Why Were Edmund and Lucy Too Old?

Lucy Fan

Lucy Fan

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I know in the book Aslan tells Lucy they are too old and have to stay in their own world instead of returning to Narnia. Caspian was older than Lucy and Edmund and he got to stay and Lucy and Edmund were much older than they were in VOTDT in the golden years of Narnia when they were full grown adults as Kings and Queens.

My only thought was that they were being sent back because Narnia had Caspian as its ruler and they were no longer needed but Caspian could have called them back if anymore danger arises.

I know that Aslan said they were brought to Narnia so that they could know Aslan a little so they could know him better in their world but I am just confused as to why they were deemed too old when they have been older and allowed to stay. Maybe I answered my own question. :eek:
 
Interesting thoughts, Lucy.

Maybe their age during the golden years did not matter as much as their earth age? Maybe they were crossing over into adolescence and as Aslan said it was time for them to be fully committed to discovering their new identity (and His identity) in their own world -- rather than looking for passage to other worlds.
 
I think that the "too old" applied to their ages in our world, not in Narnia. Yes, they did grow to full maturity during the Golden Age, but when they returned to their own world, it was to their original ages as of when they stepped through the Wardrobe. That's what I think that Aslan meant by first Peter and Susan at the end of Caspian, and then Edmund and Lucy at the end of Dawn Treader, being "too old". Aslan goes into a little more detail with Edmund and Lucy, explaining more about why they're now restricted to their world, but the principle is the same.

Caspian was older than them both, but he belonged to a race that had been in Narnia for over a thousand years. Narnia was his native land, though his ancestors had come from our world. He didn't belong to our world, though he was given a brief chance to visit at the end of Silver Chair. So it wasn't the age of the person, but their age relative to the world they belonged in.
 
Aslan IS the Biblical God; but in the Narnian microverse, He is not known to have told creatures there anything specific that's in the Bible. When living IN the Narnian world, knowing God as Aslan was enough truth for the Pevensies to work with. But God wants to be known as deeply as is possible for His creatures. In Adam's world, the Pevensies could learn the entire Bible, and church history, and the writings of Christian thinkers like, well, Mister Lewis; and to become familiar with great sacred arts and music.
 
We know that Eustace and Jill got back after they were probably much older than Lucy and Edmund were at the time of the Dawn Treader. I think it had more to do with their spiritual maturity, they were old enough to start seeking Aslan in our world and understand that he could be found here. It is clear that Peter at least gets it at the end of Prince Caspian too. With Eustace and Jill, their school was Progressive, they did not have the foundation that the Pevensies had when they started. They did not get the Bible (this was said very explicitly), therefore, their spiritual age allowed them to come back.
 
I always thought Aslan was a bit of a jerk - specially as he mauls Aravis's back for something an immature and impulsive teen could not have foreseen - the lashing of her family's female servant.

Heck plenty of adults don't bother to game out the consequences of their actions - see this article on why getting boys and men terrified of a court and a jail cell as actually led to several women who had heart attacks in public dying, more than those who suffer them at home.

Needless to say, the women quoted in this ABC story below blame the boys and men for not intervening, but as with Japan and Hiroshima the only ones responsible for these women's deaths are the women feminist activists who didn't realise that when you overreach you tend to fall flat on your face. Yes, i have no time for fools. Tragic-horrible experience taught me that. One of my father's wives and the Children of God cult.
www.abc.net.au

'My life is worth more than my boobs': Women are less likely than men to receive CPR in public

People are less likely to give a woman CPR due to fears of hurting her or being accused of inappropriate touching. One Australian CPR provider is trying to change that by putting breasts on training mannequins.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
 
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I think that Edward and Lucy were "too old"-- because they were OLD ENOUGH to seek and reveal spiritual maturity in their own world. Surrounded by the scoffing materialism of Adam's planet in Lewis' lifetime, the Pevensies while they lived WERE NEEDED on Earth.
 
Aslan's actual quote after saying they were too old was "you must begin to come close to your own world now." This makes sense as they actually had spent most of their lives in Narnia. Lucy and Edmund were about 11-14 years old in English time while in Narnia, they had spent about 15-30 years (I go for the latter).

"I always thought Aslan was a bit of a jerk - specially as he mauls Aravis's back for something an immature and impulsive teen could not have foreseen - the lashing of her family's female servant."

Aravis tricked her maid to drink alcohol (and possibly something else in her drink) to make her sleep for, as Aravis said "a night and a day" so Aravis could escape. The worst part of it, however, was Aravis' reaction to Shasta wondering what happened to the maid. Aravis expressed she likely was beaten for oversleeping but Aravis was glad she was punished as she "was a tool and a spy" of Aravis' stepmother. Had Aravis felt remorse at the time for what she had done to the maid, Aslan may not have punished her like he did for that indiscretion. Aravis needed to learn humility and compassion.
 
Aslan - and by extention - Lewis - ignores that when you are in effect a prisoner and angry and afraid, you are not that willing to show restraint - the maid wasn't the one trapped- and she was seemingly happy to obey her horrible employers. Granted we are only hearing about the maid second hand but...
 
It's not about showing restraint. Aravis was in the right to do what she did to escape from the arranged marriage. What Aravis did wrong was to not show compassion She knew what the likely punishment would be for the maid but didn't care about the maid's well-being and in fact, was glad she was punished. This is where Aravis faltered. At the least, she could have felt sorry for having to treat her stepmother's maid in such a terrible manner, instead, she didn't care what she did and felt the maid deserved what was coming to her, even if Aravis herself caused the maid to oversleep.
 
OT: I was trying to think of an actual 1940s kid actress who could play Lucy in a fantasy Golden Age adaption of "Wardrobe"
How about her as Lucy is blonde in the books:

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