Heroes and Narnians: quasi-deep thought for the day
On my run today, my train of thought found its way into the subject of the Narnian Chronicles and which of them is now my favorite. When I was younger, I would always name Voyage of the Dawntreader as the book I liked best of the series, but now I think my loyalties have shifted to The Silver Chair, not least because of Puddleglum and especially the speech he makes to the Queen of the Underworld:
"Suppose we have only dreamed or made up all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."
Thinking of this reminded me (God help me) of something from an episode of Angel in which the titular hero is lecturing his angst-ridden offspring about the role of heroes in the world:
"Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world was what it should be, to show it what it can be."
Overlook, if you can, the touch of melodrama here (it's a show about a vampire with a soul, what do you want?) and answer me this: Is it just me and my endorphin-addled brain, or do these sentiments compliment each other rather neatly? "We live as though the world was what it should be," seems to strike a note that's in some degree of harmony with that of "I shall live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."
Of course, Lewis was speaking fairly directly to Christian faith, while I imagine Joss Whedon or whoever wrote the Angel episode was only trying for something that sounded selfless and heroic. But still, it tickled me to juxtapose ideals from such disparate sources and find that they looked well together.
This concludes your post-exercise quasi-deep thought for the day, we now return you to your regular Saturday afternoon amusements.
"Suppose we have only dreamed or made up all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."
Thinking of this reminded me (God help me) of something from an episode of Angel in which the titular hero is lecturing his angst-ridden offspring about the role of heroes in the world:
"Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world was what it should be, to show it what it can be."
Overlook, if you can, the touch of melodrama here (it's a show about a vampire with a soul, what do you want?) and answer me this: Is it just me and my endorphin-addled brain, or do these sentiments compliment each other rather neatly? "We live as though the world was what it should be," seems to strike a note that's in some degree of harmony with that of "I shall live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."
Of course, Lewis was speaking fairly directly to Christian faith, while I imagine Joss Whedon or whoever wrote the Angel episode was only trying for something that sounded selfless and heroic. But still, it tickled me to juxtapose ideals from such disparate sources and find that they looked well together.
This concludes your post-exercise quasi-deep thought for the day, we now return you to your regular Saturday afternoon amusements.