CS Lewis (LWW, Ch. 3) wrote:She rushed ahead of them, flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried, “Now! go in and see for yourselves.”
“Why, you goose,” said Susan, putting her head inside and pulling the fur coats apart, “it’s just an ordinary wardrobe; look! there’s the back of it.”
Then everyone looked in and pulled the coats apart; and they all saw—Lucy herself saw—a perfectly ordinary wardrobe. There was no wood and no snow, only the back of the wardrobe, with hooks on it. Peter went in and rapped his knuckles on it to make sure that it was solid.
Lets examine how the characters get to Narnia throughout the series...
1. Exploring the House (LWW): Lucy steps into a wardrobe while exploring the house, and to her surprise, finds Narnia. All four children inspect the wardrobe after Lucy tells her story, but find it is just an ordinary wardrobe. They are unable to get through.
2. Hide-and-Seek (LWW): During a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy goes to the wardrobe because she is starting to doubt if her experience was real. But when she gets there, she hears footsteps and, thinking it's Susan coming to catch her, jumps into the wardrobe with the intention of hiding. Edmund followers her in to tease her.
3. Running from the Macready (LWW): They all climb into the wardrobe with the intention of hiding from Macready.
4. The Horn (PC): Caspian blows the horn, and calls the four Pevensies to Narnia.
5. The Picture in the Bedroom (VDT): Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace are looking at a picture, when, to their surprise, it comes to life and pulls them in.
6. Running from Bullies (SC): Eustace and Jill are running from bullies. They open a door with the intention of escaping them, but to their complete shock and surprise, they find it leads to another world.
7. Jumping into a Pool (MN): Digory, Polly, and a few others jump into a pool, thinking it leads to Charn, but to their surprise, find they are an empty world...which soon becomes Narnia.
8. A Frightful Jerk (LB): Eustace and Jill are on a train when they feel a most frightful jerk (which they later learn was the train crashing)...and find they are in Narnia.
My Conclusion: You can't get to Narnia by trying.
Evidence: 1)There are no examples in the Chronicles where someone did something with the intention of getting to Narnia and succeeded. 2) It answers the question in the title of this thread: They couldn't get through because they were trying, and you can't get to Narnia by trying.
I have given this a great deal thought, and would really like your thoughts. I think this conclusion is at least a strong possibility. In order to show that my conclusion is not possible, you must give an example of a character doing some action with the intention of getting to Narnia, and succeeding. In other words, having that action directly result in getting to Narnia.
If you have another theory, I think it must explain why the wardrobe was suddenly shut after Lucy's first adventure. That seems like a key point.
Another question to ponder: For Lucy's second visit to Narnia, why did Lewis choose to have Lucy hear footsteps, and jump into the wardrobe to hide? Why not just have her climb in, and have Edmund see her and follow? My answer: Because you can't get to Narnia by trying, so Lewis needed to come up with a way to get her to Narnia without her trying.
I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts and theories. What do you think?