January 10, 2005
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Realism
In memory of Humphrey Carpenter:
“Aslan’s last words come at the end of The Last Battle: ‘There was
a real railway accident [...] Your father and mother and all of you
are–as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands–dead. The term is
over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the
morning.’ The final paragraph of the novel, which follows these
words, functions as a coda; it is full of the conventions which signal
the wrapping up of a story. This direct speech is the true climax of
the Chronicles. Aslan is given the last word in these quiet but
emphatic lines. He is the ultimate arbiter of reality: ‘There was a
real railway accident.’ Plato, in addition to the Christian tradition,
lies behind the closing chapters of The Last Battle….‘It’s all in Plato,
all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!’ “– Joy Alexander, Aslan’s Speech
See also From Tate to Plato (Nov. 19, 2004), Habeas Corpus (Nov. 24, 2004), and the Log24 entries of last Friday through Sunday.
