Why Lucy?

Sven-El

Sven-El

Well-known member
Don't get me wrong, I love the character of Lucy. She's probably become my most favorite character in the chronicles. Yet at the same time, I have to wonder why would CS Lewis choose Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensie children and a girl, to be the first one to enter Narnia?

Wouldn't it be better to have Peter the oldest, and the one meant to be High King find Narnia first?



One reason I think is the established rules of fantasy. Dorothy Gale in Wizard of Oz. Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Wendy in Peter Pan. It is usually always the girls who enter the fanatsy world first.

What other reasons could Lewis have had for having Lucy discover Narnia first?
 
Being the youngest Lucy would have more of a childlike imagination than any of the rest. She would be more willing to accept what she saw. She would also be the most curious and not having as many worries as Peter and Susan, she probably would be less hesitant to explore.

Just my thoughts :)
 
I think a lot of it is summed up in Christ's words, "Unless you have the heart of a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Lucy was open to grace and wonder, and thus embraced Narnia. Remember that the others met the idea with scepticism (somewhat understandable under the circumstances), and Edmund with outright scorn and ridicule. Only when circumstances forced them did they accept the reality. (It's interesting to note that Edmund's first visit to Narnia rose out of very ill motives, i.e. a desire to tease and torment Lucy. Look at what he reaped for that.)

This theme continues even more explicitly in Prince Caspian, when Lucy sees Aslan when the others don't, and ultimately is commanded to follow Him even when the others don't want to. Eventually they see him, but love and childlike trust are what lead the way.
 
Lucy is a little girl, she would believe Narnia and not question what she saw. Peter or Susan would've probably thought they were dreaming or halucinating or something like that if they went in first (they may've even when they entered Narnia after Lu told them) Edmund would've probably turned out the same way he did but the others wouldn't have known not to follow the Witch. Lucy trusted and believed what she saw and she was highly influenced by good from the start. She was able to go back and tell the others and even though they didn't believe her maybe her faith in Narnia being there was being tested.

It also wouldn't have the same magic if the older ones had entered because instead of awe and joy they'd have had disbelief.
 
Remember that he/she who is the least should be the foremost? or something like that, and the last shall be first? That could be a reason too.
 
Gondorgirl said:
Being the youngest Lucy would have more of a childlike imagination than any of the rest. She would be more willing to accept what she saw. She would also be the most curious and not having as many worries as Peter and Susan, she probably would be less hesitant to explore.

Just my thoughts :)
Click to expand...


Yeah, that kind of thing. See the imagination through the 'pure and young'. I could not see it any other way; as in, Lucy was the most appropriate by far.

And why is it so strange to be a girl to first go in, anyway?

Also I'd like to agree with what inkspot put below about the story dedication!
 
Last edited:
Didn't he dedicate the story to his god-daughter? I always thought he had her in mind when he made Lucy the heroine.
 
Personally I'm happy Lucy did. I always love the girl and thought she was so innocent and pure she was the perfect person to enter the Magical World. She was onyl a child and didn't even had any intentions to enter the wardrobe. It was becasue of a hide-and-seek game. But I think PotW stated it the best.
 
inky has the most accurate reason: Lucy Barfield was Lewis' god-daughter and the inspiration for the character.

There is also the idea that a young girl is the epitome of innocence and only one so innocent would have warmed Tumnus' heart so much that he refused to turn over to the queen. Would he have done that with Peter or seen the young teen as more of a threat?

It could have also been Susan, but she was suppoed to be one of the leaders of the siblings with Lucy as the baby. Susan was also the more skeptical one.

MrBob
 
Lucy was still innocent. Peter and Susan were focused on being mature young adults (even though they were still teenagers) and Edmund was certainly not innocent. He was in his "I hate girls" stage and he had lost his imagination stage. Lucy seemed to be the only one to fit to be the first one into Narnia.

If it had been Susan, she would not have come back and told everyone about what happened. She probably would have told Mr. Tumnus he wasn't real and neither was anyone else.

Peter probably would have probably attempted to kill Mr. Tumnus, thinking he was an enemy or something.

We know what Edmund did when he first entered Narnia, but he met the White Witch first instead of Mr. Tumnus.
 
MrBob said:
inky has the most accurate reason: Lucy Barfield was Lewis' god-daughter and the inspiration for the character.

There is also the idea that a young girl is the epitome of innocence and only one so innocent would have warmed Tumnus' heart so much that he refused to turn over to the queen. Would he have done that with Peter or seen the young teen as more of a threat?

It could have also been Susan, but she was suppoed to be one of the leaders of the siblings with Lucy as the baby. Susan was also the more skeptical one.

MrBob
Click to expand...

If Susan had walked through the wardrobe first she'd have walked right back out and put herself to bed and have gotten Mrs. Macready to take her temperature. She also likely wouldn't have told anyone there was a country in the cupboard.

Peter might have checked things out, but he would have been too responsible to go too far - and far too logical than to go to Mr. Tumnus' for tea. I think he also might think he was seeing things if he had been the only one - and that he ought to go back for his own sanity's sake.

Edmund went through second and you know how that turned out. He also wanted to keep Narnia for himself, while Lucy wanted to share it with everyone. Either that or Tumnus would have traded him in for being so surly and annoying ;) (just kidding)

Also, I don't think it was Lucy who charmed Mr. Tumnus into being good. I think it was Aslan's presence in the room that did it - in the movie it is depicted by Aslan roaring in the fire. Something happened to change his mind, and I doubt it was the sleeping Lucy (who only wakes up to find the fire dead and Tumnus crying). I don't think it makes a difference whether it were Lucy or one of the others: his heart was the same and Aslan would have had to intervene regardless.

With how
 
I think I go with the the fact that Lewis wrote the story for his goddaughter and put her in the role of finding Narnia.
I also think however that Narnia is straight away made more alive and believeable because it is seen first through the innocent delighted eyes of the youngest child, where nothing is questioned and everything is believed.

That I think is how Lewis wanted to introduce Narnia to readers. A place to be believed, not questioned or analysed. T
hat of course came later, but the first glimps of Narnia is believeable because it was seen through the eyes of a child who saw what she saw and believed it and didn't try to explain it away.
 
archetypes

Having the younger leading her elders is also consistent with other fairytale archtypes, in which it is usually the youngest brother getting the princess...
 
"I don't think it was Lucy who charmed Mr. Tumnus into being good. I think it was Aslan's presence in the room that did it - in the movie it is depicted by Aslan roaring in the fire. Something happened to change his mind, and I doubt it was the sleeping Lucy (who only wakes up to find the fire dead and Tumnus crying). I don't think it makes a difference whether it were Lucy or one of the others: his heart was the same and Aslan would have had to intervene regardless."

Interestingly, in both the Walden movie and BBC miniseries, Lucy does fall asleep and Tumnus is shamed by Aslan appearing in the fireplace. In the book, it was more like Lucy was in a trance, not alseep. She actually told Tumnus to stop playing.

I am not saying that Tumnus would have turned the other ones in, but Lucy, the youngest and most trusting, was seen as the least threatening. As you wrote, Peter and Susan would probably not have gone with Tumnus while Edmund was less likeable and while he may have gone with Tumnus, there would have been that extra sense of mistrust.

Was it specifically Lucy that made Tumnus want to keep her safe? Her pure innocence and friendliness did have something to do with it. He was bad enough that he kidnapped her, but not enough to turn her over. It was part his own conscience and part Lucy's personality that made Tumnus keep her safe.

MrBob
 
Excellent thoughts, all. I esepcailly like the idea of how someone older would be more skeptical. Look for example at Ted Dekker's Circle series. The protagonist, Thoams Hunter is an adult man. When he enters this other world he is very skeptical and it actually completly shatters his idea of reality. A child wouldn't and won't get so preoccupied by the philisophical implications of finding another world.
 
Actually, it doesn't seem that far out of line. It is often the young who have not had their curiosity and innocence drummed out of them yet who will explore places like that. Some children are naturally fearful, but others have to be TAUGHT fear. My oldest daughter was in the latter group. She didn't fear ANYTHING until she tried a few things and got hurt a few times. It was a scary time for US (trying to watch her) until she learned a healthy fear.

Plus, it is the young who often bring a fresh perspective (after all, the younger you are, the more EVERYTHING is fresh, and fewer things seem known), so they assume less, pay attention more and find stuff like that more quickly.

Besides, I think Lewis did this as a literary device, perhaps to evoke Jesus' saying, "Let the children come to me."
 
Last edited:
If Susan had been first, she might have been more wary about talking to strangers (and unfamiliar fauns).

If Peter had been first, he might have been easier for Tumnus to betray.

And if Edmund had been first chances are the four would have ended up betrayed into the hands of the White Witch instead of having a set of allies built up to get them to Aslan in time.

I'm so glad Lucy was first!
 
Benisse said:
If Susan had been first, she might have been more wary about talking to strangers (and unfamiliar fauns).

If Peter had been first, he might have been easier for Tumnus to betray.

And if Edmund had been first chances are the four would have ended up betrayed into the hands of the White Witch instead of having a set of allies built up to get them to Aslan in time.

I'm so glad Lucy was first!
Click to expand...
Very thoughtful response! Well said, Linda!
:)
 
Back
Top