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Kelvarhin
Half-elven
Aug 21 2017, 4:11am
Post #1 of 5
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Fantasy Literature for Children Week 4 - The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe Part 1
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Hi All
Firstly, my apologies for missing last week, real life intervened quite severely, so I wasn't able to post the Week 3 lecture, which was about Beauty and the Beast. (You didn't miss anything too interesting to be honest).
I've decided to leave that one and just continue with this weeks questions which is the first of the novel readings, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. I hope you enjoy this week's set of questions.
The children’s adventures in Narnia are an experience in extremes - they take part in fierce battles and witness terrible acts of cruelty, but are also indulged with the home comforts of hot tea, buttered toast, and marmalade pudding.
1. Consider and contrast the significance of the fierce battles juxtaposed with home comforts in the novel.
2. Consider the violence and battles that are fought in Narnia and contrast with the ‘real world’ setting of World War II. Do you see any parallels?
3. Do you think Lewis was commenting on the War?
4. What is the link between adventures and the importance of food
5. Consider the hospitality in the novel from - Mr. Tumnus, The Beavers, Father Christmas versus the White Witch’s magical Turkish Delight and the connotations of gluttony and excess
6. What is the significance of following a grueling trek through Narnia or a great battle by feasting?
Influences from other sources:
Consider the role and significance of the following in the novel
1. Religious - Christian allegory
2. Pagan - Stone table
3. Mythological - minotaur, centaurs
4. Fairy Tale elements - giants, unicorns, magic
5. Modern fantasy conventions - magic portals etc
I've got the first of my major assignments due next week for one of my psychology units, so I'll be concentrating on getting that finished. I will try and drop by, but, once again, it just might not be possible. I'm loving being back and university and studying again, but, boy does it take up a lot of my time! (I've also got to get the assignment for this unit finished, which is due in two weeks  )
Cheers all
Kel x
This is what happens when your tiger printer slowly runs out of ink 
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Annael
Immortal
Aug 21 2017, 3:32pm
Post #2 of 5
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buttered toast in British kids' novels
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I've been aware for decades of just how important buttered toast is to children in GB, from reading various novels (not just fantasy). Seems like adventures are always followed by tea and buttered toast! I had just been taken off wheat by my doctor when I started reading the Harry Potter novels. This was before there were good gluten-free breads, just the awful rice-flour ones, and how jealous I was of those kids in their common room, toasting bread by the fire!
I'm curious though. My experience of toast in England is well-dried out, cold pieces standing in a rack carefully designed to dry out and cool bread until it's hard, after which one attempts to scrape butter across it. Is that what these children are eating, or is it toast as we know it on the other side of the pond, nice and warm and heavily buttered?
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Aug 21 2017, 3:39pm)
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Ciars
Rohan
Aug 21 2017, 6:53pm
Post #3 of 5
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I always loved the lion, the witch and the wardrobe books as a child and I can remember being stunned to find out that the author came from my city! My memories are based on my childhood reading but I've always thought that Aslan was speaking as the author and he definitely was espousing a rejection of war and violence, the together, peace and family entwined with nature (even including to some extent the prodigal son in Edmund ) points to a Christian ethos but an ethos that was non judgemental, though it was sad that Caspian and Susan were driven apart, I always felt they belonged together but maybe that was a stretch to far for C.S. Lewis. Being from the North, food and I'd definitely say "hot" buttered toast (I know of no other kind) is indicative of Irish hospitality , the "sure, you'll have a cup of tea?" Is present here in real life as well as in novels, TV- Father Ted, famously parodied this and in film, some say it's a throw back to the famine and is ingrained in Irish psyche, others that it's simply a given. Any house I enter and indeed any who enter mine, the offer is there almost instantly of tea and biscuits, not to mention a bite of whatever is on offer for dinner! The home comforts offset the violence as a reminder that peace triumphs war, the age old laws of not breaking hospitality, though the white witch does take that to extremes, almost mocking the home comforts by the taste of the exotic, perhaps a warning that the grass is not always green on the the other side or perhaps a devilish temptation? In Ireland, the Christian faith adopted/ placed in stories many of the pagan traditions in order to be accepted by the people, that may or not be the source of the sacrificial element and the stone table, the forgiveness met certainly resonates strongly with Christianity and of course the table brings images of the cross leading to new life and redemption can't really be hidden, it almost shouts out the link to christianity. I remember though always being fascinated as a child that there were no snakes in Ireland as St Patrick had got rid of them, it was a bit of a let down to discover much older, that the snake was a pagan symbol and that St Patrick in bringing Christianity had removed the pagans (the snakes) from Ireland, I'd always imagined him battling actual serpents and winning! As for the magical elements, sure they are real! Halloween /feast of all souls has its roots in the age old Samhain rituals. With the magical elements, not so long ago in the Dáil, a successful appeal was made about not building a road through fairy trees but to go around them, Irish legends are full of magical creatures because they are the hidden parts we cannot see, Tír na nÓg has been around well for ever so why not the rest!  That all probably explains why my younger self got trapped in a wardrobe years ago looking for Narnia, it seemed believable that a magical land could lie just out of normal sight, the door just didn't open for me then, but who knows what the future can bring?
(This post was edited by Ciars on Aug 21 2017, 7:02pm)
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Ethel Duath
Half-elven
Aug 22 2017, 3:48am
Post #4 of 5
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I always thought it was like this, from the W. in the Willows.
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I want this more than I can describe.
"When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries."
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Darkstone
Immortal
Aug 22 2017, 5:09pm
Post #5 of 5
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"Careful with that bow, Susan! You’ll shoot your eye out!"
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But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
-Isaiah 13:21
1. Consider and contrast the significance of the fierce battles juxtaposed with home comforts in the novel.
Home and comforts (“baseball, hot dogs, motherhood, and apple pie”) are the reason many fight. (Do the British fight for “cricket, crumpets, mum, and clotted cream”?) Of course politicians invoke higher ideals (“Truth, Justice, and the American Way”), but when the common soldier is at his lonely post it’s the comforts of home he does his best to replicate, not the trappings of philosophical ideals.
2. Consider the violence and battles that are fought in Narnia and contrast with the ‘real world’ setting of World War II. Do you see any parallels?
The question is whether to serve in the wars at the command of the civil society to which we belong is a wicked action, or an action morally indifferent, or an action morally obligatory.
C.S. Lewis, Why I Am Not A Pacifist
Participation in both Tolkien’s and Lewis’s wars are morally obligatory. The authors have deliberately made sure our protagonists fight in a just war. WWII is viewed as a just war for the Western Allies, but with its origin in the harsh armistice terms of the Great War of Tolkien’s and Lewis’ youth it becomes less morally defensible.
3. Do you think Lewis was commenting on the War?
Yup.
4. What is the link between adventures and the importance of food.
“Adventures are never fun while you’re having them.”
-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Food during adventures is usually uninsipred hardtack, waybread, cram, or lembas, or perhaps a hastily killed, dressed, and cooked animal, or some berries or roots gathered during the march.
But adventures tend to be high calorie-burning experiences, so hunger is an ever present danger. Hunger can be disastrous, either slowing travel, increasing the chance of sickness, or making one weak in the face of battle. Not to mention that nutrition is a most basic remedy for injury.
5. Consider the hospitality in the novel from - Mr. Tumnus...
The hospitality Tumnus extends to Lucy in the snow of winter mirrors that in Aesop’s fable of The Satyr’s hospitality towards The Peasant. Aesop’s fable, after being retold in La Fontaine's Fables, was an inspiration for a lot of 16th and 17th century art, especially, for some reason, in the Netherlands. Also, like Tumnus and Lucy, The Satyr and The Peasant suffer a slight misunderstanding.
...The Beavers,...
Beavers tend to be known for an innate foresight necessary to prepare for winter. (However some beaver families are found in their dam starved to death after they ran out food.) This insight may well be why the Beavers are the ones who relate the prophecy to the Pevensies and initiate their quest. BTW, Swedes are known to serve beaver butt liqueur in their hospitality:
http://blossommerz.blogspot.com/...swedish-liqueur.html
...Father Christmas...
hare comes i ould father Christmas welcom or welcom not
i hope ould father Christmas will never be forgot
ould father Christmas a pair but woance a yare
he lucks like an ould man of 4 score yare.
-“Truro: A Play for Christmas”, 1780s
Father Christmas comes “welcome or not”, defying the rules of hospitality (especially those of the grumpier Christian sects), but he comes to give the young children what they want (Malibu Barbie, Hatchimals, Furbys, Red Ryder BB guns with a compass in the stock, etc.), and the older children what they need (socks, school supplies, swords and shields, bows and arrows, healing potions, etc.).
...versus the White Witch’s magical Turkish Delight and the connotations of gluttony and excess.
Supposedly true Turkish Delight is unobtainable except in Istanbul. (The way of making it is a closely kept secret and also its freshness does not travel well.) All other so-called Turkish Delights, no matter how delicious, are but pale imitations of the real deal. So one would be dubious of the ability of the White Witch to produce true Turkish Delight. Thus hers must be a mere mockery of Turkish Delight, as are all things produced by Evil. Note that in many fairy stories fairy food seems delicious, but non-nutritious, and if the mortal manages to return to the real world with fairy food in his pockets it turns to ash or dust or something even less wholesome. Basically Edmund has sold his soul for a lie.
6. What is the significance of following a grueling trek through Narnia or a great battle by feasting?
To replenish energy, to speed the recovery of strength, and to encourage healing. Not to mention induce bonds of fellowship. Also, good food delights all five senses, so it reaffirms one's survival.
Influences from other sources:
Consider the role and significance of the following in the novel
1. Religious - Christian allegory
”She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”
“Death itself would start working backward” is a succinct enough summation of the Gospels.
2. Pagan - Stone table
As pagans were Christianized many pagan practices were absorbed by the new religion. Pagan deities became saints, pagan festivals became holy days, pagan rituals became Church liturgy. (Not to mention Christmas trees and Easter eggs.)
Curiously, a stone table is a fixture in many Turkish Christian courtyards and cemeteries, and in some communities is still used for animal sacrifices (“kurban”). Of course in Narnia the stone table upon which Aslan dies also represents the cross upon which Christ died. And finally, as the old laws were written upon the stone table, its breaking symbolizes the end of the Old Testament laws (such as the stone tablet engraved Ten Commandments) that Jesus’ coming superceded.
3. Mythological - minotaur, centaurs
The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity’. The child enjoys his cold meat (otherwise dull to him) by pretending it is buffalo, just killed with his own bow and arrow. And the child is wise. The real meat comes back to him more savoury for having been dipped in a story; you might say that only then is it the real meat. If you are tired of the real landscape, look at it in a mirror. By putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the very roads into a myth, we do not retreat from reality: we rediscover it. As long as the story lingers in our mind, the real things are more themselves. This book applies the treatment not only to bread or apple but to good and evil, to our endless perils, our anguish, and our joys. By dipping them in myth we see them more clearly. I do not think he could have done it in any other way.
-CS Lewis, From “Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’”
4. Fairy Tale elements - giants, unicorns, magic
The other longing, that for fairy land, is very different. In a sense a child does not long for fairy land as a boy longs to be the hero of the first eleven [grades in school]. Does anyone suppose that he really and prosaically longs for all the dangers and discomforts of a fairy tale?—really wants dragons in contemporary England? It is not so. It would be much truer to say that fairy land arouses a longing for he knows not what. It stirs and troubles him (to his life-long enrichment) with the dim sense of something beyond his reach and, far from dulling or emptying the actual world, gives it a new dimension of depth. He does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all the real woods a little enchanted. This is a special kind of longing. The boy reading the school story of the type I have in mind desires success and is unhappy (once the book is over) because he can’t get it: the boy reading the fairy tale desires and is happy in the very fact of desiring. For his mind has not been concentrated on himself, as it often is in the more realistic story.
—CS Lewis, from “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”
5. Modern fantasy conventions - magic portals etc
Both Lewis and Tolkien were inspired to begin writing novels by David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus (1920). Both greatly praised his work. Lindsay’s later story “The Haunted Woman” (1921) features a magical portal in contemporary Sussex. The two might have also read HG Wells’ “The Door in the Wall” from Wells’ short story collection of the same name, about a magic portal in contemporary London. The portals in both stories lead to tragedy as those who enter cannot reconcile their fantastical experiences with their rational minds. Christianity, and indeed most religions, requires faith over reason. Trying to rationally prove that God actually exists, or that Jesus really lived, or that the Bible is literally true leads one away from God. It is faith that leads one to God, not reason. (Though admittedly logic did seem to work for Tolkien in convincing Lewis to become Christian.)
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"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
- CS Lewis, “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”
(This post was edited by Darkstone on Aug 22 2017, 5:17pm)
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