Return to Imagination

Today I learned something about Lewis and his fantasy children’s books. I had originally thought he had written The Chronicles of Narnia with the idea to help convert children to Christianity so that they, unlike him, would grow up in the faith. I was wrong. Well, partly wrong. As it turns out, he did not set out with that purpose, but the books themselves eventually evolved to show Christian symbolism. He says, “Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children. . . .This is all out moonshine. I couldn’t write in that way at all. Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first, there wasn’t even anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord.” (“Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said,” 1956) The evolution of a fantasy story to a Christian fantasy story had help from the reader who, bringing with him his worldview of Christ and Christian symbolism, saw divine connections and this idea exploded into many excellent commentaries on the subject.

Since C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia not, as so many have supposed, to rekindle the spark of Christianity within the minds of children, what must have been his purpose? Lewis looked at the world around him. Education reform had all but reduced the curriculum to mindless superficial facts and meaningless ideas. Movies had begun to replace the leisurely activity of reading the classic novel. Professor David Whalen of Hillsdale College says that in the movies, especially in the action/adventure type, one explosive event after another entertains a riveted audience until they are numb with overwhelming excitement. Lewis was concerned that the fast-tracked world would overpower the imagination once made vivid by leisurely reading and discussing.

One solution to the modern busy-ness was to return to the great books. He said, “Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.” (Introduction to Athanasius’ On The Incarnation, by C.S. Lewis) There exists a certain texture, atmosphere, quality and character in a classic book that lends to the reader as much excitement as the story itself (Whalen). No other media can transfer these characteristics to the reader.

Lewis felt that modernity, with its rapid change and endless distractions, created a sort of man-made cocoon for mankind, far away from nature, Godly creation, and Imagination. Thus, he set forth to restore sensitivity to it.

Imagination, which Lewis thought had gone astray in our modern world, could be described as the default setting of our pre-cognitive skills (Whalen). The dreams, the hopes, the fears all begin within the realm of the imagination. The busy-ness and distraction in our man-made world seem to have upset and crippled the default setting of Imagination. We tend to get stuck in the mundanity and urgency of ordinary things (Whalen).

While pondering this, I could not help thinking of our family tradition of backpacking and camping and how much it rejuvenates me. I am sure few would understand why I would want to “be homeless for a week” (a phrase from someone I love), and I am not sure I understand the “why” myself until I am finally up in the mountains and away from the distractions and the noise of our fabricated world. It is there that I re-connect with my soul, reconnect with nature, with God’s creations and with the most basic tenets of life. Out in nature I feel liberated from the addictive superficial diversions and the entrapment of the merely immediate enticements. In the mountains, I am renewed to think of the higher and the highest things.

Lewis’s hope in writing the Chronicles of Narnia likewise was to restore sensitivity to the imagination, to correct it, and place it where it will instill the "ideal" within the mind and heart once again. In his writing, he returned to the ancient myths and symbols that inspired the imagination for many centuries.

Thank you, Hillsdale College, for your free online courses and especially thank you for the particular course on C.S. Lewis. Once again, I am inspired!

Thoughts on The Abolition of Man

Hillsdale College sends out emails about free online classes, which include lectures, readings, and quizzes. I decided to study a course right now along with someone I am mentoring. This course is called An Introduction to C.S. Lewis: Writings and Significance

“C.S. Lewis was the greatest Christian apologist of the twentieth century. He was also the author of works of fiction, including the Chronicles of Narnia, and of philosophy, including The Abolition of Man. This course will consider Lewis’s apologetics and his fiction, as well as his philosophical and literary writings, and their continuing significance today.”

I have listened to and watched the first lecture and then listened only to the second. I find that I do not understand all of it unless I listen and then watch and take notes. Something significant to me today was the discussion Lewis has in Men Without Chests (the first chapter in The Abolition of Man) about Reason and Imagination. He talks about an elementary-education literature book, which states that feelings are arbitrary and not essential for education. He tells of a well-known story of Coleridge about two tourists observing a famous waterfall. One called it 'pretty' and one 'sublime.' The authors of the elementary literature book, Gaius and Titius, take a third position and say the tourists are not referring to the waterfall, but to their feelings about it. They argue not about the waterfall being “pretty” or “sublime”, but only say something about the arbitrariness of their feelings. Lewis’s argument is that if you separate reason and imagination, you will eventually cause the abolition of man.

Just as Aristotle believes the Soul and Body are inseparable, Lewis believes Reason and Imagination (emotions, feelings) are inseparable. In essence, Reason is the knowledge of the who, what, where, when, and why of the waterfall and Imagination is the “how I fit into this scenery and who I am in relationship to it” type of knowledge. The waterfall is a creation of our Mighty God and represents magnificence, majesty, and awe. If I were there along with the tourists to witness the beauty of it and recognize it as a sublime gift to me and humanity by a Loving Father, I would feel humble, and lifted. Thus, I would join with the one in calling it sublime. The word 'sublime' describes the high level of respect for the Creator’s gift.

While reading The Abolition of Man, I remembered a book I started on the recent backpacking trip, called Follow the River. It had come highly recommended to me as an excellent way to learn history and the culture during 1700-America. I started the book and got to page 80, or somewhere near it, I cannot remember. I ended up closing it and not picking it back up because it did not fill my soul. It was not “sublime” to me.

If I understand Lewis at all I I would say the book was not sublime because of the author’s improper and ignoble tone. The writing expressed base thoughts with little effort to build character and improve relationships. Oft-times, a contention would arise and instead of developing a brilliant and noble dialogue or thought-dialogue to dispel the contention, the author walked away from the opportunity for the characters’ personal growth. 

It is true that the author based his fiction on a historical fact of a woman, along with her two young boys, being kidnapped by Indians and her long journey of her escape nine months later. The original story is noble and good and inspiring, but the author modernized and fictionalized the story as an avenue to further the cause of the baser human desires. To make my point without going into sordid detail, the author lingers on the memories of this woman’s sexually intimate experiences with her husband and has her compare his body with that of the Indian chief’s, who continues to stare her down. It is not to say that these things could not have happened, I am merely saying that the author seems to be focusing on these base instincts and desires, rather than on the Good, the True and the Beautiful, or in other words, the Sublime.

If I were to apply Lewis’ principle of using the right word for the circumstance, I would label the woman in the original story as a woman of great courage, faith, and passion for surviving. In the fictionalized story, I label the woman as low-class, the book as poorly written and neither of them worth spending my time. 

The educational effect of using Reason and Imagination is that both together dictates the highest way to live. When our conscience is grounded in the Good, the True and the Beautiful, it is grounded in Christ, who is the Author of all Good, the True and the Beautiful. Anything that is not up to those standards is other than noble and virtuous and will eventually abolish mankind.