In many of the Narnia books, the adventure begins with an escape. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the four children are at the Professor’s house because of the London blitz, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrub are fleeing from an imminent attack, Bree and Shasta run from a life of slavery, and so on. Escaping from something dreadful (or at the very least, unpleasant) to something beautiful, for Narnia is a beautiful world. They can't stay for long, though. One of the Narnian oddities is the different system of time: the children are always dropped off in the midst of whatever difficulties they left behind.
So maybe Narnia is a just a fantastic escape from the troubles and care of this work, but if it is, at least I know I’m in good company.
Does this suggest Narnia is an escape in the form of a respite? For the children always do return to our world and to the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded again of Tolkien's comment that it's odd to criticize some stories as escapist when (as you point out) escape is typically a very good thing.