Self deception is a recurrent theme in The Chronicles of Narnia. I can think of at least 4 examples.
1) The most obvious example is of course Susan, who by the time of The Last Battle has apparently convinced herself that Narnia was nothing more than childhood fantasies. I say 'apparently' because we do hear this at second hand, primarily from Eustace and it's possible Susan is lying to the others rather than herself.
I would add that even if true this does not excuse Susan in any way. The usual reason given for Susan pretending to have forgotten is that she finds the contrast between life as a queen in Narnia and an ordinary schoolgirl in England too painful. But this indicates a lack of humility and a hunger for power and adulation. So even if true this interpretation is not very flattering to Susan.
I do think though that Lewis intended that Susan really had forgotten, because self deception is such a recurring theme in Narnia.
2)Another example is Uncle Andrew in The Magicians Nephew who persuades himself that Aslan and the Talking Animals are incapable of speech.
3) A third example is the Dwarfs in the Stable in The Last Battle who convince themselves they are prisoners in a dark dingy stable when in reality they are surrounded by the glories of the New Narnia.
4) Finally we have Pittencream, the sailor who was the last to change his mind about going on from Ramandu's Island to the World's End in Voyage of The Dawn Treader and was left behind. We are told he deserted at the Lone islands on the voyage back and went to Calormen, where he made his living telling wonderful stories about his adventures at the World's End until he finally came to believe them himself.
Can anyone think of any other examples?
Several examples come to mind:
- In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund is self-deceived when he convinces himself that the witch is not really as bad as everyone says she is. He has already seen the damage done to Mr Tumness’s home and the report that Tumness was taken captive for his crime of ‘fraternizing with humans’ and yet Edmund says that the witch was jolly nice to him and she will be better than that horrible Aslan. He justifies her actions by saying that the people who say nasty things about her are her enemies. He lets this self-deception continue as he goes so far as to betray his own family.
- In the Voyage of the Dawntreader, Eustace’s diary, though amusing, shows he is capable of self-deception. He justifies stealing water from the ship’s scarce rations after the storm. He is convinced that he is the only reasonable person on the boat and that the others are just fiends in human form.
- In The Silver Chair, Jill becomes obsessed to the point of idolization with regard to Harland and the gentle giants. Jill neglects repeating the signs to herself - and deceives herself, saying that she will do it later. It is only once she realizes that she has completely forgotten them that she admits the truth to herself.
- In the hall of figures in Charn, Digory deceives himself into believing that he is going insane and that the only cure is to ring the bell regardless of how dangerous it is. He doesn’t admit to the lie until Aslan challenges him on the point.
- Similar to the dwarfs in The Last Battle, Rishda Tarkaan and Ginger deceive themselves into believing that neither Tash nor Aslan is real. Rishda Tarkaan goes so far as to boast that it is a sign of enlightenment to deny their existence. It is only when he hears Tash from the stable, that Rishda realizes that he had believed a lie.
The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning
@hermit I would add that even if true this does not excuse Susan in any way. The usual reason given for Susan pretending to have forgotten is that she finds the contrast between life as a queen in Narnia and an ordinary schoolgirl in England too painful.
And yet she preferred her life to be ordinary - and safe. Susan argued against the Professor about the possibility of Lucy telling the truth in LWW. She expressed more than once she'd wished she'd never come. In PC she was the last to see Aslan and seemed to be always holding back. Perhaps she remembered Rabadash all too clearly. In VDT Susan hadn't done well at school, so, like most parents in that day and age, they would agree that she had to leave school. Susan's parents had taken her to USA, leaving the others behind in England, feeling that she would benefit most from that move. We are also told that people made a fuss over her, saying how grown up she seemed.
But judging from what Eustace has to say, as well as what Aunt Polly and Jill added, it seems Susan is on the social scene big time, and maybe there is a special someone who has caught her eye. Maybe her dismissal of memories of Narnia as "childhood games we used to play" has been done out of pure embarrassment. Yes, she could be deluding herself somewhat that the "special someone" might be better than Rabadash in his behaviour.
1. Rabadash, himself, in HHB seemed to delude himself that he loved Susan, the Barbarian Queen, when all he loved was the chance to grab Narnia.
2. Lucy in VDT also was taken in, enviously considering that Susan was prettier than herself.
3. Speaking of "romance", Prince Rilian seemed quite deluded about LOTGK's virtues and care for himself
4. Jadis, herself, who thought she had more right to the Charn throne than her sister, destroying Charn's people rather than give up.
5. Both Jadis & Uncle Andrew delude themselves about having "a high and lonely destiny" so don't have to obey rules.
This is an excellent and important topic, and you've done a great job surveying the instances! I do think Susan is meant to be a portrait of CSL himself at a certain point in his evolution (or devolution) away from faith before turning around again. But we needn't worry about her: Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia; She'll be back!
I've done some thinking about Edmund's apparent epistemological quest: He's always asking how we do we know, what do we know, how do we know what we know, etc. Although I think even that quest for knowledge has been perverted in him so that he's using it as an excuse, it probably has a good, honest basis--before he went off to that terrible school where he started to go wrong, then got yanked away from his family during the bombing of London! CSL is so into the idea that all bad things are good things twisted and corrupted. Although Edmund is not really on a true quest for knowledge anymore at the beginning of LWW, once he meets the True Source of knowledge, he's put back on the right path.
I've pondered this topic a little bit here, in case you're curious: https://youtu.be/nQloHi40fis
@drh yes, notably in Out Of The Silent Planet the main character speaks to the spiritual ruler about the evil pair, describing them as 'bent'.
Does this occur in Narnia?
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
