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Chapter 7 Study

An archived study of the first book in Lewis' theological science fiction Space Trilogy.

Chapter 7 Study

Postby Kanakaberaka » March 27th, 2006, 1:01 am

Synopsis: Devine awakes Ransom from his meditations to get his first glimpse of Malacandra's surface. There is a very dramatic opening of the manhole hatch outside. Ransom is pushed out by Weston hands first on to the planet's soft, pink, springy surface. Ransom is surprised to discover such a pleasent pastel world. But his desire to take in the sights is soon interrupted by the need to unload the vessel's cargo into the shack that Weston and Devine built during their previous expedition. They have lunch after doing so. But not without the arrival of "guests". Odd looking creatures appear on the far shore. Weston and Devine draw their revolvers to force Ransom to accompany them. Ransom looses his nerve and screams in terror at the approach of the alien beings. Then without warning a vicious monster jumps out of the water to attack them! Ransom uses this distaction to run off around Weston's sphere and into the Malacandran wilderness.
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It's one small step for Ransom, one giant leap for Hnau-kind!
Devine can't resist being sarcastic even during such a traumatic time for Ransom. The use of the word "Manhole" for the air tight hatch has me wondering. Is it a common nautical term for such round openings or was Lewis thinking of something like a sewer cover? There's an air of the subterranean about it.

What a surprise for Ransom that Malacandra is not as bad as he imagined it. At least not at first sight. Ransom mavels at the water color picture appearence of the landscape. He takes in the colors befor he can make sense of the shapes. the first sight he does recognise is a small hut built of native materials, yet obviously of human dimensions. Sadly it is only a structure left there from Weston's previous landing. And it's Ransom's job to fill it up with supplies from the vessel. Yet he manages to take in the wonder of his surroundings just the same. Ransom notes: "Before anything else he learned that Malacandra was beautiful; and he even reflected how odd it was that this possibility had never entered into his speculations about it. The same peculiar twist of imagination which led him to people the universe with monsters had somehow taught him to expect nothing on a strange planet except rocky desolation or else a network of nightmare machines."

Devine suggests they break for lunch, against Weston's advice that they finish the task at hand. Lucky for Ransom that Devine gets his way. Ransom wolfs down his humble food in antisipation of escape. "He was a little afraid that his companions might notice, and suspect, his new achievements as a trencherman; but their attention was otherwise engaged." I looked up the meaning of the word "trencherman" and found out it means a hearty eater. I had never heard of this word before, but it sounded like someone who spends his days digging trenches, something that would surely stoke one's appetite. I thought it might have something to do with Ransom's taking in the scenery rather than mouthing down the food.

Soon the simple meal is interrupted by the arrival of what appear to be sorns. I wonder now if Ransom's panic might have been avoided if Weston and Devine had been a bit more carefull about not mentioning anything about human sacrifice aboard the vessel. Pulling out thier revolvers was certainly a mistake as far as convincing Ransom to go along with them. Especialy considering how alien the sorns appered: "Spindly and flimsy things, twice or three times the height of a man. His first idea was that they were images of men, the work of savage artists; he had seen things like them in books of archaeology. But what could they be made of, and how could they stand? -so crazily thin and elongated in the leg, so top-heavily pouted in the chest, such stalky, flexible-looking distortions of earthly bipeds... like something seen in one of those comic mirrors. They were certainly not made of stone or metal, for now they seemed to sway a little as he watched now with a shock that chased the blood from his cheeks he saw that they were alive, that they were moving, that they were coming at him. He had a momentary, scared glimpse of their faces, thin and unnaturally long, with long, drooping noses and drooping mouths of half-spectral, half-idiotic solemnity."

Later Ransom will change his view of the sorn or seroni as they are called. But this is his first impression. I think someone here mentioned that the sorns reminded him of the statues of Easter Island.

But at this point in the story, Lewis puts in a deus-ex-machina in the form of an aquantic preditor. A very common device in all those pulp fiction type adventure stories I am fond of. The monster's attack causes Weston to shoot at it while Devine panics and Ransom uses the pandemonium to make his escape. Now Ransom will be on his own to discover the real Malacandra.

Yet it has me wondering. What if Ransom had not overheard Devine's conversation with Weston? What if the two had managed to hand Ransom over to the sorns without incident by fooling him into thinking that all they wanted was a diplomat from Earth? Of course that in fact is what they wanted. No, I do not think that they could have fooled Ransom so easily. But it does make you wonder how differently the story could have gone.

so it goes...
so it goes...
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Kanakaberaka
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Original Chapter 7 Comments

Postby Kanakaberaka » March 27th, 2006, 2:32 am

so it goes...
User avatar
Kanakaberaka
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Posts: 1030
Joined: Jul 1999
Location: Just outside of Rego Park, NYC


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