The Space Trilogy: Difference between revisions

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The first, ''Out of the Silent Planet'', is a tribute to early science-fiction of the likes of ''From The Earth to the Moon''. Philologist Elwin Ransom is kidnapped by the (evil) scientists Devine and Weston, and taken in their space-ship to the planet [[The Red Planet|Malacandra]] (or Mars, as we call it) as a human sacrifice to appease the natives while they mine the place for gold. He escapes, locates and falls in among the civilized natives (the otterlike ''hrossa'') and learns their language and their ways. He is then summoned to see Oyarsa, the ruler of of Malacandra. This being is an ''eldil'' -- basically, an angel -- and actually just wants to talk. In the court of Oyarsa, Ransom learns much of the history of ''eldils'' and the solar system, and the reason why Thulcandra (the titular Silent Planet, that is, Earth) has heretofore been cut off from the Heavens. Weston and Devine reappear, and their ultimate villainous goals are laid bare and [[Deconstruction|dissected]]. Oyarsa then sends the three humans back to Earth.

In the second novel, ''Perelandra'', also known as ''Voyage to Venus'', it is revealed that the ''eldils'' have kept in contact with Ransom since his trip to the Heavens, and now Ransom has been given a [[Mission From God|Mission From Maleldil]] to visit [[Useful Notes/Venus|Perelandra]] (i.e. Venus). He finds the planet to be covered in oceans and floating islands, and its inhabitants living a literally Edenic existence. Ransom makes the acquaintance of the planet's Queen, and discovers that she and the King (who has been missing for the past few days) are the only intelligent inhabitants. The peace is shattered by the arrival of another space-ship, bearing Weston--and [[Demonic Possession|with him]], an ''eldil'' of Thulcandra, bent on corrupting this young world. Ransom realizes that he was sent to Perelandra to prevent this from happening--by [[Good Angel Bad Angel|words]], and if necessary, by [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu|force]]. As a side-note, this was Lewis' personal favorite of everything he wrote.

In the second novel, ''Perelandra'', also known as ''Voyage to Venus'', it is revealed that the ''eldils'' have kept in contact with Ransom since his trip to the Heavens, and now Ransom has been given a [[Mission From God|Mission From Maleldil]] to visit [[Useful Notes/Venus|Perelandra]] (i.e. Venus). He finds the planet to be covered in oceans and floating islands, and its inhabitants living a literally Edenic existence. Ransom makes the acquaintance of the planet's Queen, and discovers that she and the King (who has been missing for the past few days) are the only intelligent inhabitants. The peace is shattered by the arrival of another space-ship, bearing Weston--and [[Demonic Possession|with him]], an ''eldil'' of Thulcandra, bent on corrupting this young world. Ransom realizes that he was sent to Perelandra to prevent this from happening--by [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|words]], and if necessary, by [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|force]]. As a side-note, this was Lewis' personal favorite of everything he wrote.

The third novel, ''That Hideous Strength'', is an genre shift. (It's subtitled "A Modern Fairy-Tale For Grown-Ups" for a reason). In the quiet town of Edgestow, Jane Studdock finds herself haunted by strange dreams of a decapitated man and an undead mystic. Meanwhile, her husband Mark is strong-armed into joining the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments, a joint political-(quasi)scientific organization that is surreptitiously taking complete control of the town. The NICE is particularly interested in Bragdon Wood, where Merlin is rumored to be buried--not dead, just resting. With great reluctance, Jane falls in with the oddly inactive resistance led by Elwin Ransom--the only opposition to the NICE's (literally) diabolical plans.

If you get the feeling that this one is a hackjob copy of ''[[Nineteen Eighty Four|1984]]'' or ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', you actually have it backwards. This book came first: and right about the time of the atomic bomb. George Orwell actually wrote a snazzy review (titled "The Scientists Take Over") and sang the book's praises, with the caveat that he thought it was weakened by the book's supernatural premise, since of ''course'' good will beat evil if angels are involved. The book is also riddled with Christian allegory, although less overtly so than ''Perelandra'' was. Slightly. Perhaps it may be most generously summed up in the words of Lewis's friend and fellow Anglican apologist, [[Dorothy L Sayers]]: "less good but still full of good stuff." On the other hand, another friend, [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]], dubbed it "That Hideous Book".

If you get the feeling that this one is a hackjob copy of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' or ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', you actually have it backwards. This book came first: and right about the time of the atomic bomb. George Orwell actually wrote a snazzy review (titled "The Scientists Take Over") and sang the book's praises, with the caveat that he thought it was weakened by the book's supernatural premise, since of ''course'' good will beat evil if angels are involved. The book is also riddled with Christian allegory, although less overtly so than ''Perelandra'' was. Slightly. Perhaps it may be most generously summed up in the words of Lewis's friend and fellow Anglican apologist, [[Dorothy L Sayers]]: "less good but still full of good stuff." On the other hand, another friend, [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]], dubbed it "That Hideous Book".

There is also an unfinished novel titled ''The Dark Tower'' (not to be confused with [[The Dark Tower|the Stephen King series of the same name]]) originally intended as a sequel to ''Out Of The Silent Planet'', and abandoned in favor of ''Perelandra''. The plot, in which Ransom was only a secondary character, involved an [[Alternate Universe]] rather than space travel. Walter Hooper, the executor of Lewis' literary estate, published the fragment posthumously. The scholar Kathryn Lindskoog challenged the authenticity of ''The Dark Tower'', and accused Hooper of forging it--though this seems to be the minority view among scholars of Lewis.

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=== This series provides examples of: ===

* [[Adam and Eve Plot]]: ''Perelandra'' is rather explicitly a rehash of the Garden Of Eden (with Ransom as a [[Genre Savvy]] observer).

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* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: Merlin, although ultimately on the side of good, doesn't really fit within the modern framework of good and evil. One of the better examples of [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]].

* [[The Bluebeard]]: How a newspaper refers to François Alcasan, who murdered his wife.

* [[Buffy Speak]]: In ''That Hideous Strength'', MacPhee accuses women in general of talking this way and somehow still understanding each other.

* [[Buffy-Speak]]: In ''That Hideous Strength'', MacPhee accuses women in general of talking this way and somehow still understanding each other.

* [[Butch Lesbian]]: "Fairy" Hardcastle. She's definitely butch, but her lesbianism is implied rather than stated outright. Comes across like a more discreet version of the the [[Girls Behind Bars]] butch jailer stereotype.

* [[Call a Rabbit A Smeerp]]: Maleldil, i.e. Space Jesus.

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** The fact is even pointed out that meeting a ''good'' Eldil is even ''worse'' than meeting a bad one. When faced with evil, one can still hope for the good to save you -- what do you do when a good Eldil is still frightening?

* [[Energy Beings]]: The ''eldils'' are essentially Christian angels, and some of them (the ones associated with a specific planet) are also the basis for the Olympian pantheon. They are imperceptible energy beings whose forms exist on a radically different wavelength than ours -- for them, gaseous matter doesn't exist, and liquids and solids are gaseous, so the planets of the Solar system are just clouds. To them, light itself is the water through which they swim, and the Sun is their wellspring. "Visiting" a planet means moving into one of those moving clouds and then keeping pace with its orbit to maintain the appearance of standing still, while using some sort of projection to interact with wispy, ephemeral creatures they cannot fully see (ie: ''us'').

* [[~~Everythings~~ Worse With Bears]]: A bear named Mr Bultitude kills the [[Big Bad]], who had kidnapped him from the zoo and used him for vivisection experiments. Hence also:

* [[Everything's Worse With Bears]]: A bear named Mr Bultitude kills the [[Big Bad]], who had kidnapped him from the zoo and used him for vivisection experiments. Hence also:

** [[Exit Pursued By a Bear]]: Mr Bultitude is a more-than-usually literal example.

** [[Exit, Pursued By a Bear]]: Mr Bultitude is a more-than-usually literal example.

* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: Played straight with Professor Weston.

* [[Evil Is Petty]]: The un-man on Perelandra. Capable of making very eloquent arguments to tempt his subject towards evil; but when he's unable to do anything more profoundly evil, he spends his time torturing small animals and playing childish pranks on Ransom.

** Arguably, Devine as well. In ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'', while Weston and Devine are both evil, Weston is a deconstruction of the [[Well Intentioned Extremist]] who justifies his evil actions as necessary for the survival of the human race. Devine is only there for the gold; and Oyarsa describes him as a "broken" man whose only motivation is greed. As Lord Feverstone in ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', he's aware of the true nature of the NICE; but isn't interested in the supernatural aspects, his only motivation being personal power.

** Arguably, Devine as well. In ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'', while Weston and Devine are both evil, Weston is a deconstruction of the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who justifies his evil actions as necessary for the survival of the human race. Devine is only there for the gold; and Oyarsa describes him as a "broken" man whose only motivation is greed. As Lord Feverstone in ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', he's aware of the true nature of the NICE; but isn't interested in the supernatural aspects, his only motivation being personal power.

* [[Evilutionary Biologist]]: Professor Weston develops interplanetary travel so humanity and their descendants (whatever they evolve into) could go out into the stars and survive throughout the cosmos. However, Weston doesn't care that this plan may involve wiping out other intelligent life. (In the second book, he abandons this goal in favor of a New Age-y philosophy he dubs "Spiritual Evolution", which has nothing to do with this trope.) The trope is taken further in the third book, where the N.I.C.E. plans to replace all organic life with a machine life.

* [[Expy]]: Ransom is largely inspired by Lewis' close friend [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]].

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* [[Fun With Acronyms]]: The N.I.C.E. (National Institute of Coordinated Experiments).

** [[Fridge Horror]]: There really is a institute with the same acronym in the UK - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

* [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]]: In ''Perelandra'', Ransom wonders why he wasn't receiving divine help in light of the direct demonic intervention from the other side. The answer: {{spoiler|God works [[In Mysterious Ways]]. Ransom himself ''is'' the divine help -- Adam and Eve didn't have the benefit of advice from an older race that had failed the [[Forbidden Fruit]] test; Weston/the Un-man is Satan ''in the physical body of a human being'' -- which imposes certain physical limitations, and [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu|which can be killed]]...}}

* [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]]: In ''Perelandra'', Ransom wonders why he wasn't receiving divine help in light of the direct demonic intervention from the other side. The answer: {{spoiler|God works [[In Mysterious Ways]]. Ransom himself ''is'' the divine help -- Adam and Eve didn't have the benefit of advice from an older race that had failed the [[Forbidden Fruit]] test; Weston/the Un-man is Satan ''in the physical body of a human being'' -- which imposes certain physical limitations, and [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|which can be killed]]...}}

* [[Good Angel Bad Angel]]: Ransom and the demon in ''Perelandra''.

* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: Ransom and the demon in ''Perelandra''.

* [[Good Is Old Fashioned]]: The view of Weston and the NICE.

* [[Good Is Old-Fashioned]]: The view of Weston and the NICE.

* [[Good People Have Good Sex]]: "Venus at St. Annes'", the last chapter of ''That Hideous Strength.''

* [[Green Skinned Space Babe]]: The Queen of Perelandra, literally.

* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: The Queen of Perelandra, literally.

** Implied that, this being Venus, her race's blood is oxygenated by Copper rather than Iron

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Weston's speech to Oyarsa justifying his murder of the Malacandrans, as well as planned genocide and colonization of the planet. Thoroughly deconstructed, as noted elsewhere, to the point where Oyarsa's response effectively qualifies as an indirect [[Shut UP Hannibal]].

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Weston's speech to Oyarsa justifying his murder of the Malacandrans, as well as planned genocide and colonization of the planet. Thoroughly deconstructed, as noted elsewhere, to the point where Oyarsa's response effectively qualifies as an indirect [[Shut UP, Hannibal]].

* [[Homage]]: Over in the [[DC Universe]], the Martian word for "Mars" is "Ma'aleca'andra" as an homage to this trilogy.

* [[Human Aliens]]: The King and Queen of Perelandra. (Justified: since Maleldil chose the physical form of a human being, all sapient life younger than the human race looks like Earthlings.)

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* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: In ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', "bucking" is used as a stand-in for...

* [[What Could Have Been]]: ''The Dark Tower''

* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs]]: ''Perelandra'' can get rather trippy at times...

* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs?]]: ''Perelandra'' can get rather trippy at times...

* [[What Measure Is a Non Human]]: Subverted. The Old Solar language has a word for sapient creatures of any species: ''hnau''. Humans, Malacandrans, Perelandrans, and Eldila are all ''hnau'', and thus are all people. As an interesting twist, though, Lewis proposes that the human practice of keeping pets is an expression of our desire for companionship with people who are different creatures from us -- the various Malacandrans find each other silly, amusing and refreshing. Humans talk to cats or dogs and treat them as family-members; a Hross goes to hang out with a Pfifltrig, who can actually talk back.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Subverted. The Old Solar language has a word for sapient creatures of any species: ''hnau''. Humans, Malacandrans, Perelandrans, and Eldila are all ''hnau'', and thus are all people. As an interesting twist, though, Lewis proposes that the human practice of keeping pets is an expression of our desire for companionship with people who are different creatures from us -- the various Malacandrans find each other silly, amusing and refreshing. Humans talk to cats or dogs and treat them as family-members; a Hross goes to hang out with a Pfifltrig, who can actually talk back.

* [[You No Take Candle]]: Weston has a poor grasp of Old Solar.

** See also Deconstruction. Weston gives a philosophical speech in English with some very stirring rhetoric; Ransom translates it into Old Solar, but he can only get across the basic ideas, not the rhetoric. The ideas ''are'' accurately conveyed, more or less, but stripped of their high-minded vocabulary they sound banal, if not outright barbaric; when Weston says that "Life itself is more valuable than any system of morality", Ransom flails around for an adequate translation before admitting that he cannot think of one.