Some Thoughts on the State of Susan in the Last Battle - Jacob (Blog Post 6)

 I think people often misinterpret what is going on with Susan in the Last Battle. People often assume that Susan is no longer a friend of Narnia simply because she's interested in makeup” They assume Lewis is making a point about the female sex. However, I really do not think that is what is going on. The siblings mention that when they tried to get her to come to Narnia she replied by saying, “What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.” It’s not about her being interested in makeup. It’s about her losing her inner child. She reduces the child-like to the childish. There is a famous quote by Lewis, which states, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” We often dismiss fairy tales as mere silly little things to entertain those who are easily entertained. We mistake their simplicity for shallowness. Yet, it is precisely their simplicity which allows them to capture something. We often assume that the process of growing older involves us getting more sophisticated. However, often this growth in sophistication is nothing more than us taking on new garments of skin which need to be peeled away like Aslan peels the dragon scales on Eustace. Christ says, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” A child lives in a world of wonder. Everything he encounters is filled with the light of heaven. Yet, as we get older, we too often learn to dismiss this childlike wonder as silliness. When one does this too much, one becomes like Weston and Devine. They may be successful in worldly terms, yet they know nothing of being human. They never appreciate the glory of what surrounds them and can only think of exploitation.