Timeline for What did Gaiman have in mind in the nightmare end sequence in "The Problem of Susan"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2023 at 0:19 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| Sep 17, 2023 at 0:58 | |||||
| Apr 16, 2018 at 11:09 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | Hi Adamant, it looks like you are still around, and I was just reminded o this question. Consider taking a few moments to revise your answer in light of your additional comments. The answer is good, but the addition would make it better. I'm thinking particularly of the comment that starts with "The way it ties in,...", which is an valuable clarification. | |
| Jan 11, 2017 at 9:22 | vote | accept | Faheem Mitha | ||
| Nov 4, 2016 at 17:41 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | As a followup to the "excessively cruel to Susan" part - many (most?) people focus on how Susan was cruelly denied entrance to Aslan's Country (read heaven) because she liked nylon/lipstick and wanted to have fun, or whatever. But Gaiman focuses on the more earthly/secular/humanistic viewpoint of Susan left on Earth having to deal with her whole family having died in a horrific railway accident. And from that point of view, Aslan certainly looks like a lot worse. That's a actually a rather Old Testament way to treat a believer. Or perhaps the point is that she was an ex-believer? | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 9:16 | comment | added | Adamant | @Faheem - Tomorrow, perhaps. It’s late here. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 9:15 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | Ah, thanks for the clarification. I think that would be a useful addition to your answer, so as to tie it all together. Good job. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 9:13 | comment | added | Adamant | @FaheemMitha - The way it ties in, I think, is that “The Problem of Susan” is that Aslan appears to be excessively cruel to Susan. And Gaiman says, “Yes, of course he is! He’s a God. Gods are not tame, and they aren’t always nice.” And the juxtaposition of Aslan with the White Witch is meant to show how he’s not a tame lion, and not a “nice” God, but in some sense the Witch’s counterpart. Instead of killing the Witch (a sign of opposition), he has sex with her instead (a sign of similarity). | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 9:08 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | The lion and the witch do have a conversation where Aslan agrees to be sacrificed, but that's before any battle takes place, so that doesn't fit the beginning of the story. I don't have the text in front of me right now, so can't easily check. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 9:06 | comment | added | Adamant | @FaheemMitha - Though, the whole hill thing does mirror a scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, so it is possible that this is just Susan dreaming about it, and getting at some truth about things by doing so. Even if the Witch did get killed in “The Problem of Susan,” as happens in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, this interpretation is not necessarily entirely wrong, since the Witch is implied as still existing thereafter (doesn’t someone try to summon her in Prince Caspian?) But what literally happened is less important than the alternative theology being presented. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 8:59 | comment | added | Adamant | @FaheemMitham - I think so, yes. I think that is how it “really happened,” in Gaiman’s interpretation: not the eating people alive bit, but the witch not being killed. But it could just be a dream. Either way, the interpretation presented by the dream scenes is of the Witch as Aslan’s equivalent. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 8:53 | comment | added | Faheem Mitha | Thanks, Adamant. That's an impressively erudite interpretation of the text. And good supporting quotes from NG. Though I still don't exactly see how that ties into "The Problem Of Susan". Oh, and just to be clear, the beginning scene/dream is the equivalent to the scene of the actual book where Aslan come roaring in after being "reincarnated" and kills the White Witch, correct? But in this story, they have a chat instead. | |
| Nov 4, 2016 at 8:38 | history | edited | Adamant | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 3 characters in body
|
| Nov 4, 2016 at 8:30 | history | edited | Adamant | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 2400 characters in body
|
| Nov 4, 2016 at 7:50 | history | edited | Adamant | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 13 characters in body
|
| Nov 4, 2016 at 7:34 | history | answered | Adamant | CC BY-SA 3.0 |