Lifestyle, Social Grouping, Interactions, and Survival in _Out of the Silent Planet_

1320 Words3 Pages

Out of the silent planet

Out of the silent planet by C.S Lewis is a novel that denotes the difference between the social system on planet earth and the planet Malacandra. In Malacandra, groups live in harmony with one another and complement each other. On earth, the social system is brutal and evil. The novel is a science fiction that covers Dr. Ransoms (major character) adventures and encounters on a planet that is entirely different from earth. Ransoms lands into this planet by accident after being kidnapped by two evil men (Devine and Weston) and transported to the planet Malacandra (Mars) by spacecraft. In Planet Malacandra, Ransoms encounters the three different creatures that inhabit the planet, hrossa, sorns, and pfifltriggi. He learns their common language and understands their relationship. Ransom learns that the social system in planet Malacandra is a stark contrast with the social system on planet earth. In this regard, this paper provides an analysis of the two planets, and it compares and contrasts them by focusing on lifestyle, social grouping, interact ions, as well as survival and life.

Out of the silent planet is an illustration of how human beings on planet Earth are evil (Lowman 15). To show the social contrast, the author creates a utopian planet called Malacandra where inhabitants live together in peace and harmony without the sheer evil and brutalness that characterizes the Planet Earth (Gegenheimer 602). The lifestyle on Earth is characterized by selfishness and insatiable greed. On earth, human beings are out to dominate each other. The novel might have been informed by the action of Nazi Germany and the imperialism in Western Europe. When Ransom lands in Malacandra, he thought that the three groups will ...

... middle of paper ...

...Fantasist, mythmaker, and poet. New York: Greenwood Publishing Company. 2007. Print.

Gegenheimer, Albert Frank. “Language in Two Recent Imaginary Voyages.” Modern Language Association 61.2 (2009): 601-603. Print.

Gibbons, Stella. "Imaginative Writing." Light on C.S. Lewis. Ed. Jocelyn Gibb. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1965. Print.

Lane, John. “Novels of the Week.” Rev. of Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis. New York Times 1 Oct. 1938: 625. Times Literary Supplement. 19 Mar. 2009. Print.

Lewis, Clive. Out of the Silent Planet. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1966. Print.

Lowman, Pete. Chronicles of heaven unshackled. Part 2 C.S Lewis Out of the Silent Planet, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

Schwartz, Sanford. “Cosmic Anthropology: Race a

Open Document