Out of the Silent Planet really hit its stride in this section of the book. The first eight chapters tremendously set the scene and the characters. Chapters 9-16, though, gave us deeper insights into Malacandra and its inhabitants.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ransom’s time with the Hrossa. It seemed odd that the hero of C.S. Lewis’s saga was a philologist, but it makes sense when that hero needs to learn different alien languages. In a few short chapters Lewis created an entire world and filled it with three distinct cultures. We obviously learned most about the Hrossa, but we even caught glimpses of the Sorns and the Pfifltriggi.
Here are some thoughts I had while reading chapters 9-16 of Out of the Silent Planet.
Courage
Last week I wrote about how Ransom felt compelled to step into this adventure, almost beyond his control. In these chapters we see where that adventure led him, running for his life and crawling through a strange forest. In spite of his dire situation, though, Ransom found his courage.
Like many men of his own age, he rather under-estimated than over-estimated his own courage.
I think we all tend to underestimate our courage. We love reading books or watching movies with heroes defying the odds in order to make the world a better place. When we see courageous feats like those, though, we often think that they’re beyond us. How could we ever match the courage of Ransom, Captain America or Daniel? On our own we probably can’t, but we have a God who will give us courage and help us do what is necessary. That may not be defeating an 8-foot tall robot, but it will be something that makes a difference for God’s kingdom in this world.
Hrossa
That the hrossa should have such instincts was mildly surprising; but how came it that the instincts of the hrossa so closely resembled the unattained ideals of that far-divided species Man whose instincts were so deplorably different?
The Hrossa are fascinating; they’re probably my favorite part of Out of the Silent Planet. I’ve read the entire series before so I know that the Hrossa are our first glimpse into the fascinating solar system of Out of the Silent Planet. Ransom’s observations about their society and how their natural inclinations are so different from humanity’s are moving. I look at the Hrossa and wish that I could live out their natural inclinations. I haven’t lived a sexually promiscuous life, but I’m constantly unfaithful to God. Unfaithfulness is an aberration to the Hrossa; I wish I could say the same about my life.
Humanity
As fascinated as I was by the Hrossa, the Sorns were equally repulsed by humanity. Ransom’s descriptions of humanity’s wars and injustices were inconceivable to the Sorns. An entirely alien culture would put humanity’s faults in even starker contrast. We just sort of accept that this is the way sentient beings have to live, but Lewis imagines a different way. In the next section we’ll learn why life is so different on Malacandra. But we don’t need to know why Malacandra is different in order to wish that Earth could be the same kind of different.
We’ve only got one more section to read in Out of the Silent Planet and I can’t wait to get there. Until then, though, I’d love to hear your thoughts on chapters 9-16 of Out of the Silent planet. If you hate the Hrossa please let me know; I’ll tell you you’re wrong, but I’d still like to read your comments.
What did you think of chapters 9-16 of Out of the Silent Planet?
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