Growing With My Garden

The first and last sentences of our novel strike the fatherhood theme: Robert’s quest for his father begins under the distorted view that his grannie holds of him, and ends with his discovery of  his true father.  MacDonald’s emphasis on the necessity  to discover the true nature of God, with all of the implications and doctrines that naturally follow, is central to all his writings, and our novel contains many passages that speak eloquently to the theme.   Novels that depict the main character as growing up and trying to find the   correct orientation to life are termed Bildungsroman by literary scholars, and Robert Faulkner is a fine example of this genre.  We see Robert as an orphan growing up under the auspices of a well-meaning but very strict grandmother who is possessed by a seriously incorrect understanding of the nature of God.  His mother died when he was very young, and his delinquent father has abandoned him.  His journey of growing up is one of finding his true father,

  Robert Falconer is one of George MacDonald’s early works, published in 1868.  In addition to its being a well-constructed and interesting story, it offers many valuable spiritual insights and it contains a fascinating amount of autobiographical material.  It is of course impossible to discern where accurate portraiture leaves off and fictionalization begins, but Robert in many ways seems a depiction of many of MacDonald’s own inner struggles and conclusions as he was growing up and becoming disillusioned with the stern Scottish Calvinism to which he was exposed in his youth.  Robert’s “grannie” also vividly reflects MacDonald’s own grandmother, and the town of Rothieden has many of the features of Huntly, MacDonald’s home town. Note: If you are buying a copy of the novel, purchase the Cullen edition.  In it the Scottish dialect has been nicely softened so that it is readily readable but yet retains the realistic air which is important for the tone. The chapter numbers below are

  At the conclusion of a lengthy description of an intense battle with the Calormenes, Jill, Eustace, and Tirian are all finally captured and thrown into the stable into the presence of the horrible figure of Tash. Then the threatening Tash suddenly disappears and the seven Kings and Queens of Narnia appear: Peter, Jill, Eustace, Lucy, Edmund, Polly, and Diggory, all figures who have had prominent roles in the prior Narnia Chronicles.  Susan, we are told, is not present because she has dismissed Narnia as mere child’s play and has pursued a life of worldliness.  The episode in which Lucy and King Tirian confront the dwarfs is an excellent illustration of the principle that all people see according to their natures:  good natures tend to see a good world, and evil natures see an evil world.  In spite of the astounding fact that Aslan himself appears to them, in their complete self-centeredness,  they vehemently misinterpret his presence as so much “Humbug.”  Aslan explains: “You see