Into the Wardrobe

"You know, he could have written it so that Susan was also on the train with her parents, and died on the wreck too, being eternally separated from the all! But he didn't. God also gives us chances to turn back to Him."

Yes, that is what I have been trying to say here. The fact that Susan did not die in the end as all the others, gives the reader plenty of hope for her return to Aslan(which I, & I believe most fans also, think that is what she would have done).

Besides, Lewis already wrote one version of "Susan's story" years before -- that of Jane in THS (old-timers here will tire of hearing me repeat this idea:-). Jane is a sort of grown up Susan who eventually comes to know Aslan by the name he is known in this world, ie, Maleldil (and by the way, the parallels between THS and The Last Battle are very curious and interesting -- read the decriptions of Aslan's mane, and of the Christ figure in THS, Ransom when Jane first sees his golden beard, Ginger losing the ability to speak and the banquet at Belbury, the ruining of Narnia and the effects of the NICE on Edgestow, and even the "night run" in both stories, on and on. It's as though the grown up version of Susan, Jane had to experience what happened in LB in a different way in our world, coming through it all this time giving up childish things to find Maleldil.

--Stanley

CS Lewis also wrote another version of Susan's story in "Till We Have Faces," Which is about losing one's faith after loss of a loved one, & regaining it eventually, after struggling with that loss.

Hi, I'm rather new here and am unsure how to use the "quote" feature, so I'm just going to cut and paste; please excuse my ignorance.

I think Carol made a most valid point:
(quote) "It's important to realise WHY Susan was written this way.
Lewis knew that this is what happens to real people - for various reasons, they turn away from a faith experience and deny it was ever true. They laugh at others' continuance of faith and Christian walk, declare how enlightened and mature they themselves are, and fill their lives with things that are interesting or even valid but should not take the place of knowing God.
Most Christians know someone who has done this - and when that is someone close to us it is sometimes heartbreaking.
But Lewis gives hope, as he indicates that she is still alive, and therefore still has the same chance to come back to faith as any other person alive in England." (end of quote)

A dear friend of mine had a son who received Christ as Savior at an early age. He seemed to have it all together all through high school, working with younger children through our church's youth ministry and as a junior counselor at a Christian summer camp. He even spoke of going into the ministry. Then he went to college. For the first time, he met people who not only disagreed with Christianity, but who were openly hostile toward it; unfortunately, some of these people were his professors. He found himself ridiculed, verbally assaulted, even given lower grades in some classes. His parents watched him change from a happy, Christ-like youth into a cynical, bitter young man who scorned their beliefs and even tried to influence his siblings toward his way of thinking.

I remember his Mom saying that her only hope lay in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." They had faithfully followed God's Word in raising their son and they believed wholeheartedly that he would someday return to the faith he had embraced as a child. I am happy to say that he did and, at age 46, is now serving the Lord in an outreach ministry. He went through great pain and loss during the years before arriving at this place, but God has taken the bad and used it in shaping a humble spirit and a servant's heart.

I like to think that, perhaps, the same happened to Susan.

"I like to think that, perhaps, the same thing happened to Susan."

Yes, that's what I like to believe also. Actually, I think most fans of the series prefer to believe what happened with Susan, rather than that she was lost forever.

God Bless,

Carolyn.

PS: Sorry I hadn't responded until now. I had just recently moved, & was unable to go online.

I always really regretted that Susan was left behind. (Partly because my name is Susan!)

I don't think anyone who is loved is ever lost. Imagine being in Heaven and having a dearly loved partner who was a good person but who did not believe in God, and being without that person. It would not be heaven.

God is good.

"I always really regretted that Susan was left behind. (Partly because my name is Susan!)"

Although my name is not Susan, I've always regretted Susan being left behind in LB too.

I really wish CS Lewis ended the series with the full 8 Friends of Narnia, rather than only 7 of them.

Hey y'all!!

I'm new to the site, but hope to make some new friends. Anyways, I was browsing around on one of the Narnia fan sites....Narniafans.com to be exact, and there was a comment on there that I was wondering if anyone could put any fact in. The person said that Lewis wrote a response letter to a little boy in 1956 after The Last Battle was published, because the little boy was worried about Susan. In the response this person said that Lewis told the boy that he (lewis) had great faith that Susan would eventually find her way to "The True Narnia".

Anybody ever heard or read anything about that?

Thanks y'all!!

Thanks so much Sven for the information....is the letter in any book that I could obtain myself? I am kinda geeky about having hard copies of things that really interest me.

Thanks & Godspeed,
Sarah

You're welcome, Sarah. The letter can be found in volume 3 of C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, and also the small paperback C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children.