Narnia: No Boundaries

As class discussion surrounding suspension of disbelief in Narnia unfolded today, I found myself buried in the analysis of the imaginative mind, specifically regarding children. An adult might love the immersive nature of fiction, but for a completely different reason than a young boy or girl. A child's imagination is seemingly quite active, for children are visibly prone to acting out or pretending, something adults fail to consider as an avenue of entertainment. Lord of the Rings is not an accessible book for youngsters; it contains extreme depth, profound language, and is grounded in a very firm reality, even if that reality is not necessarily conventional. Narnia is obviously enticing to children, but not simply because of the previously discussed simplicity. Narnia is - in many ways - a more fanciful tale than Lord of the Rings. Presumably, children find beauty in Narnia because of how real it could be, and how similar they are to the protagonists. Narnia is an interactive and unlimited world to a child, because there is no Tolkien to set up boundaries, or require explanations. Narnia leaves a child wanting more, and possibly believing that one day they could be drawn in through a painting - or even pulled in by a lion.