I also find the books very exclusionary on a personal level. While being human in Narnia makes you special, being chosen by Aslan ON TOP of being human makes you more so. And since Aslan = Jesus Christ (because while Tolkien thought that allegories were crass, C.S. Lewis apparently didn't agree) that to me as a non-Christian non-believer? Sends a very disturbing message to the readers of the book. While Lewis goes out of his way in the Last Battle to say that good deeds committed in the name of Tash were still good deeds, the whole damn thing is just so SMUG that it doesn't actually come out as any more inclusive. It says you are well meaning, but wrong, but since you *are* well meaning, we won't punish you. But still the ability to punish remains in the background. And the whole thing with Susan also leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We're told she goes to Heaven, sure, eventually, but she doesn't go to Narnia. And as a reader of the books, we see Naria post-Last Battle presented as the ultimate paradise. Susan doesn't end up there, she ends up somewhere else. While we are *told* by Aslan, by Lewis, that she's going to be fine, you know as an author that telling is less effective than seeing and as a person that actions are more real than words. Basically, I call bullshit on the whole Susan thing.
Going back and rereading as an adult, I find the Narnia books EXTREMELY problematic.
They are called because they are needed there, and they are needed, most of all, for their basic humanity. Any child reading these books knows that she would be welcome in Narnia, if she could get there, because human beings of all kinds are welcome there, and all that is required of them is faith and trust in Aslan.
While you find this fact to be comforting, I really really don't. Humanity in Narnia seems to be a slightly different thing than personhood, and I find that troubling, that biological distinctions should be drawn as to who is worthy and who isn't. And I don't believe that any child would be welcome in Narnia because faith and trust in Aslan is *required*. And you don't get in without that. Even Eustace, who comes in without it, isn't truly welcome in Narnia until he gains it. Belief in Aslan is the ultimate point of Narnia. We as readers can see it in Susan's fate, and I certainly don't feel welcome there. While Harry Potter is problematic, I wouldn't say that the Chronicles of Narnia are any less so. Maybe in different ways, but definitely still troubling.
Part 2
Going back and rereading as an adult, I find the Narnia books EXTREMELY problematic.
They are called because they are needed there, and they are needed, most of all, for their basic humanity. Any child reading these books knows that she would be welcome in Narnia, if she could get there, because human beings of all kinds are welcome there, and all that is required of them is faith and trust in Aslan.
While you find this fact to be comforting, I really really don't. Humanity in Narnia seems to be a slightly different thing than personhood, and I find that troubling, that biological distinctions should be drawn as to who is worthy and who isn't. And I don't believe that any child would be welcome in Narnia because faith and trust in Aslan is *required*. And you don't get in without that. Even Eustace, who comes in without it, isn't truly welcome in Narnia until he gains it. Belief in Aslan is the ultimate point of Narnia. We as readers can see it in Susan's fate, and I certainly don't feel welcome there. While Harry Potter is problematic, I wouldn't say that the Chronicles of Narnia are any less so. Maybe in different ways, but definitely still troubling.