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Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: April 15th, 2005, 2:11 am
by Christy
It seems to me that Lewis based Ransom's character off of himself somewhat. This thought came to me a few weeks ago when I was doing an English project. Since then, I began reading That Hideous Strength and the similarities between the two seem even greater.
One line that jumped out at me was from Mother Dimble: "My dear, the Director is a very wise man. But he is a man, after all, and an unmarried man at that."
It also seems to me that Ransom's spiritual journey is akin to Lewis' own.
Am I way off base here, or do you agree that Lewis wrote these similarities intentionally?

Re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: April 15th, 2005, 8:06 pm
by Sven

Re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: April 15th, 2005, 8:46 pm
by Bill

re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 8th, 2006, 5:06 pm
by TarwathieI
This makes me think of the passage in perelandra, when maleldil's voice is talking to ransom. he says "It is not for nothing that you are named Ransom" however, lewis does not say what this reason is, he only hints that ransom himself also realized the reason. ransom then comes to the conclusion that his name is derived from "Ranolf's son"

im not sure what the significance of all this is, thought i ponder it whenever i read perelandra.

re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 8th, 2006, 7:37 pm
by VixenMage

Re: re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 8th, 2006, 9:45 pm
by TarwathieI

Re: re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 9th, 2006, 12:49 am
by Biff

re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 9th, 2006, 12:58 pm
by Theo
The whole bit about the significance of Ransom's name is even weirder when you remember that, according to the epilogue of OOSP, his name isn't actually Ransom. :smile:

Re: re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 9th, 2006, 5:13 pm
by TarwathieI

re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: August 9th, 2006, 6:04 pm
by Stanley Anderson

PostPosted: January 22nd, 2007, 1:25 pm
by alliebath
I think the accepted understanding among some Lewis scholars is tha the Ransom of Out of the Silent Planet is indeed based on Tolkien, but that the Ransom/Fisherking of That Hideous Strength is much more based on Charles Williams—whose great interest in Arthurian legend certainly influenced that book (although there is the mention of Numinor [sic] in the unabridged version).

As to the Ransom of Perelandra? And the Ransom of ‘The Dark Tower’ presents us with a mystery as to how he would develop within the story.

Re: re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: January 27th, 2007, 3:31 am
by Messenger_of_Eden

PostPosted: January 27th, 2007, 6:30 pm
by VixenMage
I thought Numenor was kind of like Atlantis, really... the island, advanced, brought a lineage of high kings... and then sunk into the Sea, never to be seen again.

But didn't Tolkien make the geography of Middle-Earth kind of similar to ours, just so it would be feasible that Gondor & Co could -be- the basis for Camelot?

Re: re: Dr. Ransom and Lewis

PostPosted: January 28th, 2007, 4:25 am
by Stanley Anderson

Ransom & Lewis

PostPosted: April 15th, 2008, 1:07 am
by rofe408
"It is not for nothing that your name is Ransom,"said the Voice. "My name is also Ransom" Jesus was called our "ransom for sin." His life was payment for mens' freedom. And, he, Ransom, "suffered and strove and (Tor and Tinidril) have a world for (their) reward." I'm new to the forum and admittedly late in this string, but I'm enjoying the trilogy for the 6th or 7th time & enjoying the forums. This view might be too obvious to be considered, but I didn't see it suggested. And it's my personal #1 favorite.