Summary:
One thing that is patently obvious in the metaphoric journey from adolescence to adulthood in fantasy fictionis that there is a strong metaphoric undertone that offers valuable `advice' to an increasingly troubled yet crucial faction of our society. To them, fantasy offers not only an escape from a complicated world, but also affiliates with adolescent desires and fears at a time when so few adults have the ability to reach them.
"Many 20th century fantasies for children explore the
journey from childhood to adulthood in metaphoric terms."
"Fantasy is literature for teenagers"
Brian Aldiss (quoted in Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, 2001)
In Alternate Worlds in Fantasy Fiction, Peter Hunt questions the credibility of fantasy fiction within the literary world, and suggests it is a marginalized literary form. Although opinions vary on the subject, many are of the consensus that fantasy is "formulaic, childish and escapist", without giving credit to its invaluable scope as a device to covertly reach adolescents. (Hunt: 2)
The above quote from Brian Aldiss' may well have been derogatory in intent, yet it should also be interpreted as a complement. As adolescent literature plays such an important role to young adults, an accomplished writer can incorporate constructive metaphors with which to reach out to teens by addressing the painful journey form childhood to adulthood.
Alan Garner's The Owl Service is one such low fantasy text which metaphorically depicts the difficulties of making the transition to adulthood. Garner manages to cleverly disguise this notion under the mythology of the Welsh myth of The Mabinogion. The tales of The Mabinogion are a celebration of Welsh pagan ancestry and Celtic roots, and roughly translate as 'a story for children'. Garner's take on what is the fourth branch of The Mabinogion - "Math, Son of Mathonwy" - ingeniously changes the original tale of unrequited love into a metaphor for the heartache of adolescence.
In the original myth of Math, Son of Mathonwy, a woman is made for the powerful Leu out of flowers of meadowsweet and broom - creating the ill-fated Blodeuwedd:
Math and Gwydyon took the flowers of oak and broom and meadowsweet and from these they conjured up the loveliest and most beautiful girl anyone had seen. ( The Mabinogion: 111)
When her love for him is not returned, she is changed into an owl for all eternity:
I will not kill you, but I will do what is worse: I will let you go in the form of a bird. Because of the shame you have bought on Leu Skillful Hand, you shall never again show your face to the light of day...( The Mabinogion:116)
To this day, Blodeuwedd means 'owl' in Welsh, and it is from here that Garner's unusual 'owls' or 'flowers' choice is derived, which he instead uses as a metaphorical lesson of the tribulations of adolescence.
This owls/flowers ideal that permeates the story can be viewed as a metaphor for the choices one faces when growing up. The choice of the violent, painful and turbulent adolescence of 'owls' - one where the youngster is at battle with the emergence of his new feelings, experiences and self. Or the 'flowers' path - to accept, be forgiving to oneself and to others, and to embrace the physical and psychological changes that are occurring around them. Here Garner leads adolescents to the understanding that the choice is always in their hands, and that even when something seems set in stone, there are always other options - you need only be receptive to them.
Gwyn's struggle to forgive and accept during his journey is the key obstacle that prevents him from breaking the never-ending owl cycle. He, as the most troubled teen, immediately sees owls and is ultimately the most blinded by the owls/flowers myth. Garner uses the pattern of the eponymous dinner service as a prelude to the forthcoming behavioural patterns of the three. Alison also chooses to see owls, when in fact, the pattern could also have been viewed as flowers, depending on your mental disposition, and what you choose to see. This is embodied by easy going Roger's neutral statement when they first discover the service. He sees flowers, and to Alison's insistence that it is owls replies, "Yes, I suppose it is, if you want it to be." (20)
This one sentence reflects the core message of the book - that it is possible to choose the right path in adolescence - that one can be in control of ones own life; that it is essentially choice which decides your path. The climax of the book supports this notion. As Alison is overcome by the owl manifestation of the myth, Huw tries to show Gwyn that it could be so simply resolved if he could only forgive:
"Always it is owls, always we are destroyed. Why must she see owls and not flowers? Always it is the same...Look to her. Comfort her."
"I can't, man. You don't know what these two have done. I can't touch her." (221)
Gwyn's stubbornness smothers him, and it takes good natured Roger to break through to Alison and help her realise that she is only owls because she chose to be:
"You're not birds. You're flowers. You've never been anything else. Not owls. Flowers...of course they're flowers. What made you think those plates could be anything else? Why didn't you cut the pattern into flowers right at the start, you silly girl""(224)
Roger helps Alison see the positive rather than the negative - that the importance lies in how you see yourself - a powerful metaphor for today's adolescents to, as Appleyard states, help our ."..youth struggling to achieve a mature identity amid the problematic choices offered by adult society..." (Becoming A Reader: 96)
Gillian Cross' Wolf is a similarly low fantasy text, but which instead incorporates the fairytale element to produce a psychological rather than 'other world' fantasy. Through this medium Cross is able to explore the journey to adulthood, and more importantly that of self discovery, as Wolf is essentially a tale of crisis of identity. The carefully controlled fantasy elements of the fundamentally realist Wolf are constructed to convey the confusion and conflict of testing the boundaries of ones known world. Cross plays on the fact that adolescence is a time of serious introspection, and as Appleyard notes, is a time when one begins to ."..think about thinking, to reflect critically about one's own thoughts. This is the source of adolescent self-consciousness..." (97)
The protagonist Cassie has very particular personality traits which Cross sets up to be confronted. The significance of Cassie's rigid and blinkered upbringing by her Nan is harshly juxtaposed with the unconventional mother figure, Goldie. From the outset, Cassie believes herself to be a stronger, more competent person than her mother, reflected in the line "You have to tell Goldie what to do! Or she'll just sit there and let the mess pile up around her." (19) This portrayal of Goldie as a severely dysfunctional, even childlike mother, is an example of reversal of the expected. Cross utilises this unusual family dynamic as a metaphoric tool for inclusion - allowing the adolescent reader to affiliate with notions outside the 'norm'.
Boundaries and rules are critically important to Cassie and can be seen metaphorically as her refusal to let go of the comfort of childhood conventions in the wake of being expected to make decisions, seen in the line "The shock of it froze her brain and she gripped the handle of her suitcase, standing completely still as she worked out where the boundaries were." (17)
Cross uses the reversal of the expected in Wolf to metaphorically convey that people are complicated. The Little Red Riding Hood fairytale is turned on its head, with Cassie making the journey from her Grandmother's house across the urban forest of London to her mother's home - the unconventional squat. Cross tries to convey that people are not always what they seem, and an important part of Cassie's adolescent journey is the realisation that she has been obtuse in her views. Cassie's world - her thoughts, views and perceptions - have been constructed by her Nan, and have hence been censored and controlled.
She is critical of anything that opposes this world view, and believes only hers is the 'real' world. This is true for many adolescents, and through this depiction Cross is able to gently nudge the reader toward broadening their world view.
As Peter Hunt discusses in Alternate Worlds In Fantasy Fiction, many literary critics are of the view that fantasy fiction is among the lower echelons of credible literature. Yet it seems painfully obvious that fantasy can be a most valuable vessel from which powerful lessons can be launched, without the overly didactic tones that some more serious literary texts can display. Without appearing condescending, fantasy can gently plant notions that may otherwise be hugely problematic to approach. Wolf is one such text, addressing dysfunctional family dynamics whilst metaphorically setting up solutions.
Cassie's blinkered and constructed world view is metaphorically indicative of the journey all adolescents make. When the world - which has until then for the most part been socially constructed by the views and ideology of those adults that surround them - is suddenly open to personal choice and interpretation. As Appleyard notes, ."..to know is to construct meaning out of our interaction with the world of experience..." (10) This can be hugely daunting; Cross realises this and by allowing Cassie to progressively address her fears and anxieties, she offers solution and hope to the teenage reader.
Wolf is loaded with symbolism, and the eponymous 'wolf' entity stands for basic human primeval fears. Fear is an integral theme of the text, and Cassie's major fear is of not being in control. Adolescence can be likened to an unknown journey, one that seems never ending, and Cross metaphorically points to this in Cassie's dream:
Now she was alone, hurrying through the forest on a narrow, twisting path...the path twisted and twisted again. At every turn she looked for a hint of smoke ahead...but there was nothing...on and on she ran, stumbling and sliding...surely the cottage would be round the next turn...or the next...or the next...(85-86)
The Moongazer's workshop is an important didactic element of the text, suggesting that we must be more objective. Cross' portrayal of the wolves in a vulnerable light teaches us to broaden our expectations of others and to be more accepting, and learning to understand the wolves is the catalyst to Cassie beginning to accept Lyall and Goldie.
The fairytale element really comes into play in the depiction of Cassie's father, Mick Phelan. He is the 'big bad wolf' personified, and is an embodiment of Cassie's fears. Until the climax of the book, we expect him to actually be a werewolf - to realise her fears. Instead Mick's emergence as a terrorist is conveyed as somehow worse than the notion of a werewolf. This revelation, coupled with Goldie's emergence as the heroine rather than the expected victim, can be viewed as Cross' metaphor for expecting the unexpected in life.
Yet through this Cross drives home a deeper message. Mick's act was motivated through a passionate sense that what he was doing was right. This is a truly human fallibility that permeates every decision one makes, and points to the reflection that we all think and act in ways we believe are correct. An integral part of the journey to adulthood is the understanding, tolerance and acceptance of the views and actions of not only others, but also ourselves, and Cross' Wolf manages to subtly draw attention to this notion, without appearing condescending.
Taking a step into high fantasy, Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights also follows the journey - physical and metaphorical - of its protagonist, Lyra. Yet here we also see metaphorical elements dissimilar to those found in Wolf or The Owl Service. Like Cassie, Lyra's journey is distinctively one of self-discovery, and in following her physical journey across the terrains of Pullman's parallel universe interpretation of Earth, we see her address an array of issues that can face a troubled adolescent.
Probably the most important metaphorical element is the notion of the 'daemon' in Lyra's world. The daemon entity can be viewed as an extension of the soul, and Pullman embellishes it with ingenious traits that are synonymous with adolescence. The form of a daemon changes constantly through puberty, reflecting the mood and feelings of its human, before finally 'settling' in a shape that truly reflects the owner's personality. This is metaphorically indicative of finding one's identity in adolescence - of finding the right path:
"Why do daemons have to settle"" Lyra said. "I want Pantalaimon to be able to change for ever. So does he."
"Ah, they have always settled, and they always will. That's part of growing up...Anyway, there's compensation for a settled form...Knowing what kind of person you are.."..
"But suppose your daemon settles in a form you don't like""
"Well, then, you're discontented, 'ent you? There's plenty of folk as'd like to have a lion as a daemon and they end up with a poodle...till they learn to be satisfied with what they are, they're going to be fretful about it."(167)
The notion of the daemon can also be linked to Otto Rank's exploration of the 'double'. His essay in 1914 suggested that the immortal soul was the first 'double' of the body. This principle, in connection with other 'double' elements such as reflection and shadows, stems from a belief in the soul and a fear of death - where the soul is seen as insurance of immortality. (FreudUncanny.htm). With this in mind, it could be argued that Pullman is metaphorically addressing the ideal of one's own mortality, in a way that is imperceptible to the adolescent reader.
Another important element which can have a dramatic effect on an adolescent's journey to adulthood is the complexity of religion. Pullman's own fervently anti-Catholic views have undeniably influenced his depiction of The Magesterium. The whole notion of the mysterious 'dust' and the work of the General Oblation Board hints to the hysteria of The Inquisition during the darker days of Catholicism. This can be interpreted metaphorically as Pullman's way of urging adolescents not to be forced and pressured by the often oppressive regimes of religion, but to instead discover their own feelings, in their own time.
'Supernatural' powers can often play a significant role in fantasy texts. In The Owl Service, Alison begins to experience telekinetic powers by smashing the plate at Nancy, and demolishing Gwyn's book. So too, in Northern Lights we see Lyra's discovery of her unusual ability to read the alethiometer, a talent which takes Jordan scholars years to achieve. The role adolescence plays on these 'powers' can be viewed on various levels. Alison's telekinesis is a manifestation of the angst of puberty. The opening line of the book itself, "How's the belly-ache..."(9),and Alison's reply that it is "A bore..." can be interpreted as a nod towards menstruation. Interestingly, most noted unexplained 'powers' or events, such as telekinesis, poltergeist activity or pyrokenesis all appear to manifest themselves during the individual's puberty - a time of frantic physical changes and an increase in electrical impulses in the brain.
Conversely, Lyra's ability to read the alethiometer stems from her inherent innocence - her childhood purity being intrinsic to the device functioning. It is possible this could be a metaphoric lesson to the young reader not to race to lose their innocence - or more controversially, their sexual integrity.
One thing that is patently obvious in all of these texts is that there is a strong metaphoric undertone that offers valuable 'advice' to an increasingly troubled yet crucial faction of our society. To them, fantasy offers not only an escape from a complicated world, but also affiliates with adolescent desires and fears at a time when so few adults have the ability to reach them. For as Appleyard notes, such texts:
...offer a child images of how to deal with these concerns, of how to be the one who acts, takes over, comes through, and deals competently with the challenges of growing up." (88)
Appleyard, J. A. Becoming A Reader. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1990.
Cross, Gillian. Wolf. Puffin: London, 1992.
Gantz, Jeffery. (trans.) The Mabinogion. Penguin, London.
Garner, Alan. The Owl Service. Harper Collins : London, 2002.
Hunt, P & M. Lenz. Eds. Alternate Worlds In Fantasy Fiction. Continuum: London, 2001.
Pullman, Phillip. Northern Lights. Scholastic Ltd: London, 1998.
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