what would you have me do?

realized that the "problem of susan" misinterpretation is going to explode when the new narnia reboot drops and started chomping at the bit

say it with me, kids: SUSAN WAS NOT KICKED OUT OF NARNIA FOR LIKING BOYS AND MAKEUP. SHE LIKED BOYS AND MAKEUP WHILE SHE WAS A BELOVED QUEEN OF NARNIA. SHE DIDN'T GO TO NARNIA BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO PRETEND IT WASN'T REAL. SHE WAS REPRESENTATIVE OF CS LEWIS'S, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, "ATHIEST PHASE" WHICH WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF HIS LIFE AND HE ALWAYS INTENDED FOR HER TO EVENTUALLY COME HOME TO NARNIA THE WAY HE CONVERTED BACK. HE ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO WRITE FANFIC ABOUT IT AND APPARENTLY HAD FINALLY BEGUN WORK ON A SUSAN BOOK RIGHT BEFORE HE DIED. LEWIS WAS NEVER SAYING HER FEMININITY DAMNED HER TO HELL. FOR FUCK'S SAKE

Everybody also tends to forget that the "lipstick and nylons" line came from Jill. While the books never dig too far into it, Jill very much had a "not like other girls" complex, which tends to come along with disdain towards the traditional trappings of femininity. C.S. Lewis certainly never said anything that would make one thing he had a problem with lipstick and nylons and dating -- but Jill did, and as usual people like to conflate the words of a character with the opinion of the author.

Susan is my favorite Pevensie, not for who she was in the books, but rather for the symbol she became. Her ending is ambiguous, open-ended. We do not know if she found her way back to Narnia and, more importantly, Aslan. We only know that she drifted from and lost her faith. But C.S. Lewis made the point to say that her damnation is not a forgone conclusion. And that is so important to me.

The Chronicles of Narnia are, without a doubt, a Christian allegory, possibly the most famous and widely read Christian allegory in modern times. And there is a character who has lost her faith but whose story does not end with it gone forever. She is not damned for having lost her faith. She suffers for it, yes, but her suffering is not the end, simply the middle, with possibility and hope on her horizon should she choose it.

That is possibly one of the most important messages of The Chronicles of Narnia, especially in this day and age when more and more young people are setting aside their faith (usually after bad experiences, which, hey, if you need space from toxic interpretations of God's Word, I don't blame you).

The important thing to remember is, turning away now does not prevent your return, however and whenever you find your way back. God's love is neverending and He will not turn away those who come to Him in good faith, no matter how long they were gone (and don't let anyone ever tell you any differently).

On the Problem of Susan

Susan's story is important to me because like Susan was no longer a friend of Narnia, I fell away from Yahweh. Susan's story is the story of lost faith.

I found my way back to Yahweh and in parallel I believe Susan eventually found her way to Aslan, Narnia, and her family.

The reason Susan wasn't on the train that day wasn't because she was no longer a friend of Narnia, but because Aslan was giving her more time to find her way back.

The problem of Susan isn't a problem. It's a beautiful and incomplete (open-ended) character arc that's a parallel to the journey of lost and found faith that many of us go through.

Remember how when Tirian saw the Kings and Queen of Old for the first time, he couldn’t help but ask after their sister? Remember how Peter swallowed the lump in his throat to be as diplomatic a leader as he could be, saying she “wasn’t a friend,” and hoping they would move on? Remember how Lucy and Edmund kept quiet as Jill and Eustace and Polly took their turns sharing their thoughts, never interrupting, never defending her, because they knew that what they said wasn’t all wrong? They didn’t know Susan forgot to defend them, that day, too. They just didn’t have the strength to defend her any longer.

Because don’t you remember how Susan’s siblings would pray for her every night, even when they couldn’t bear to talk to her? How even though they nearly hated her at times, they loved her so much that sometimes all they could do was offer their fears and hopes to God, as they prayed that she would see him, too?

Remember how Lucy left a drawing in the back of her bible; a little lamppost “for Susan” in case she never “did the things she did before?” Remember how Peter wrote down all his thoughts and lessons and prayers in a journal, and even if he didn’t mention her name, his love for Susan bled onto every page? Remember how Edmund kept a prayer journal, as an effort to keep himself focused, and every other page contained his fears for her, his love for her, his worry for her, his hopes for her, and the pain he felt at seeing her turn from the person who saved him?

Don’t you remember how much they cared?

And don’t you remember that Lucy asked Aslan constantly if Susan would remember, and every time he told her the same thing: No one is told any story but their own. Don’t you remember how much she longed for a direct answer? Remember how her face lit up the day she saw a glint in Aslan’s eye that suggested her sister would be coming home?

Remember how Peter, Edmund, and Lucy were the first to greet her inside the gates?

Don’t you? Can’t you?

Well, then, don’t you remember how Susan collected it all in a box? The stories Polly had been writing, about magic rings and quiet woods, and Lucy’s bible, and her brothers’ journals? Don’t you remember when she read them? How she met Aunt Alberta for the first time in years, and discovered more mystery in Eustace’s journal than she’d have ever thought him capable of? Remember, won’t you, how the 7 Friends of Narnia left pieces of themselves behind, and how they formed into a path for one lost girl to follow?

Remember when Susan remembered?

Remember, please, that there was always a place for Susan. An empty chair at the dinner table; an empty throne in the castle; and a lamppost in the woods. Remember that Susan forgot, but would never be forgotten.

Remember.

Remember.

Like Susan.

^^^

This is amazingly beautiful and I support this wholeheartedly but side note

There’s this part in LWW where Lewis is describing “the cry of the gills”: he says something like “oh, can you hear it? Do you remember?” And it always strikes a chord in me when I read that line because it’s like he’s suggesting that somewhere along the line, we were there in Narnia with them, and he’s re-telling us that story. That’s what all of your “do you remember?”s remind me of. 💜

Oh my gosh, that’s adorable, thank you! I love that part, too. Somehow his, “Do you remember?” makes the imagery come alive far more than ordinary description. It’s so desperately passionate, begging us to feel it with him. And while I didn’t mean to draw on that, I am so glad you were reminded of it, because it’s really beautiful and fitting for the feelings I wanted to evoke. “Come on, feel this with me. Do you remember it? Doesn’t it call to you?” It’s how I felt writing this, and it’s how I want my followers to feel, as well. Remember it with me. We were all there.