Issues with Ending

A

Archmage_lord

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Okay, so in the end the kids get crowned Kings and Queens of Narnia and spend many years there until they mature into adults. But when they go back to our world, they revert to kids.

Even if time does pass by much quicker in Narnia than it does in our world, the Pevensies' bodies have still gone through all these evolutions. Returing to their childhood state when they return would mean time-travel more than 'world-jumping'.

And here's another question bugging me: If the children were to return in Narnia, shouldn't they go back to being grown-ups?
 
the key is that when you are from earth but in narnia time doesn't go by slowly, it doesn't pass at all. And they are time-traveling when they come back too. When they return to Narnia, they are kids again because they always come at their ages on Earth. Narnia tends to mature them faster but thats it. And they come back from out of the ancient past usually, much like if King Arthur came back today.
 
i believe that is answered in MN as uncle andrew (maybe it was LWW and prof kirke though) said that time was different in different worlds. If you leave your universe what is to say any change in time has happened while you were gone?

of course because time is something that to me didnt occure to CS Lewis i do not think that would answer while i believe 1000 years passed in between LWW and only somethin really low (being that i havent finished reading HHB yet) inbetween LWW and PC or VD (not totally sure which ones are totaly in narnia and which arent)
 
onlymystory said:
the key is that when you are from earth but in narnia time doesn't go by slowly, it doesn't pass at all. And they are time-traveling when they come back too. When they return to Narnia, they are kids again because they always come at their ages on Earth. Narnia tends to mature them faster but thats it. And they come back from out of the ancient past usually, much like if King Arthur came back today.
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But even if you ARE time-traveling, you're body simply can't revert to whatever it was in your time, since the time DID pass in Narnia, only at a faster pace.

I'll try to use an example: When astrounauts go to the moon and back, they can't automatically get used to the differences in gravity and what-not.

Of course this example is rather bad, since they WILL get used to it again, but not spontaniously. And we all know adulthood can't be reverted (unless you munch on a silver apple ;) )
 
But does anyone in this world know what time travel is like? no. and this is after all just a fictional story. Lewis can make his characters do whatever he wants them to.
 
that is why my theory still stands that when you change worlds (like dimensional worlds as MN said) that no time passes in your own. doesnt make a whole lot of sense, but time travel didnt happen because no time passed. if no time passed in this world your body would be the same, but my thought is their maturity has progressed while in narnia and does not regress once they are back on earth.
 
Did anyone stop to think this was a MAGIC portal? Maybe Aslan wanted them to be their old selves on the outside but retain on the inside what they learned. For a reason.
 
thanks, that was what i was trying to get at. its magic so its not supposed to make sense. and i like that picture. their lives back on earth are supposed to be an outward expression of an inward change.
 
Archmage_lord said:
But even if you ARE time-traveling, you're body simply can't revert to whatever it was in your time, since the time DID pass in Narnia, only at a faster pace.
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Yeah, I totally agree with you if Lewis said that this was time travel; but he did not. I think the answer is simply that Lewis says it is a "magic" wardrobe and whatever time passes for you in Narnia, it's like no time at all has passed back "home" in England. I guess we can attribute this to the omnipotence of Aslan in bringing them in and out of Narnia according to his purpose for their lives and for Narnia.
 
Chakal said:
Did anyone stop to think this was a MAGIC portal? Maybe Aslan wanted them to be their old selves on the outside but retain on the inside what they learned. For a reason.
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Oh, haha, I guess you responded while I was replying. Oh well, I guess we pretty much gave the same answer. ;)
 
Archmage_lord said:
But even if you ARE time-traveling, you're body simply can't revert to whatever it was in your time, since the time DID pass in Narnia, only at a faster pace.

I'll try to use an example: When astrounauts go to the moon and back, they can't automatically get used to the differences in gravity and what-not.

Of course this example is rather bad, since they WILL get used to it again, but not spontaniously. And we all know adulthood can't be reverted (unless you munch on a silver apple ;) )
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Unfortunatly you are missing the obvious issue here - that the Chronicles of Narnia is a fantasy adventure riddled with MAGIC. Who are any of us to try and dictate what magic can or cannot do, Lewis' job and he does it damn well. When it comes to magic, there's not a lot we can do to explain the theory. Annoying as that is...!

tnicholls7a@hotmail.com
 
Archmage_lord said:
And here's another question bugging me: If the children were to return in Narnia, shouldn't they go back to being grown-ups?
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Others have responded pretty well to your other points, so I'll tackle this one. If you've read the other books, particularly Prince Caspian, Silver Chair, and Last Battle, you'll notice frequent references to the effects of "Narnian air" on those who've spent time in Narnia before. It brings back maturity, strength, and stamina that the person gained on their last trip to Narnia, however long ago and for whatever duration that was. For instance, in Caspian, within 48 hours of the children's arrival at the ruins of Cair, Edmund has regained enough strength and sword skill to best the dwarf Trumpkin in a fencing match. This is Edmund, mind you, just one earth-year older than he was when they first tumbled through the wardrobe. Just a few days later, when Edmund delivers to Miraz Peter's challenge to monomarchy, the Telmarine lords describe him as "a fell warrior" and "a kinglier man than Miraz ever was." So, while it does not instantly age people the way that returning to our world "un-ages" them, Narnian air has the ability to recall strengths and skills that were gained during prior visits.
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
Others have responded pretty well to your other points, so I'll tackle this one. If you've read the other books, particularly Prince Caspian, Silver Chair, and Last Battle, you'll notice frequent references to the effects of "Narnian air" on those who've spent time in Narnia before. It brings back maturity, strength, and stamina that the person gained on their last trip to Narnia, however long ago and for whatever duration that was. For instance, in Caspian, within 48 hours of the children's arrival at the ruins of Cair, Edmund has regained enough strength and sword skill to best the dwarf Trumpkin in a fencing match. This is Edmund, mind you, just one earth-year older than he was when they first tumbled through the wardrobe. Just a few days later, when Edmund delivers to Miraz Peter's challenge to monomarchy, the Telmarine lords describe him as "a fell warrior" and "a kinglier man than Miraz ever was." So, while it does not instantly age people the way that returning to our world "un-ages" them, Narnian air has the ability to recall strengths and skills that were gained during prior visits.
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Really? That's so cool!

I have a question that's a little bit off-topic now: If years in Narnia equal a few seconds/nan-seconds, how much time passes in Narnia when one spends an entire day in our world?
 
It's not a direct equivalence - there's no formula for it. For instance, in our time, the span between Lion and Caspian was about a year, but it equated to about 1000 Narnian years, while the span between Caspian and Dawn Treader was another earth year, but it only equated to three Narnian years.
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
It's not a direct equivalence - there's no formula for it. For instance, in our time, the span between Lion and Caspian was about a year, but it equated to about 1000 Narnian years, while the span between Caspian and Dawn Treader was another earth year, but it only equated to three Narnian years.
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I thought so too. Hey, it's a fantasy book, who needs explanations?

I just had to ask, that's all...
 
It says in the books several times that Narnian time doesn't follow the rules that our time does.
Time always goes forward in Narnia, but you can't ever tell how fast or slow it's going compared to ours.
(Unless your actually there, of course.)

It's a very easy concept to understand :)

-Austin
 
austin it may be easy to understand for you because your willing to say its magic and a fantasy story; you must remember there are people like me who like things concrete and logical rather than abstract. i bet that the people here who keep saying stuff about a possible forumla for narnian years are all concrete people... it can be annoying cause its hard for us to understand.... even though i get it, it stll bugs the heck outa me
 
I don't see why you should need all this stuff explained to you...? Everyone has already said that Narnia doesn't follow the rules that our world does. You really can't apply logic to anything about Narnia - time, age, anything, there's no rules, it just is what it is.

It's a children's storybook after all, despite the fact that many adults enjoy it. It shouldn't be analysed to death. Can't people just accept what the book tells them and enjoy the lovely story???
 
kirke said:
austin it may be easy to understand for you because your willing to say its magic and a fantasy story; you must remember there are people like me who like things concrete and logical rather than abstract. i bet that the people here who keep saying stuff about a possible forumla for narnian years are all concrete people... it can be annoying cause its hard for us to understand.... even though i get it, it stll bugs the heck outa me
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I already said this in another thread and I shall say it again.

I don't think that any of the ways the children reached Narnia were mistakes by the author. With magic, you don't have to have a logical explanation. You can find what you thought to be "rules" of magic, broken on whim by a new "rule". Or it you look deeper you might find that the "rule" wasn't broken at all.

If you look for logic in magic, you'll have a pretty rough time enjoying most fantasy stories.

-Austin
 
Things that are logical are not always straightforward or simple. Like a planet's retrograde motion for instance. With different planets going around the sun at different rates and at different distances, sometimes a planet's position in the sky will seem to travel one way, slow down, reverse course, loop about, and then head on. We know planets actually travel in smooth eliptical orbits, so why don't they appear that way in the night sky? "Retrograde" motion is caused by our own certainty that we are standing still in a cow pasture looking into the sky, when "still" is actually whizzing about the axis, around the sun, through the quadrant and across the universe.

Time, now, does that compare? Would there be such a thing as retrograde motion in time? Well yes. If the frames of references between the two universes are, let's say, in orbit around some center. Perhaps, and forgive my seeming irreverence, let's say the axis is a hatrack in God's living room. The degree to which time differentials spread would depend on the relative two positions of the universes, whether they were travelling together, passing each other head on, passing each other from the side, or whatnot.

Of course I am not insinuating that the relationships between two actual universes would be literally rotating around a physical object in orbits. But it illustrates the point I'm making in an easy-to-visualize way. The relationship between the two universes may be in constant flux, one that with a vantage point outside of both we might spot and easily comprehend. I doubt we'll settle it on Planet Earth.
 
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