As I read those stories now, I am, for the most part, Lucy, though I have to admit that I see a lot of Eustice in me too. And some Jill. But for some reason, the first time I read them, I really wanted to be Susan. She was the older, more regal queen-- sophisticated, wise, brave, courted by princes. Then I read The Last Battle.
Now, if YOU haven’t read The Last Battle, you probably ought to stop here. Consider this the spoiler alert. Instead, go find all seven books of the Chronicles and read them, but for goodness sake, read them in the order in which they were originally published and not in Narnian chronological order. Lewis published them in the order he did for a reason… they really do build upon each other, spiritual truth upon spiritual truth, so don’t let the pure plot of the story get in the way of the most important ideas.
Spoiler alert aside, The Last Battle made me so angry at C.S. Lewis that I vowed I am not about to read the next book. I’m done with this stuff. Oh yeah… this is The Last Battle… and the last book in the series, no matter which way you read it. So much for catharsis.
You see, what made me so very mad was that at the end of the series, the end of Narnia, the end of the characters’ time in the Shadow-lands of either world, Susan was missing.
“Sir,” said Tirian, when he had greeted all these [ancient kings and queens of Narnia]. “If I have read the chronicles aright, there should be another. Has not your Majesty two sisters? Where is Queen Susan?
“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely, “is no longer a friend of Narnia.”
“Yes,” said Eustace, “and whenever you’ve tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says ‘What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.’”
Lewis C.S., The Last Battle (New York: Collier Books, 1978. 134-135.)
Are you kidding me? I was there… Susan went in through the wardrobe, got a bow and arrows and a dagger from Father Christmas, walked with Aslan as he strode toward the Stone Table, watch the first ray of dawn strike Aslan’s lifeless form, saw the Table crack as the magic worked backwards and Aslan came to life, fought only when necessary to defeat the White Witch, and was crowned a Queen of Narnia at Cair Paravel… and once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia… right? And that was just in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. For goodness sake, Susan was my hero. What do you mean she doesn’t make it back to Narnia at the end? She had the same adventures as the rest of the children and yet Susan is missing at the end!!! Jack Lewis, you’ve gotta be kidding me!
But sadly, he wasn’t.
Lewis, over fifty years ago, had his finger on something that has come to fruition at an alarming rate in recent years. Our kids are leaving the faith. They categorize the spiritual training they receive in their youth as “funny games we used to play when we were children.” The difference between Lewis’ portrayal of older adolescent apostasy and what’s happening in our world today is that not only are we losing Susan, but Peter and even Lucy aren’t doing too well either.
We have to ask ourselves a couple of hard questions:
1. Who is Susan?
2. What, if anything, can we do to save Susan?
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