Part
1
Fantasy remains a human
right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made:
and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.
J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories[1]
Every child
builds. Some build castles out of wooden blocks handed down from an older
sibling. Some construct forts out of blankets, chairs, and miscellaneous living
room artifacts. Some erect mansions and small municipalities out of Lincoln
Logs, Tinker Toys, or any other plaything their grandparents or parents saved
for them to enjoy one day. As fun as those pastimes were, my medium of choice
has always been Lego bricks.[2]
I received my
first Lego bricks from family friends in Michigan when I was two years old. They
gave me three five-gallon buckets full of these plastic treasures. And though I
wouldn’t get my hands on them for a couple more years, when I finally did, my
imagination was awakened by them, captivated by these little bricks with
endless building possibilities. Those three buckets were my child-hood
equivalent of stepping into a magic wardrobe or the TARDIS. Pieces led to
imagination. Imagination led to building. Building led to storytelling. I spent
hours in my room and around the house acting out the stories I told with my
Lego sub-creations. I followed instructions. Sets were built. Sets were
deconstructed. New ideas and creations were built and the cycle repeated. Whole
worlds were brought into existence and complex stories formed a strong
undercurrent to these creations.[3]
The import of using Legos can be seen well beyond the realm
of childhood fantasy. Math
teachers use Lego bricks for learning fractions. Engineers and artists use Lego
bricks for architecture and design in various scales and styles. Building toys also
have positive benefits in the development of a child’s fine motor skills and
dexterity, as well as social interaction with other children and adults, stimulation
of creativity, and play. And for the visual learners among us, there is always
the multi volume The Brick Testament.
But the point here is not to extol the many uses of Lego
bricks, but to highlight their importance for the imagination. This is why I enjoyed The Lego
Movie so much. The entire movie was about the imagination. And without getting
into too much plot detail, in the midst of adventure, humor, and a well-told
story, more than one man’s imagination is unlocked or opened – I think “freed”
would be the best word – by an act of sacrifice. Yes, I think there is a Christ
figure in The Lego Movie. And I’ll give you a hint: this character’s name means ‘truth’.[4]
Moreover, there’s a similar progression in the plot of The Lego Movie to what I experienced growing up. Pieces led to
imagination. Imagination led to building. Building led to storytelling.
Before the
imagination can be used in Christian apologetics the imagination must be set
free. Not free to do as we please, mind you. After all, that’s not freedom;
that’s anarchy and lawlessness. No, freedom to use the imagination in service
to Christ. Many of the 20th Century’s greatest authors did this.
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and Dorothy Sayers are just a few
that come to mind. Now, the point is not that all Christians need to become best-selling
authors in order to use their imagination as an apologetic for the Christian
faith. Rather, in our various vocations (or hobbies) God’s gifts of intellect
and imagination are put to use to serve the neighbor and declare and defend the
Gospel.
A great
place to start, or whet the appetite for construction, would be to read Gene E.
Veith’s book Reading Between the Lines: A
Christian Guide to Literature, or Francis Rossow’s fantastic tome Gospel Patterns in Literature.
And in
discussing the writing process, no one describes his own writing in fantasy
better than Tolkien. Tolkien defined his own composition, such as we find in
the pages of The Lord of the Rings or
The Silmarillion, as a work of
Sub-Creation. That’s because he saw himself as a Sub-Creator. Human beings,
Tolkien says, do not create things out of nothing. That is God’s work in
creation. He alone is the Primary Artist. Man is a Sub-Creator. In his poem Mythopoeia¸ Tolkien describes this idea
of Sub-Creation this way:
Though all the crannies of the world we
filled
with elves and goblins, though we
dared to build
gods and their houses out of dark
and light,
and sow the seed of dragons, ‘twas
our right
(used or misused). The right has not
decayed.
We make still by the Law in which
we’re made.[5]
For Tolkien,
Sub-Creation is a derivative mode, or aspect, of creation. We make by the law
in which we are made. Using Imagination and Sub-Creation, we’ve begun to
construct a tool for the apologetic task. In this first segment we find an
important first piece – a baseplate – for a tender-minded means of defense, the
imagination. The next piece is to examine further Tolkien’s use of imagination
and its connection to Sub-Creation. For then we will see how fantasy can
clearly reflect reality.
[1] J.R.R.
Tolkien, On Fairy Stories, in Tree and Leaf. London: Harper Collins
Publishers, 2001. p. 56.
[2]
For the record, the plural of Lego is Lego Bricks, not Legos. And yes, I am
that nerdy.
[3]
This is similar to the way that C.S. Lewis created and developed the rich
background story to Boxen which
prepared the way for The Chronicles of
Narnia.
[4]
Emmet appears to be a variation of the name Emmeth, similar to the character in
The Last Battle. Emmeth is also an
English transliteration of the Hebrew word for truth.
[5] J.R.R. Tolkien, Mythopoeia, in Tree and Leaf.
London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2001. p. 87.
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