I’ll stick to Monteiro Lobato. But thanks for providing nuance and perspective.
Yeah he went a little mask off in that one specifically, but most kids will miss it I think.
Unless they ask why Aslan mauled the girl who was escaping a forced marriage.
I don’t even want to know…
only christian slavers for my sister 😤😤
And what for my stepsister? ಠ◡ಠ
Gotcha! It's been a long time since I've read the Narnia books so I wasn't sure if the "lipstick and boys" was from the books or this short story.