“They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
Okay, before I begin this slightly long and ramble-y review, I need to add that I am not Christian or religious. Not even a little bit. That’s not to say I completely dismiss the notion that there could be a God, just that I personally do not believe in one.
I also need to say that I always loved the Narnia books, especially the ones that centred around the Pevensie children. But there is one Narnia book that never quite sat right with me…
As a child I’m not sure what my reaction was to The Last Battle, when I was a teenager I read it again and felt a little…uncomfortable.
Now this isn’t going to be a slander on C.S.Lewis and how racist/misogynist some of his tales were, (because in some cases they were.) Because I don’t think it’s fair to scrutinize him with the logic of someone who lives in 2020 when at the time he wrote the books it was only 1956.
The Last Battle should be something you immediately love, all of our favourite characters return to Narnia and not just the Narnia that we all fell in love with, but a new, better Narnia. Amazing, wohoo! Except someone is left behind.
I am of course, talking about Susan.
Susan is left behind and alive in our world, not being able to return to Narnia because she no longer believes and is more interested in “lipstick, nylons and invitations.”
Now I understand the message Lewis was trying to give, that you shouldn’t cast aside your spirituality or faith for more frivolous superficial things, that you should always remain faithful despite where life takes you. I get the message and I think I could have lived with it if it were for one thing; No one seems to care.
They discuss Susan for a total of what, a minute? Calling her silly before Peter abruptly says something along the lines of “let us talk of more pleasant things…oh look a tree, let us taste it’s fruit.” WHATTTTTTT?!?
This is where it gets me, these kids have all been through magical adventures together, grown up together and have that bond that only siblings have. They’ve just been told that they have died in our world and are going to live forever happily in Narnia while Susan is…(well it’s implied) going to hell for essentially liking lipstick and nobody blinks. Her siblings act as though they don’t care, or worse that they are angry;
“Our sister Susan,” Answered Peter, shortly and gravely, “Is no longer a friend of Narnia.”
This is the Susan that throughout all the other books looked out for her brothers and sisters safety, ruled over Narnia as Susan the Gentle and nobody cares that she has more or less been condemned? The hypocrisy here is that in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, they all went through such desperate lengths to save Edmund but apparently Susan was just not worth the trouble.
Lewis did state that Susan might find her way back to Narnia later in life, “in her own way.” And you know I hope she does, but when she gets there I’m not sure her family deserves her.
Anyway, the writing for the Last Battle is just as vivid and beautiful as the rest of the books and of course the Christian allegory is still there. The battle scene itself is incredibly well-written and the ending is just that…An end to a wonderful series. It’s just a shame that the end for Susan wasn’t nearly as nice as it should have been.
For a darker look at Susan’s treatment, I recommend reading Neil Gaiman’s short story The Problem of Susan which I believe you can find here >> https://talesofmytery.blogspot.com/2014/11/neil-gaiman-problem-of-susan.html
Best wishes,
— Rachel Writes x
The Talking Bookshelf 