by Leslie » November 21st, 2009, 9:34 pm
Here again is my argument that Lewis's relationship with the Moores is the episode omitted from SBJ, and this is the last that I will have to say in this thread:
• Lewis says in SBJ that he is omitting "one huge and complex episode" that occurred (or began) around the time of his return to Oxford after the war. We know of such an episode -- his relationship with Mrs Moore and her daughter. Note that I am not making any claim as to the exact nature of that relationship--it is not relevant to this argument. It is beyond dispute that around 1919 he began a close domestic relationship with the Moores, which lasted over three decades. By all accounts, the relationship was a difficult one, particularly toward the end of Mrs Moore's life, but Lewis remained loyal and supportive. We also know from the correspondence of Albert and Warren Lewis that the relationship caused consternation among Lewis's relatives, and strained his relationships with them. Thus it seems both huge and complex.
• He makes no mention whatsoever in SBJ of the Moores.
• Moordarjeeling contends that there may be another huge episode omitted about which we know nothing. If there were such another episode, would Lewis not have said in SBJ that he was omitting "two" or "several huge and complex episodes"? He clearly uses the singular, in the word "one".
• Therefore, since he has omitted mention of the Moores from SBJ, and he says he is omitting one major episode, the inference is that the Moores are that one episode.
Why is it necessary to postulate another huge, entirely unknown episode, when we have one ready at hand that fits all the facts? Lewis was a prolific letter writer, and his life has been well examined by several biographers. He was noted for having close friends who knew him well. To think that a major episode, on the scale of his relationship with the Moores, could completely escape notice is to venture beyond what seems reasonable.
"What are you laughing at?"
"At myself. My little puny self," said Phillipa.
--Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede