Finish reading Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis and write/post a journal: Identify and explain a theme of the novel. (A theme is: what the work is about, an underlying idea of a work, a conception of human experience suggested by the concrete details.)

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2005

Answers

A theme that I found was "Assumptions lead to foolishness and evil." Weston and Devine assume that the natives of Malacandra are primitive and thus can be swayed with the glass trinkets that they have. Also, Weston assumes that the human race should exist forever, and that they can invade Malacandra. These assumptions are, and lead to foolishness and evil. Ransom as well is guilty of it, he makes a fool of himself by assuming that the hross are primitive. He also makes a very foolish assumption about the sorns. He assumes that they are evil, and so does not go to them. The Edil have to come find him, and still he assumes that he can postpone the inevitable; this assumption leads to evil. He makes a fool of himself at every turn becaue he puts human assumptions onto a more advanced race.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2005

I found a theme to be- Do not assume that because something is not like you it has no worth or value. Weston, who assumes that the hnau on Malacandra are not men and therefore mere beasts, have no intrinsic value and can therefore be crushed out of existence. However, as Ransom soons discovers, each of the species has their own special place among the Malacanda community. Only Ransom learns to think outside of human parameters, and we see that Ransom is the only human among the three offered the chance of salvation. Oyarsa stresses that races themselves are not important. So, it is not the body of the intelligence that is defining factor in worth.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2005

I found a theme to be that understanding brings peace. At first Dr.Ransom is afraid of the creatures of this world, particulary the sorns. At one point the old sorn says ""Your thought must be at the mercy of your blood," said the old sorn. "For tiy cannot compare it with thoughts that floats on a different blood."" This idea is also showed by Devine and Weston when they do not try to learn much from their intial contacts with the sorns and instead they just fear them and do not try to understand them.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2005

Counter the theme of understanding=peace, Lewis also showed in his work the possible frailty of the human mind. After first escaping his captors on Malacandra, Ransom had some serious psychological issues in the woods (Who is that crazy Ransom guy? He's really screwed up. Maybe I should go talk to him. Oh wait, that's me.) Throughout the book, when under severe psychological stress, Ransom reverts to this same dementia. This is, I think, derived from the fact that, until he had spoken with Oyarsa, he had not fully accepted his condition on Malacandra - after meeting with the deity (?), Ransom finds his inner peace and understanding (see other posts). Weston and Devine, on the other hand, never do accept conditions on Malacandra - they keep trying to force it into their preexisting mindset, and as a result they (Devine especially) mentally just snap.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2005

Going along with John's theme of human mental weakness, I saw it come up often that the way most of humanity thinks about and does things is not the only way, nor the best way. Ransom talked at length to Oyarsa and the Hrossa about such concepts as monogamy and acceptance of death as the start of another life, (no, any Christian references are all in your head, so stop thinking it) which are dealt with differently by different religions, but also the idea of a kind of "manifest destiny" for humanity that I think has become much more universal. This story seems to come to the opposite conclusion of "Surface Tension" - humans should be content to stay on Earth, and eventually die out.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2005

I think that being human doesnt make you humane would be a fairly accurate assessment of a theme in the novel. Devine and Weston, while human, certainly don't act in a humane manner, treating the boy in the beginning as though he was nothing more than an animal, and then treating Ransom as though he was merely a means to an end. The sorns and hrossi and pf...however you spell that, on the other hand, show a great deal more kindness to Ransom and each other than Weston and Devine.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2005

Another theme in the story might be that appearences can be deceiving. Ransom is influenced by how he sees the sorn in the beginning. He compares them to goblins and so is afraid of them. He sees the hrossa as animal-like and primative in the beginning, which may have helped him to start talking to him. But once he gets to know them, he only thinks of them as different and even sees their way of life as good. This is even symbolized in chapter 19, when Ransom sees Weston and Devine "with almost Malacandrian eyes" and when he finaly understands the music of the hrossa.

-- Anonymous, March 13, 2005

I think one possible theme of this novel is that technology and knowledge do not necessarily bring you happiness. The hross and the pfifltriggi are both pretty primitive technologically, and they still live in a happy and peaceful society. Even the sorns who have alot of knowledge do not seem to be technologically advanced in the way we would think. They still live in caves and act like the hross and pfifltriggi.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

I thought a good theme of the novel was that we are a really messed up planet heading down the tubes. The silent planet in Out of the Silent Planet was, in fact, Earth. Apparently the "God" of Earth had fallen from grace and taken his people with him. The author was really intent on the idea as humans acting not as noble or valiant as in H.G. Wells' stories, but rather base and ignoble as a general whole. Ransom was one of the better members of the species, true, but even then he had his faults and his fears led him to make mistakes. Lewis seems to encourage our mental progress as well as our technological successes, and seems to believe that our psychology on outer space is far beyond our scientific ability to investigate.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

A theme that I found which gets back to the old novels by Wells is that humanity is really a lot less separated from animals than we think we are. Truly humane attributes, such as compassion, reason, and understanding, are better embodied by the races of Malacandra than humans. Humans are much less "hnau" than seroni, hrossa, or pfifltriggi. People try to dominate others for no real reason (except maybe the overemphasized law of loyalty to one's race), without taking other things (or laws) into account. Furthermore, humans feel fear, something that is strange to the inhabitants of Malacandra.

Overall, I would say that this was an unexpectedly good book (though not so solid scientifically).

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

The theme I noticed is that interpretations of the environment depend solely upon the frame of reference. Lewis first introduces this idea on Earth. The elderly woman perceives that she sees Harry rather than Ransom because that is what she expects at this time of day. Then, in the spaceship the frame of reference is literally turned on end. Ransom cannot handle the change of gravity from the ship to Mars. His body does not adjust immediately. Among the Hross, he cannot mentally adjust his frame of reference. He expects war among the three species, while Hyoi can't grasp why they would fight. Each of Ransom's observations and speculations can only be based off his own experiences, and thus cannot truly understand this new world.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

I find the theme similar to Ranjan's. I guess I'd call it, don't assume that everything is thought on a human level. The characters seem to compare things to themselves and things on their planets and so on and so forth, and like in the Martian Oddysey, they can't because it is a completely different world, thought, and process.

ror

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

I found that Knowledge is truly power. If Ransom never had learned the language, or bothered to follow his curiousity with the hrossa, he would have never left the planet, and would've died. Delight in knowledge passes the time for Ransom. He learns rituals and languages, and actually meets what seems to be god. A little knowledge goes a long way *hits due to cliche*

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005