I thought a lot about posts you've made over the years regarding Susan and how, if the assumption is that she doubts, for a time, that is a good thing, for faith is something that can grow and shift and there is room for those with different varieties of it.
To the point though of Eustace and Lucy, there will be a point, in the next chapter, where the two of them on Christmas Day are sitting as far as they can from the church and still be inside the church, and they may not even be inside it. What do you think they say to one another that has not already been said? Mrs. Pevensie has already received one letter from Lucy's Headmistress reporting her daughter's rude behavior to the school preacher.
In my head, I do see their conflicts as different. Eustace is asking the questions fandom often does, which is the position that Aslan is a pretty poor deity. He's never going to deny Aslan, but he's disappointed him, not wholly trusting of Aslan, and really doesn't buy that he's all good. Nor does Eustace bother with "finding Aslan by a different name," I think. I had thought I was taking Eustace toward being an atheist here, and I'm not sure that I can really do that in this 'verse and be fair to that position.
As for Lucy, in contrast, her faith in Aslan is absolute and her problems are with religious authority. To paraphrase Gandhi, she has no problem with Christ, it's Christians she can't abide. She's a bit like the early martyrs. So when Eustace says, I'm pissed at Aslan, why didn't he save Rilian, why does he send children to do this awful work, etc. what does Lucy say in response? In defense of Aslan? Or is there no answer, as many comments to this entry said?
In an exchange with Heartwould, I recalled something from Paladin of Souls by Bujold in which a god (the Bastard) tells a deeply flawed and angry saint that the gods crave great souls, not perfect ones, and I wonder if some of the answer is there -- though the whole, what does not kill us makes us strong isn't satisfying either. One of my reviewers in this chapter said she thought Lucy would say that Aslan works through others because they grow as individual people - becoming kinder, braver, more generous and warm-hearted people than they otherwise would be.
So, if you have some idea of what Lucy would say to Eustace on Christmas Day, I would love to hear it!
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To the point though of Eustace and Lucy, there will be a point, in the next chapter, where the two of them on Christmas Day are sitting as far as they can from the church and still be inside the church, and they may not even be inside it. What do you think they say to one another that has not already been said? Mrs. Pevensie has already received one letter from Lucy's Headmistress reporting her daughter's rude behavior to the school preacher.
In my head, I do see their conflicts as different. Eustace is asking the questions fandom often does, which is the position that Aslan is a pretty poor deity. He's never going to deny Aslan, but he's disappointed him, not wholly trusting of Aslan, and really doesn't buy that he's all good. Nor does Eustace bother with "finding Aslan by a different name," I think. I had thought I was taking Eustace toward being an atheist here, and I'm not sure that I can really do that in this 'verse and be fair to that position.
As for Lucy, in contrast, her faith in Aslan is absolute and her problems are with religious authority. To paraphrase Gandhi, she has no problem with Christ, it's Christians she can't abide. She's a bit like the early martyrs. So when Eustace says, I'm pissed at Aslan, why didn't he save Rilian, why does he send children to do this awful work, etc. what does Lucy say in response? In defense of Aslan? Or is there no answer, as many comments to this entry said?
In an exchange with Heartwould, I recalled something from Paladin of Souls by Bujold in which a god (the Bastard) tells a deeply flawed and angry saint that the gods crave great souls, not perfect ones, and I wonder if some of the answer is there -- though the whole, what does not kill us makes us strong isn't satisfying either. One of my reviewers in this chapter said she thought Lucy would say that Aslan works through others because they grow as individual people - becoming kinder, braver, more generous and warm-hearted people than they otherwise would be.
So, if you have some idea of what Lucy would say to Eustace on Christmas Day, I would love to hear it!