Heroines of Faith and Courage (and Conclusion)

Chapter 6 and Conclusion of Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination by Vigen Guroian.

In chapter 6, Guroian discusses two "sisters in faith and courage." They are Irene from The Princess and the Goblin, and Narnia's Lucy. I won't go into much of that - it seems obvious to me. But I want to share a few quotes.

To George MacDonald (who wrote The Princess and the Goblin), "Imagination is a power of discovery, not a power to create. The latter capacity he reserved to God alone. Nor did MacDonald equate imagination with mere fancy...Rather, for him, imagination is a power of perception, a light that illuminates the mystery that is hidden beneath visible reality: it is a power to help 'see' into the very nature of things. Reason alone, MacDonald argued, is not able to recognize mystery or grasp the moral quiddity of the world. As the sensible mind needs eyes to see, so reason needs the imagination in order to behold mystery and to perceive the true quality of things. Imagination takes reason to the threshold of mystery and moral truth and reveals them as such." I think that about sums it up. :)

Why should children read more than sensible, sanitized, true-to-life books? Guroian says that MacDonald felt strongly that children's books should reveal a glimpse of more. "Why shouldn't children's stories arouse deep questionings about the nature of good and evil, about death and what comes after, and about faith and doubt? Do we not risk doing much greater harm to our children if we deny them the opportunities and the possibilities to work through their fears, inquire into the meaning of their loves, and follow the lead of questions about the human lot that begin to percolate to consciousness quite early in life?" I think that sums it up, too. Maybe I should read more George MacDonald. :)

MacDonald wrote about princesses because, he said, "every little girl is a princess" and child of the King. In The Princess and the Goblin, MacDonald "shows us how courage gets joined with the theological virtues, especially faith and love." There's lots more - I haven't even mentioned Irene, who is the focus of this half of the chapter.

I won't go into Lucy, either. No doubt she's heroic and inspiring, and Guroian links things that happen to her with words like eucharist, baptism, liturgical formula. I'm so familiar with Lucy that it seems redundant to write anything about her. You'll just have to read it yourself.

Gurioan's Conclusion lists books that fit into his chapter categories:
Becoming Real (The Ugly Duckling, Where The Wild Things Are)
Love and Immortality (Snow White, Little Daylight, The Selfish Giant)
Friends and Mentors (The Reluctant Dragon, Trumpet of the Swan, Damon and Pythias)
Evil and Redemption (The King of the Golden River, The Last Battle)
Heroes of Faith and Courage (Curdie and the Princess, The Wizard of Oz, A Wrinkle in Time)
He explains his choices in the book.

All of the entries in this series:
1. Awakening the Moral Imagination
2. On Becoming a Real Human Child: Pinocchio
3. Love and Immortality in The Velveteen Rabbit and The Little Mermaid
4. Friends and Mentors in The Wind in the Willows, Charlotte's Web, Bambi
5. Evil and Redemption in the Snow Queen and Narnia
6. Heroines of Faith and Courage (and Conclusion)