The Princess and the Goblin

When I am a teacher I am not going to analyze every book I read to pieces. I enjoyed the book The Princess and the Goblin, but I did not like some of the ways we analyzed the book and the characters. I never even thought of the religious aspect of the book until Dr. Robinson brought it to my attention in class. I wish we did not always have to look at the symbolic meaning of books, and that we could just take them for face value. The grandmother could have just been a good person who liked her space, so she helped Irene in private, but did not want to be bothered by people so she stayed upstairs in her room. Why does her being in a high part of the house have to symbol heaven? Why does the fact that Grandmother Irene is a leader make her a God like figure? Maybe she is just a strong person. I think analyzing books is a good way to broaden your view of books, and to make you think outside the box. I also think that sometimes people get way out of hand when analyzing literature, and it causes reading to become a job or a debate rather than for pleasure.