13 - On power
from Part II - Thinker
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2010
Summary
In recent years, C.S. Lewis has been publicly criticized for using his children's fiction to propagate a particular kind of Christianity, one built on a 'rigid hierarchy of power' that negates personal responsibility. For journalist Polly Toynbee, this rigidity is embodied in the Narnian world 'of obedient plebs and inferior folk eager to bend at the knee to any passing superior white persons - even children'. For author Philip Pullman, this hierarchical structure is inimical to story as such, which for him is inherently concerned with growth towards maturity and responsibility. The test case, for Pullman, is Lewis's (supposed) final mention of Susan Pevensie: “[I]n The Last Battle, notoriously, there's the turning away of Susan from the Stable (which stands for salvation) because 'She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up'. In other words, Susan, like Cinderella, is undergoing a transition from one phase of her life to another. Lewis didn't approve of that.”
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- The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis , pp. 174 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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