Thoughts for Thursday - C. S. Lewis

“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.” – C. S. Lewis

 

Happy Thursday!  Because I’m not currently in a classroom on the reg, and I’m sure my teacher friends are getting annoyed with me butting into their lesson planning, I’m bringing my standard Thursday warm-up to the blog.  Thoughts for Thursday is exactly that: we start class with a quote and my students are expected to answer three questions

1.       What does this quote mean? Restate it in your own words.

2.       What does this quote suggest about the speaker?  What does he/she appear to value or believe from this quote.

3.       How can we connect this quote to other quotes, works of literature, things from class, or your own lives?

Say what you will about high schoolers, but after the first few times of going through a warm-up like this, they get very good at it.  I always try to find quotes that tie into our current unit, or quotes that deal with wherever we’re headed with class that day, or quotes from our current author, but I am also guilty of using this time as a mini-platform to share life advice with my students.  They might roll their eyes at my attempt at uplifting messages, but when it comes through a third party in a cleverly worded phrase, sometimes it reaches them.

                The quote I picked for the blog today is from the always fascinating C. S. Lewis, possibly best known for The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, as well as his Christian writings.  (Random aside: Lewis died on November 22, 1963.  No one cared much because JFK was assassinated that same day… but this year is the 50^th anniversary of his death and he is being honored in Poets’ Corner. Redemption?).  I think it fits well with the theme of this blog, but it also is so very relevant to contemporary life.

                Obviously we could look to films and television as a medium for heroes and knights, but my mind takes me immediately to literature.  I often go off on tangents about how children – and adults – simply don’t read enough.  I won’t go into that here, because there are real studies done on how reading improves EVERYTHING in an educational spectrum.  What I will go into, though, is how reading improves life.

 

                Yeah, I said it.  Being a reader means your life is better.  I’m not trying to be hyperbolic, either.  I firmly believe this.  And here’s why.

 

                I’ve been reading my entire life.  I don’t remember learning to read, and I never remember a time when I wasn’t reading.  I was lucky this way.  Not all kids are that lucky, but even if they don’t grow up to be voracious readers like some obnoxious people, they need to have some exposure to bravery and goodness before the real world gives them a swift kick to the ass.  The world can be a cruel and scary place, and as more of my friends start having children (and I start making more friends who already have children), I hope more and more that they are prepared.

                One of my best friends has sons, and he told me once that his only goal in life, really, was to ensure that they grew up to be real men who were ready to face the world (I know, right??? Father of the year!!). Many of us want to protect the children in our lives, but we have to recognize that we can’t do this forever.  At some point they have to be pushed out into the real world, and like my friend said, we have to make sure they are prepared for the cruelty of life.  This is a huge responsibility, and literature can help through this process.

                There are some arguments that fairy tales and other stories in this genre aren’t good for young children, primarily girls, because they perpetuate gender roles and expectations; while this holds merit – after all, there are studies on what male and female children will read, and while girls will relate to and read stories with a male or a female protagonist, boys will often avoid female protagonists – there is something to be said for early exposure to the battle between good and evil.  Yes, Little Red Riding Hood has to be ‘rescued’ by the strapping woodsman because her genteel nature gets her into some trouble, and it’s often an evil stepmother plotting the death of children, however there are other stories where the good and evil conflict is not rooted in gender issues.  The Chronicles of Narnia includes good and evil characters of both genders, and includes strong female characters.  So does Lord of the Rings, and more contemporary works like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games which span the gender divide in readers.  But I digress…

                Literature provides a safe space for grappling with the issues of good and evil; we are not in any true bodily harm when knights go to battle against dragons and evil sorcerors; we are protected when Lord Voldemort threatens to Avada Kedavra everyone and everything in his path(for you non-Harry Potter people, that’s a spell that kills).  We recognize that evil exists in these literary worlds, and although sometimes it seems like there is no way out, unless we are dealing with a dystopian novel or something more experimental, good almost always triumphs in the end.   For children who are learning to maneuver their way through life, seeing good triumph can be a positive influence.  Knowing that there are good people in the world, projecting themselves into the heroic role allows them to shape a framework for future interactions with evil people and difficult circumstances.

                Literature can also provide an escape from reality.  As a teenager, I struggled with many of the common middle school issues.  Life seemed futile, and other teenagers can be incredibly cruel.  I always was a reader, but during this period of my life it became my salvation.  I saw characters that might not be considered heroes or knights, but their survival gave me hope for my own. 

                In the end, the wolf never wins.  There may be destruction and death and fears and turmoil along the way; the hero may face obstacles and fight terrifying battles, but when good overcomes evil in literature, we give children – and yes, even adults – courage and optimism that we need to travel through the reality of life.