If you're a lover of books or Narnia, you know what happens in the end. Susan Pevensie does not go back to Narnia. Why? Well, that's up for debate...
"My sister Susan," answered Peter shortly and gravely, "is no longer a friend of Narnia."
"Yes," said Eustace, "and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says 'What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.''
"Oh Susan!" said Jill, "she's interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up."
"Grown-up, indeed," said the Lady Polly. "I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can." - (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle)
Read Neil Gaiman's The Problem of Susan here. It's definitely interesting. The Susan problem is one that has been debated about because it's so vague. Why doesn't she return to Narnia when everyone else has? People usually use Jill's argument of why Susan was excluded from Narnia. But the real reason is what Polly said. It's not what J.K. Rowling said about Susan liking makeup and sex that got her excluded.
"There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She's become irreligious basically because she found sex. I have a big problem with that." - (J.K. Rowling)
The real issue is Susan stopped believing in Aslan (God) and completely rejected it and became obsessed with superficial nonsense. It wasn’t about sex, partying, or being feminine. Her journey is about faith within hardship. It's not even about being a certain sect of Christianity as we see with Emeth. He worships Tash but is a good person so all his worship was actually to Aslan. It is the intent which is true, not the specific deity. Which, side note, is a bit Hindu of C.S. Lewis. 😄
It’s wild for C.S. Lewis to have all the characters die except Susan. But maybe this reflects C.S. Lewis’s own journey with faith after seeing all of his own friends die in the trenches of two wars. All of Susan’s friends, siblings, and parents die at once. Susan is the sole survivor. Similar to how Lewis had survivors guilt. He went through a period of atheism before coming back to Christianity. His journey would mirror Susan’s own. Just as Lewis saw his friends die, Susan will go through the same. The senseless killing of war and random events of life and even the problem of pain. are all addressed through Narnia. The children go through multiple rounds of pain in Narnia and then again in England. They grow up multiple times, I'm sure in LWW they had spouses and maybe even children, only to be in England as a child in a war with bombs and airplanes. If I wrote a Narnia book, I would show Susan's crisis of faith and her spiritual journey after losing her entire family. Her reunion in Narnia would be heartfelt. She needs her own redemption arc. (Fanfic anyone?)
I
always thought Susan would get back to Narnia at some point. As the saying
goes: “Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.” Maybe her journey is rougher, but she will get there eventually.
In his Letters to Children,
Lewis said:
"The books don't tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there's plenty of time for her to mend and perhaps she will get to Aslan's country in the end... in her own way."
"I could not write that
story myself. Not that I have no hope of Susan’s ever getting to Aslan’s
country; but because I have a feeling that the story of her journey would be
longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write. But I may be
mistaken. Why not try it yourself?" - (1960 letter to Pauline Bannister)
"And why not write stories yourself
to fill up the gaps in Narnian history? I’ve left you plenty of
hints–especially where Lucy and the Unicorn are talking in The Last Battle. I
feel I have done all I can!"
So besides perusing the latest Susan-centric fanfic, I'll be re-reading Narnia again. It's one of my favorite series because it tackles topics like grief, war, faith, and bonds in a nuanced way. The writing may be too simplistic and not enough description, but I love it just the same. The characters are amazing (which will be another article) and I love how the series spans generations.