XPost: rec.arts.books.childrens, alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: chenrich@monmouth.com   
      
   In article , Steve Hayes   
    wrote:   
      
   > A lot of people have misunderstood Lewis's satire. He satirises a certain   
   kind   
   > of anti-authoritarian educational theory in which, in practice, the kids can   
   > be as authoritarian as they like. The problem is not so much anarchy as   
   > antinomianism. The bullies use the taunt "fascists", when they are the ones   
   > who behave like fascists.   
   >   
   > But Lewis does not propose authoritarianism as the remedy. It is hard to   
   > imagine anyone less authoritarian than Professor Kirk. And in the Narnia   
   books   
   > the children are thrown on their own resources, and they make decisions   
   > without adult authority figures to tell them what to do.   
   I bet there were times when Peter Pevensie woke up in the night   
   worrying about a Narnian problem, and thought, "I'd better tell the   
   king;" - then he woke up all the way and thought "Oh b----r! I *am* the   
   king!"   
   > When they do come   
   > across authoritarian adults, their orders are usually immoral -- for example   
   > the witch and uncle Andrew. And they can only get the kids to do things their   
   > way by bribery and trickery.   
   In VDT, the ship lands on an island infested by a very bad form of   
   authoritarianism - slavery.  Prince Caspian promptly becomes a   
   revolutionary.   
   >   
   > The children in the stories are inner-directed rather than other-directed,   
   but   
   > what they do have is an inner sense of justice and fair play to guide them in   
   > making decisions.   
      
   This is an interesting and (to me) novel insight about CSL's views of   
   liberty and authority.  He is sometimes pictured as a grouchy old   
   would-be dictator.   
      
   --   
   Chris Henrich   
   http://www.mathinteract.com   
   God just doesn't fit inside a single religion.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)