by Ebbingkneeser » April 23rd, 2005, 12:37 pm
[quote="Kanakaberaka
This whole chapter takes place in the dark. Yet paradoxicly Ransom's purpose is illuminated as he calls out to Maleldil. The darkness is discribed as heavy, almost suffocating as it surrounds Ransom. This reminds me of a painting of Christ mentioned in the writings of G.K. Chesterton. The Saviour is very darkly painted, however He gives off light to the rest of the painting causing it to glow. [/quote]
I felt a bit of an awakening experience when I read these sentences at the beginning of chapter 11: "The darkness was packed quite full. It seemed to press upon his trunk so that he could hardly use his lungs: it seemed to close in on his skull like a crown of intolerable weight so that for a space he could hardly think. Moreover, he became aware in some indefinable fashion that it had never been absent, that only some unconscious activity of his own had succeeded in ignoring it for the past few days."
These words reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is
shining through it all the time. Thomas Merton
I think I love reading C.S. Lewis so much because he is always opening my eyes to transcendent realities. The imagery he uses in Chapter 11 is so palpable (the suffocating darkness, the fear of long metallic nails ripping off flesh, Ransom's epiphany at the end of the chapter) that it brings front and center ideas that I had "just sort of wondered about" before.
Eb
"Life is the increasingly rarefied experience of the beautiful."