Comments on: PART III: The Veritas Papers http://lizmccabe.com/archives/28 the dreamchild moving through wonders wild and new Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:50:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Liz http://lizmccabe.com/archives/28#comment-13 Liz Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:57:31 +0000 http://lizmccabe.com/archives/28#comment-13 What about Neil Gaiman's Stardust? I think we are moving into a new era of expanded horizons and possibilities. While in the past, it may have been that the bars of the adult cage were too restrictive to access the broader world of the imaginal, but things are changing. Individuals are becoming empowered to create lives for themselves as they see fit. The only trick is having the courage, the strength of heart, to do so. :) What about Neil Gaiman’s Stardust? I think we are moving into a new era of expanded horizons and possibilities. While in the past, it may have been that the bars of the adult cage were too restrictive to access the broader world of the imaginal, but things are changing. Individuals are becoming empowered to create lives for themselves as they see fit. The only trick is having the courage, the strength of heart, to do so. :)

]]> By: Ben http://lizmccabe.com/archives/28#comment-12 Ben Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:38:09 +0000 http://lizmccabe.com/archives/28#comment-12 I think it's interesting that in many of literature’s most widely-read fantasy works, it's only children who are able to move from a real world into magical, imaginative worlds. The literary world's enchanted wardrobes, tornadoes, and dreams are strictly for those who are not yet adults. The story of Peter Pan draws the clearest line between imagination and adulthood; the imaginative land of Neverland is a place of arrested development; Peter cannot grow up until he abandons it. Of course, there are a number of fantasy works featuring adults, but these are usually adults who are born into fantasy worlds and have no connection to our own. I suppose this only illustrates that, even in fiction, it’s difficult to conceive of an adult character who can move from reality into a wholly imaginative world. Our society simply does not allow adults to engage in such nonsense. I think it’s interesting that in many of literature’s most widely-read fantasy works, it’s only children who are able to move from a real world into magical, imaginative worlds. The literary world’s enchanted wardrobes, tornadoes, and dreams are strictly for those who are not yet adults. The story of Peter Pan draws the clearest line between imagination and adulthood; the imaginative land of Neverland is a place of arrested development; Peter cannot grow up until he abandons it.

Of course, there are a number of fantasy works featuring adults, but these are usually adults who are born into fantasy worlds and have no connection to our own.

I suppose this only illustrates that, even in fiction, it’s difficult to conceive of an adult character who can move from reality into a wholly imaginative world. Our society simply does not allow adults to engage in such nonsense.

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