rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2010-02-21 01:28 pm
rthstewart) wrote2010-02-21 01:28 pm
Entry tags:
A review discussing Susan's Journey
On Susan's Journey
What I am finding difficult to fathom is how S goes from utilizing all the lessons of N -- more fully than any of her siblings, really, and evidently with A's approval whatever P's misgivings on the moral certitude or lack thereof -- to 'no longer a Friend of Narnia.' I expect this is going to be further explored in Part3, but on the tale's present course I find it almost impossible to see the end we know is coming. Then again, my issues with LB as a whole are myriad, beginning with the very basic problem of why they would be sent to bring N into England and then die before they could do anything, but that's CSL for you and if I start on the subject in earnest this will become several pages longer, so I shan't.
The notion of S's interactions with Rab. being part of a game of thrones I do buy; her perception of it as her great failure makes sense in this light but the greatness of that burden seems out of place still. Partly, I think this is because we have not (yet) seen the why of this game -- if she was honestly in love with him, or thought she was for a time (as CSL would seem to have us believe), the emotional fallout is very different than if she gambled for political gain and lost, or if he merely appealed to her vanity (another reading CSL seems to be hinting at). What gain for N did she hope to achieve by this flirtation that she could not have gained by other means?
I find it interesting that the Colonel read pity or sentiment into S's statement that "we cannot ask this of him again." My reading of that sentence was far different; I saw it as, quite simply, a midlevel commander reporting to a superior that one of her troops was not fit for duty. It was to my mind no different than, for example, reporting that a sniper no longer had the eye or steady hand for such work. Everyone has a breaking point; as T's babysitter it should be S's job to see him reaching it and inform the Col. Pushing T too far could be disastrous; that way lies betrayal either deliberate or inadvertent, and the Col would most definitely be aware of that risk. I would have expected him to be grateful that S was on top of the situation and giving them the chance to intervene before it reached such a point; a bit of a vacation might refresh T, or it might not and he'd need to be replaced, but either way the forewarning is useful.
As far as S's liaison with T, I wonder if she wasn't overthinking the matter somewhat. He is enough of a gentleman (though he'd deny it) to feel he had taken advantage of a child, but I think that could have been overcome. He isn't perceptive enough to see, as the Col does, that she's 30, but he is experienced enough in bed to recognize her experience, and the problem with a 15 year old is the mental/emotional readiness. S could have overruled his eventual objections (presuming he'd ever found out; is there any reason for her to break cover before she leaves?) by pointing out that she'd participated enthusiastically and did he honestly think he'd taken a virgin to bed?
Most notably, and in direct contrast to P, S knows what she’s doing. In fact, she sometimes seems to have had very little character growth through this piece. None of her experiences are precisely new and she’s already made her peace with the realities of spy work. She’s facing it on a much larger scale than she ever had to in N, but she has a confidence in her path that’s lacking in P. I think that ties back to my first point, about not seeing where she makes the change. She’s pretty firmly planted on her path right now, and pretty clearly doing Aslan’s work, so how is it she doesn’t get to his Country with the others?
The notion of S's interactions with Rab. being part of a game of thrones I do buy; her perception of it as her great failure makes sense in this light but the greatness of that burden seems out of place still. Partly, I think this is because we have not (yet) seen the why of this game -- if she was honestly in love with him, or thought she was for a time (as CSL would seem to have us believe), the emotional fallout is very different than if she gambled for political gain and lost, or if he merely appealed to her vanity (another reading CSL seems to be hinting at). What gain for N did she hope to achieve by this flirtation that she could not have gained by other means?
I find it interesting that the Colonel read pity or sentiment into S's statement that "we cannot ask this of him again." My reading of that sentence was far different; I saw it as, quite simply, a midlevel commander reporting to a superior that one of her troops was not fit for duty. It was to my mind no different than, for example, reporting that a sniper no longer had the eye or steady hand for such work. Everyone has a breaking point; as T's babysitter it should be S's job to see him reaching it and inform the Col. Pushing T too far could be disastrous; that way lies betrayal either deliberate or inadvertent, and the Col would most definitely be aware of that risk. I would have expected him to be grateful that S was on top of the situation and giving them the chance to intervene before it reached such a point; a bit of a vacation might refresh T, or it might not and he'd need to be replaced, but either way the forewarning is useful.
As far as S's liaison with T, I wonder if she wasn't overthinking the matter somewhat. He is enough of a gentleman (though he'd deny it) to feel he had taken advantage of a child, but I think that could have been overcome. He isn't perceptive enough to see, as the Col does, that she's 30, but he is experienced enough in bed to recognize her experience, and the problem with a 15 year old is the mental/emotional readiness. S could have overruled his eventual objections (presuming he'd ever found out; is there any reason for her to break cover before she leaves?) by pointing out that she'd participated enthusiastically and did he honestly think he'd taken a virgin to bed?
Most notably, and in direct contrast to P, S knows what she’s doing. In fact, she sometimes seems to have had very little character growth through this piece. None of her experiences are precisely new and she’s already made her peace with the realities of spy work. She’s facing it on a much larger scale than she ever had to in N, but she has a confidence in her path that’s lacking in P. I think that ties back to my first point, about not seeing where she makes the change. She’s pretty firmly planted on her path right now, and pretty clearly doing Aslan’s work, so how is it she doesn’t get to his Country with the others?
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I've reposted it here for reflection. and will be doing so with the others she posted. It's A LOT to consider for me and my head is reeling for the awesomeness of it, but all in good time.