Ransom's Virtue In Out Of The Silent Planet

Virtue is defined as a morally good and desirable quality in a person. This leads us to wonder: Do you have to actively choose to be virtuous in your lifestyle, or is avoiding evil enough to be considered as a virtuous being? Did Ransom display active virtue in Out Of The Silent Planet? Must a person be righteous to obtain virtue? Though some take the side saying that virtue is an active choice, others disagree by stating that avoiding evil is sufficient for becoming virtuous. A person must actively choose to be virtuous because humans were not born virtuous, virtue is an attribute, and the trait must be learned.

Mankind was not born virtuous. Instead, they were born out of sin, and have sinful nature. For example, in Out of The Silent Planet,

Ransom’s captors, Weston and Devine, invaded the planet Malacandra in search of loot. In the process of their hunt for the Malachandrian treasure known as “Sun’s Blood”, they brutally shot and killed an innocent Hross who had befriended Ransom. The greed and desire for materialistic things was displayed through the human invaders and shows that virtue is a tough attribute to obtain in the midst of worldly temptations. Unfortunately for their rude first impression and lack of virtue towards the Malachandrians, the mischievous duo were brought before Oyarsa and were scolded for their poor treatment of his people.

With all of the distractions in life, it’s a struggle to make the right decisions.

Making the proper choices is even harder when you don’t know what is right and wrong. For Ransom, he risked his life in his encounter with Hyoi the Hross, but his virtue shone through his fear when he decided to be friendly to the unknown creature. Even tracking back to before he was kidnapped, Ransom witnessed the abuse of a young boy and chose to step into the unknown danger by persuading the two men to release him. If Ransom hadn’t chosen to be virtuous in that scenario, the young man could have been in a much worse situation. Ransom actively chose to be virtuous and in the end, saved an innocent man from the grasp of

danger.

Finally, virtuousness must be learned.

When Ransom first arrived on Malacandra, he encountered one of the Hross, who he thought were dangerous creatures. Having had the mental depiction of an evil sorn created by Devine and Weston embedded in his mind, Ransom feared the mythical beings. Instead of trying to flee or attack the Hross, he did his best to understand the language of the Malachandrians and ended up befriending them. It took all of Ransom’s courage to approach Oyarsa, the wise king of Malacandra. It took even more virtue to admit that he was scared of the superior being and to be honest about his situation. Through his journey in the silent planet, Ransom learned to be virtuous and along the way, made some friends because of it.

Some people argue that avoiding evil is sufficient to be called virtuous. They attempt to support their argument by stating that there are only two options, which are good and evil. They say that by avoiding evil, you automatically become virtuous. However, this argument is invalid. Avoiding evil does not necessarily mean being virtuous. For example, imagine if the evil was the act of stealing. If you avoid stealing, does that make you virtuous? No, instead it keeps you in the neutral zone between virtue and evil. Therefore, even if a person avoids evil, they do not automatically become

virtuous.

Ransom displayed glimpses of virtue as he matured along the journey. He actively chose time and time again to be virtuous even when the situation seemed hopeless. Devine and Weston were great examples of non-virtuous beings due solely to the fact that they did not actively choose to be righteous. All human beings should take Out Of The Silent Planet as a literal representation of the lack of virtue and truth in human race. Humans ought to have desirable traits and honorable morals in order to gain respect from potential extraterrestrial creatures.