Clearly C.S. Lewis valued
the art of storytelling, as this is a prominent theme throughout the Narnia
novels. In fact, even his characters
uphold this tradition of understanding background stories of those whom
they encounter.
This is largely evident in The Horse and His Boy, as Bree (the talking horse) responds
to Hwin’s chatter with “Hush, Ma’am, hush” as he was thoroughly enjoying the
story. “She’s telling it in the grand
Calormene manner and no story-teller in a Tisroc’s court could do it better.”
Later when Shasta asks a question
during Aravis’s story, Bree snarls back, “Be quiet, youngster… you’re spoiling
the story. She’ll tell us all about the
letter in the right place.”
In the right place.
This means, then, that there is a right
and wrong way to tell a story. Things need to fall according to their
place. Eustace had a hard time explaining how he turned into a dragon in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader because he "had no idea how to tell a story straight." Imagine what would happen to
your favorite story if there was no climax in the plot. Think of what would happen if there was no
build up of certain parts or no connection was made with any characters.
But above and beyond telling a story
in the right order is the danger of telling a single-sided story. After all, this is how rumors begin. This is how people are categorized into
stereotypes. This is how we as readers
and hearers of stories can fall victim to racism and bigotry.
The following clip delves more into
the danger of a single story. Chimamanda Adichie (whom I became quite a fan of because of my prof. Dr. Allan Bevere) does an amazing job and articulating this topic.
Lucy says (in Prince Caspian), "we love stories!" so be mindful of how you tell your tale.
