Saturday, November 10, 2018

Narnian Owls by Rebekah Walton

What kind of Owls should be used for references for the Narnian Owls? I have done some research on this subject because I believe it is an important factor. Firstly, how many owl types are there: 216 species.
(Pictures of each)

https://www.audubon.org/news/learn-identify-five-owls-their-calls

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/learn-to-identify-the-distinctive-calls-of-owls/

https://www.thespruce.com/owl-identification-tips-387325

https://www.owlpages.com/owls/sounds.php

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/owls-you-might-hear-night


According to these I think the owls should be Barred Owls.


You read these pages and then go back and read the book lines and then you decide for yourself.

Is Susan Lost? By Rebekah Walton




Really, this a terrible question it presents the asker of it as a person who does not care about anyone else, the dwarves, Harold and Alberta and the rest of the people on that trainwreck. 

After all, those people should be important as well, but, the person asking Is Susan Lost cares nothing about those other people and only cares about a person who did not die and therefore the story does not tell us the ending of. We do not know the ending of Susan. 

All we know is that right now she thinks her siblings are being rather silly. But, earlier in the Chronicles of Narnia we say statements like ‘‘Once a King or Queen of Narnia always a king or queen of Narnia’’, which means to me if you just forget about something that does not make it any less true. 

Let’s look at what the seven friends of Narnia said about 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.’”

 "Oh, Susan! She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up." –Jill Pole

"Grown-up, indeed. I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can."- Polly

Now, let’s look at what Lewis mentioned about her later:

Lewis wrote to a young reader in 1957: “The books don’t tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there’s plenty of time for her to mend and perhaps she will get to Aslan’s country in the end . . . in her own way.”

In his Companion to Narnia, Paul F. Ford writes at the end of the entry for Susan Pevensie that "Susan's is one of the most important Unfinished Tales of The Chronicles of Narnia", but adds in Footnote 1 for that entry:
‘‘This is not to say, as some critics have maintained, that she is lost forever ... It is a mistake to think that Susan was killed in the railway accident at the end of The Last Battle and that she has forever fallen from grace. It is to be assumed, rather, that as a woman of twenty-one who has just lost her entire family in a terrible crash, she will have much to work through; in the process, she might change to become truly the gentle person she has the potential for being.’’

Someone  on Narniaweb said, ‘‘He never said Susan was permanently barred from Narnia, just that – at the time of LB – she was preoccupied with more shallow things to the neglect of the important things.’’

 Which to me is exactly the point. But, also, wow, no one is thinking about Harold and Alberta who lost their son and the Pevensies save Susan in a car accident. They were also too preoccupied about being healthy to think about Christ. But, surely  they saw what a different child Eustace was once he came back from Narnia. 

According to the books, when Eustace returns home after his adventures, his mother thinks he has become tiresome and commonplace, blaming the change on the influence of "those Pevensie children" — though everyone else thinks he has become a much better person. But, surely after the death of their son and the Pevensies, both Harold and Alberta would go over to the house where Susan was living and would mourn over their deaths. 

So, the question should not be Is Susan Lost, but rather How long is it going to take Susan to come back to realizing what is right? Susan was not the only person who lost people in that train accident and likely, some boy lost a family member in that accident as well. And then when she comes to mourn and put flowers at the accident she meets the young man who also came to do the same thing……Oh, sorry, a fan fiction in the works….

But, really when I think of Susan all I can think about is how her story is ripe for fan fiction. 

And this is the basis of Lewis’ beliefs about fan fiction in relation to Narnia. Writing to a young fan, C.S Lewis states, “I am delighted to hear that you liked the Narnian books. There is a map at the end of some of them in some editions. But why not do one yourself! And why not write stories for yourself to fill up the gaps in Narnian history? I’ve left you plenty of hints – especially where Lucy and the Unicorn are talking...I feel I have done all I can!"(104).

 In this way, Lewis is saying I have written books to encourage fan fiction and creativity. So, if you are so worried about Susan being lost, why don’t you write your own fan fiction already?






 Just to get you started, here’s an idea HPofNARNIA and Fireberry suggested  on Narniaweb:

 Susan has someone arrive at her door.
"Hey, I’m sorry to say this to you but- your family is dead"
Susan: *Eyes wide open* "What!"
"There was a terrible Accident. your Parents, your Brothers and Sister and your Cousin were in a train, it crashed and killed them, along with your Cousin’s friend, the Professor you stayed with and his friend. They’re all dead. I’m sorry."
Susan: *Gasp* 
That’s all I can think of.
… And the next day, Susan goes to the scene of the railway accident to lay down a huge wreath of flowers … and by the side of the tracks, she notices something … green and yellow rings? She approaches and reaches down to pick up a yellow ring. and … TO BE CONTINUED!

So, there’s your jumpstart, write away. 
Or since Netflix now owns Narnia, here's your ending to The Last Battle.