"You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are." (43)
"Small claims must give way to great." (29)
"The love of knowledge is a kind of madness." (56)
"A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered." (74)
This is just a tiny sample of worthy phrases.
For this post, find one such phrase (be sure to include page number) and give its immediate contextual meaning, then discuss how its larger meaning extends to other parts of the text and even to life beyond the text.
You could write entire books on many of these phrases - but you have only one blog post. Be precise, concise, organized, and economical with your writing. Don't waste any words on vague generalities or meaningless intro sentences. Jump right into the task at hand and say something insightful and interesting.
Some rules:
1. You may use one of the phrases listed above if you'd like.
2. Phrases may be used no more than FIVE times each, so pay attention to previous posts.
3. Comments are due by NOON next Thursday, Sept. 20.
My favorite amazing little phrase so far is on page 76. At the very bottom C.S. Lewis writes: “There I drank life because death was in the pool.”
ReplyDeleteThis is Hyoi talking to Ransom about the hnakra. He is trying to explain to Ransom why, even though he wants to kill this hnakra and it is his enemy, he still loves it. To do this, he is telling the story about when he first went to see Maleldil on the shore of the pool, Balki. He talks about how wondrous and life-changing this event was, but he also notes that Balki is home to many hnakra. Hyoi says that if this threat of danger had not been there, then the entire experience would not have been so meaningful to him, and then he drops the phrase above. He also says a little bit above this, “And I say also this. I do not think the forest would be so bright, nor the water so warm, nor love so sweet, if there were no danger in the lakes.”
This all ties together to give us the main, underlying meaning that C.S. Lewis is trying to get at (what Hyoi is trying to tell Ransom). It is the theme that without suffering, death, danger, darkness, or sadness, then there could be no real contentment, life, death, light, or happiness. You need one to be able to recognize the other. This was also a theme that we explored when we were reading A Wrinkle in Time. Charles/IT is saying that Camazots is perfect because no one suffers, and Meg counters with the fact that no one can be happy either without that suffering.
In this particular instance, Hyoi is making the point that the hnakra’s mere existence (the “death in the pool”) allowed him to get so much happiness out of this experience (“drank life”). On a larger scale, and in the outside/real world, this is something we encounter every day. We have good days because we know what it feels like to have a bad day. We are happy when we are safe because we know what it is like to be in afraid and in danger. We are thankful for all of the wonderful things in our lives because we know of people that don’t have these things in their lives. At some level, all of us have to appreciate the “bad” things in the world, because without them, we would not be able to love the “good” things. That is what Lewis is saying all in this wonderful tiny phrase.
The phrase that I like is, “A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” (74)
ReplyDeleteThis is when Hoyi is talking to Ransom about how Malacandra does not have war or fighting. Ransom is trying to explain war to Hoyi but it is impossible to make Hoyi understand because it never was or will be a part of his nature or culture. Hoyi then goes on to say that in their world things can only happen once or a certain amount of times. Ransom does not get this, because on Earth, if someone likes a feeling they can make the feeling come back multiple times. Hoyi is saying that if it keeps reoccurring than it can never become a memory and then they can never really enjoy what they had.
This can extend to other parts of the text when Ransom meets the other species. And when the three Hrossa die, and the creatures sing and lay him to rest. (130-131) That is a special moment for Ransom to be a part of and he will never get to be a part of it again. This is when he can remember over the years of it, and then truly see the beauty and pleasure in the ceremony. Also, another moment is when Ransom helps to kill the knakra and Hoyi said he was a hnakrapunt.(82) This is a special moment for Ransom that he would never be able to recreate. So after a while he will be able to recall his memory and see how special it was. He will be able to depict it better and feel that same feeling as if he was there again. This is a moment that will always be special to Ransom and he will see that he is glad it could not ever be recreated.
In everyday life, people love a certain feeling they get when they are recognized for something special, or they like feeling good, so they try to recreate it. This does not work because it will never be the same as it was the first time. Having a certain pleasure over an occasion will feel great when you can look back and see how it all played out. There is always a special occasion in someone’s heart that will never want to be recreated cause that may ruin the memory.
The quote on page 56, “The love of knowledge is a kind of madness” speaks so much truth into the direct context of the book as well as to our world as a whole. In the text Ransom is recognizing that the beast in front of him speaks some kind of language and has a great desire to get closer and become familiar with this beast. This desire is in complete opposition to what his natural fears register as a dangerous situation. Nature and common sense tell Ransom to get as far away from the beast as possible, but his desire to learn of his language and intellect keeps Ransom near to the beast and eventually drives Ransom to follow and trust the beast. The meaning of this quote goes beyond the initial text and is a continual theme for Ransom and the hnua of Malacandra. Ransom makes a dangerous journey in order to satisfy his thirst for more knowledge.
ReplyDeleteIn the world of 2012 an individuals desire to know all is a kind of madness. Young students need to know what their friends are doing constantly, high school students need to know what is cool and in style, while college students are driven by the need to become professionals in their field of study; all three categories are driven by the need of information in order to function. No one in this generation goes anywhere without first studying and knowing all about the place to which they are traveling. No one becomes friends with anyone without first checking them out on social media. These are all examples of the way that our generation thirsts for knowledge and is then driven into a frenzy trying to achieve and hold such knowledge about all aspects of life. Knowledge is a great gift and one that should be used in daily life, but our country and our generation have idolized knowledge to the point of madness.
"It is because every one of them wants to be a little Oyarsa himself," (Augray, 102).
ReplyDeleteThis statement describes the difference between Earth and all of the other planets. All of the other planets have a system which involves having a ruler. There is one ruler, and then there are various intellectual species that live together. No one species is greater than the other, they realize their differences, and work together to accomplish certain goals. On Malacandra there are three intelligent species. The pfifltriggi dig and make things with what they dig up, the seroni had knowledge, and the hrossa were poets (pg 68,70). Each group had their talent, but no one species had reign over the others. No species had the desire to rule and all three species trust the Oyarsa as leader.
On earth there is no Oyarsa, and so the people become bent in many ways. Oyarsa said, "I did not think any creature could be so bent as to bring another of its own kind here by force." The statement that Augray says refers to how the people on Earth are each out for his own selfish gain. People are "bent" in a way that they are their own ruler, and each person decides what is right for him.
A good example of this is when Ransom describes how he arrived on Malacandra. Ransom explains that Weston intends evil to the people of Mars for the good of the humanity of Earth. Devine is only interested in "sun's blood" which he could exchange for wealth and riches. They have selfish intentions at the expense of the Malacandrian people. Devine and Weston are their own rulers and choose their motives; they are good samples of the kind of "bent" there is on Earth. Malacandrians are selfless and look to help one another because they are all ruled by an Oyarsa, when Thulcandrians (humans) are selfish and only look to better themselves.
On page 86, Lewis writes, “It would be a strange but not an inconceivable world; heroism and poetry at the bottom, cold scientific intellect above it”. In the context of the book, this passage presents itself as Ransom is traveling to Meldilorn. He is contemplating who or what the Oryarsa is and what it means for him. He gets caught up once again in his fear of the sorns and considers the possibilities of entities with superhuman powers based in scientific intellect. He imagines the hrossa with their heroism and poetry (the things that humanity supposedly values) at the bottom while the cold and cruel sorns rule over them.
ReplyDeleteWe learn later that this is completely contradictory to the way things are run on Malacandra. The sorns, while science-minded, evoke no such rule over any of the hnau on the planet. It is intriguing that the idea of three species living peacefully is so far-fetched to Ransom that he searches continually for another explanation. On the other hand, this twisted world that he envisions Malacandra to be does not seem all that inconceivable. The interesting part of this phrase is that it depicts Weston’s view of how Earth should be with unbelievable accuracy. Early in the book Weston makes comments about how Ransom’s view of life was “insufferably narrow” (28) and that the boy was “incapable of serving humanity” (21). This not-so-inconceivable world is one that Weston was trying to create.
This book was published in 1938, during a time when scientific discoveries were making their debut. Many people were afraid of the knowledge that was being obtained through scientific discovery. A big question was whether or not humanity could handle the power that comes with that knowledge. I feel as though this phrase describes the feelings of fear and apprehension of scientific knowledge that were prevalent at that time. It illustrates a route that is both horrifying and possible if humanity could not handle the new knowledge with care.
“it was not [the hrossa], but his own species, that were the puzzle,” Page 76.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 12 of Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom was asking Hyoi if hross ever fought wars against other knau. Hyoi had no concept for why knau would ever need to fight or kill each other. In Ransoms effort to explain potential reasons for war, he comes to the powerful realization stated in the quotation at the beginning of this blog post. Ransom comes to the conclusion that the human species is “bent” because its desire for pleasure leads to war and other evil acts.
The idea that the human species is “bent” is continued in chapter 16 of Out of the Silent Planet. On page 102, Ransom describes human history to a group of sorns. The sorns are astounded when told about war, slavery, and prostitution. The sorns agree that humans behave so negatively because they have no Oyasra to rule them.
Beyond the context of this book, C.S. Lewis clearly finds war, human promiscuity, and slavery to be deplorable. By successfully living by the human ideals of monogamy and non-violence, the species on Malacandra represent how C.S. Lewis believes humans should act. Additionally, C.S. Lewis is expressing his belief that humans should follow their religions more closely; Humans should be “ruled” by religion just as the species on Malacandra are ruled by Oyarsa.
When Ransom first meets Hyoi, Lewis states, "Nothing could be more disgusting than the one impression; nothing more delightful than the other. It all depended on the point of view." (59)
ReplyDeleteIn its immediate context, this quote is expressing Ransom's initial mixed feelings of the hrossa. They were revolting to him when he thought of them as human-like, fur covered beasts, yet if he viewed them as animalistic, they became magnificent creatures gifted with the brilliance of reason and speech. Ransom's thought process and his own rationality affected the way he saw the hrossa.
This idea holds true throughout the entire book as well. Ransom's preliminary encounter with the seroni was under unpleasant circumstances and resulted in grotesque descriptions of the unfamiliar giants. After meeting a sorn in a more amicable environment, their physical appearance to him changed simultaneously with his perspective. In contrast, after having spent some time on Malacandra, Ransom had become so accustomed to the natives' point of view that he didn't even recognize his human peers, Weston and Devine.
When isolated from Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis's quote has philosophical undertones that are not limited by the covers of the book. It emphasizes the importance of point of view on our assessment of what we see. Ultimately, what we see tells us more about ourselves than it does about the things we're actually seeing. Lewis highlights how much our perspectives influence the way we comprehend and decipher what we see, and how much our feelings change our viewpoints.
The quote on page 102 says, “It is because every one of them wants to be a little Oyarsa himself”.
ReplyDeleteThis phrase simply says the main reason why Malacandra and the other planets are so different from earth. It means humans, on earth, want to rule themselves. Earth is the only planet without an Oyarsa/ruler, that’s why on earth history consists of “war, slavery and prostitution” (102). On the other planets, the creatures, even of different species, get along with one another despite their status.
Although this quote is short, there are much deeper meanings to it. It shows readers how human beings tend to be their own rulers and how some ways of that could harm people and earth. Lewis is not trying to point out that humans shouldn’t be independent, I believe that Lewis is showing us that humans are at fault because we want everything to be our own way. We never compromise with one another or find solutions that would not involve fighting with one another. This phrase shows that things might never be solved if every human base decisions on ideas of their own.
When looking from a Christian point of view, I believe, Lewis points out the danger of humans ruling on their own. God is the one and only ruler and there is no higher authority than that. But because humans are becoming their own little Oyarsa, that causes humans to sin and not follow the right path that God has prepared for them. Because the earth’s Oyarsa has fallen, people on the planet fall in the same footsteps and become more isolated away from God.
A meaningful statement by Augray declares, “It is because every one of them wants to be a little Oyarsa himself” (102). This short sentence explains why people on Thulcandra are bent. Weston and Devine are great examples of what people on Earth are like. Weston wants to kill to create another world for humans to live on (135). Devine wants to become wealthy by taking all of the “sun’s-bloods” (133). They want to rule themselves and create their own luxuries. This is not a bad thing, trying to be independent from society, but to some extent, an Oyarsa is needed on Thulcandra to keep its inhabitants from being bent. Malacandra, along with the other planets who have an Oyarsa and eldila have many intelligent species, but figure out a way to live peacefully together. When the Oyarsa became bent on Thulcandra, the planet became silent and had no communication with the other planets. After the Oyarsa fell, everyone on Thulcandra had no ruler to listen to. As a result, everyone was on their own, creating a selfish, bent race. Different groups fighting over resources and land cause wars in a silent planet like Thulcandra. The Oyarsa creates an environment that shares all of the food and land.
ReplyDeleteOne of the phrases that sticks out in my mind is, “A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” (74) In the literature this is said when the Hross are explaining love and what it means in their world to Ransom. During the conversation Ransom and Hyoi keep saying I don’t understand what you mean, and then Hyoi tries explaining what he means by saying this.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I find this meaningful is because so many things are taken for granted, and coming from this standpoint is very interesting. If you keep getting everything you want you aren’t going to be as thankful or excited about it, but if you really want something to be special and bring you more pleasure you need to just have it in small quantities. To compare this to something now, it reminds me of when you really enjoy a song but then it is overplayed on the radio and after a few weeks you can’t bring yourself to listen to this song, you don’t enjoy it anymore because you’ve heard so much of it.
After Ransom first meets Kanakaberaka and learns that all of the hnau have adapted the language of the hrossa, he asks, “The best poetry, then, comes from the roughest speech?” to which Kanakaberaka replies, “Perhaps. As the best pictures are made in the hardest stone (page 114).”
ReplyDeleteRansom is surprised to learn that the most basic language has been adopted as the Malacandran language by three different species. Kanakaberaka explains to him that the language of the hrossa is unique among them because they themselves contribute songs and poetry which are completely untranslatable. Hrossa is thus adapted due to the equality of all the contributions of the hnau on Malacandra.
By calling it the roughest speech, it seems that Ransom has deducted that the tongue of the hross is the least complex structurally. The simplicity of the language is bound to have its own restrictions that may possibly manifest in forms such as a limited vocabulary. However, the beauty is derived from its simplicity. It drives the artist to know its form and to find his own voice within. We can see this in forms of art such as haikus or even sonnets.
The hrossa have a pretty defined life as described within the narrative and the postscript of the book. If we compare ourselves to the hrossa, we all must go through the pattern of life: childhood, love, and death. “Like and equal are not the same” seems to be a common theme of both “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Out of The Silent Planet”. Like the comparison of life as a sonnet, we must find our own individuality within the pattern of life.
“You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are.” In the context of the story, Lewis is referring to Ransom first arriving on the planet Malacandra and not knowing what the landscape was of the planet or what he was looking at. This quote means more than unknown landscapes for Ransom however. This quote goes further with its meaning because throughout the whole book Ransom continues to meet new “people” and see new places and not understanding them because he doesn’t know who or what they are. I believe Lewis is trying to suggest that people are too quick to judge and don’t know what most things really are because they don’t fully understand them, just like Ransom on this new planet. There have been many times when I personally have commented on things negatively that I don’t fully understand; therefore I have no right to comment in the first place. Lewis hints on this problem of society by saying things just like “You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are.”
ReplyDelete“You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are.” (43) This is one of my favorite phrases out of the book. This quote is true in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteRansom states this quote right he steps off the ship onto the plant Malacandra. Ransom did not what exactly he was looking at when he was first looking around the planet. This quote stays true throughout the whole text. The same quote is thought about when he begins making relationships with the other creatures. This quote reminds of the saying; you cannot judge someone until you really know who they are. You don’t know where something came from or what it really looks like until you get to know the area. I believe that C.S. Lewis is saying something about any person that has ever lived. This has been going on for many years. The majority of people jump to conclusions about a person or a place, and this is before we get to know what it is or who they are.
One phrase that stands out to me is, “There comes a point at which the actions of fear and precaution are purely conventional, no longer felt as terror or hope by the fugitive.” (55) Overall, I think this quote means that at first, if someone does something, they might be afraid because it something new and different, but after a while, the fear goes away because the task becomes a daily routine. This is exactly what happens to Ransom. For example, when Weston and Devine first take him to Malacandra, Ransom feels as if he is captive. Ransom even says to Weston and Devine, “You have assaulted me, drugged me, and are apparently carrying me off as a prisoner in this infernal thing.” (29) When Ransom begins to explore Malacandra, he comes to realize that his fear of being a captive disappears. He even says, “That moment he was free he had found himself automatically darting behind his captors, then behind the space-ship and on as fast as his legs could carry him into the utterly unknown beyond it.” (47) The more Ransom explores, the more he learns about the creatures, the more comfortable he becomes. He spends so much time with the native creatures that he even knows how to speak the language. Even if he did not know the words for “sorry” (82) he would be able to somehow express the word to the creatures so that they would be able to understand. From this, Ransom begins to be more comfortable with his surroundings. The more time he spends on Malacandra, he more he begins to interact with all the creatures as if it was a daily routine. As a result, Ransom’s fears go away.
ReplyDeleteOne phase that stands out to me is on page 137 when Oyarsa is talking to Weston and he says," But if it is neither man's mind, which is as the mind of all other hnau-is not Maleldil maker of them all?- nor his body, which will change- if you care for neither of these, what do you mean by man?" When you first look at this phase I think that you would just come to the conclusion that he means that if he doesn’t care for man’s mind or the way the look what does he care for in man or why would he love man. I think that the larger meaning of these words is the fact that in the context of this book they talk a lot about how Earth is the “silent planet” because they have not one ruler but many little leaders because man can’t agree. So the Oryarsa is trying to get Weston to see that fact that man is selfish and they mainly care for themselves and what pertains to them as individuals.
ReplyDelete“The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.” (pg. 56)
ReplyDeleteThis quote really speaks to me because it involves having a passion. It’s fair to say that Ransom has a passion for words. He is, after all, a university professor in language. When Ransom first hears this strange, extraterrestrial creature use language to communicate, he is captivated. All he can think about is learning the language’s structure and grammar. The knowledge that there intelligent life that uses language is so exciting to Ransom that he completely discards his own safety and basically throws himself at the mercy of a possible savage. He’s lucky that the Hyoi didn’t want to hurt him or he’d be toast.
This same wild passion can be seen in people today. Many great scientist, like Einstein or Marie Curie, are so prestigious in their fields because once they started to learn about a certain topic, they keep learning more and more, until they had to go out and discover what was left to be learned on their own. Passion for learning about their chosen fields drove them to success and they enjoyed every second of learning. It’s similar to the same effect some pieces of literature have on people. Harry Potter was so popular because readers wanted to know more about Hogwarts and magic. And as they gained more knowledge about Harry’s world, the more they wanted to read, and copies of the books flew off the shelves. Readers were intrigued and wanted to know more. This quote is talking about that same kind of passion that grabs people and allows them to do crazy things, like lose sleep, in order to become more knowledgeable about something.
"You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are." (43) This is said immediately when Weston, Devine and Ransom land on Malacandra and all Ransom can see are colors. He can’t initially distinguish between what is mountain, trees or pond around him.
ReplyDeleteI believe C.S. Lewis is saying you have to understand what something is before you can really look and see it for what it truly is. This is true with Ransom throughout the book with all the different landscapes he encounters as well as the other species that live there. With the hrossa, for instance, Ransom was scared at first and thought they were monsters. After learning a little more about them and their language specifically, he grew to understand that they were rational thinking creatures just like him. This helped him really see them as a life, just like his own with goals and feelings. I could not help and relate this to the Holy Spirit in Christianity. Most people starting out in the faith learn more about the Holy Spirit as well as the other parts of the trinity, either on their own in studying the Bible or in a formal class. This is the getting to “know roughly what they are” part. After you do that, you are ready to see the Holy Spirit working and moving through you and those around you. You can’t actually see the Holy Spirit, but you have an understanding of what the Holy Spirit does and can observe His effects on the world. There are lots of religious undertones in this book, so this isn’t too much of a stretch I don’t think. Through it all though, whoever or whatever you come across you can’t truly see it for all it’s worth until you learn more about it.
I was especially interested in the phrase Ransom had said on page 43 as it was one of the few things I noted in the book, “You cannot see things till you know roughly what they are.” This Ransom had said from his approach from the space ship when he had first landed on Malacandria. While departing from the ship he was taking in the sights of the new world and trying to make out what things were. But as Ransom had never been on a new planet before and knew not of the many things he was looking at he could not depict what those things were. Distant objects could have been trees, animals, rocks, water, or even sky, but for not knowing what the objects were he really didn’t know what he could see.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this phrase because any other stories containing objects that have never been seen before the author immediately assumes and relates the object to something relative that most everyone knows of. But in reality assumptions are bad and that’s what this whole phrase relates to and is a consistent foreshadow to the entire book. Ransom’s phrase I believe is highly relatable to the old phrase of “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” So you can’t assume that things are what they are without actually looking more in depth and getting to know the thing to see what it really is.
This idea correlates throughout the entire book. Hross looked fierce to Ransom at first (55,) but Ransom didn’t make assumptions about the creature. He stayed back and observed Hyoi until he saw that he wasn’t harmful. But Weston and Devine found Hross to be beastly and vicious and killed Hross by just going off their assumption of that species. Another relatable section of the book of this phrase is when Ransom assumed that he was brought to Malacandra for bent purposes(119.) He didn’t know what Sorns or Oyarsa were and feared them. As soon as Ransom met Sorns and the Oyarsa he knew what they were and could finally see who they really were. As much as this phrase has related to the book it can relate much more in the real world. People could be nicer than their outer appearances make them, a pile of clothes in the dark could look like a monster to a young child, and a book’s cover could look really dual but the pages inside set way for a magnificent adventure. So in the end, do not think that you can see what some thing is until you actually know by experience what that thing could possibly be.
“You cannot see things till you know what roughly what they are.” P43
ReplyDeleteThis phrase jumped out at me the moment I read it. The phrase is said by ransom as he is crawling out of the ship and seeing the new and strange planet for the very first time. The immediate contextual meanings of these words are that Ransom is having a hard time taking in all of the foreign sights he is seeing. He can look at specific things but has no real knowledge of what they might be. Ransom is not able to draw comparisons in his mind between what he is looking at and what he could relate them to. Because of this we as the readers are unable to get a clear picture either. Throughout the book Ransom continually makes poor assumptions and draws the wrong conclusions off of what he sees. An example from earlier in the text is when he runs into Devine and assumes that because they went to school together Devine would be a friend. But in this example looks and assumptions got him into trouble.
“A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” (74)
ReplyDeleteWhen this passage occurs, Ransom is trying to understand how the hrossa can be content with the begetting of young only once in their lifetime. Hyoi also does not understand Ransom’s point of view that if doing such a thing is such a pleasure then why not do it more multiple times. In describing the hrossa’s point of view, Hyoi states the quote from above and furthermore says that Ransom is speaking as if, “the pleasure were one thing and the memory another.” In Hyoi’s point of view, the pleasure and memory are the same thing so that even though the actual pleasure of the experience was short-lived, the memory of it lives on in an even greater amount long after the physical experience was over.
Such experiences occur elsewhere in the book, one is stated by Hyoi as being his first encounter with Ransom. Though their first encounter was short-lived, the memory of the experience is what lives on with them in even greater remembrance than the actual experience. As the hross says, “What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then – that is the real meeting.”
In my own life, I see that what Hyoi has to say on this topic holds quite a lot of truth. Many experiences I have had may not have seemed like a huge deal at the time and were over very quickly; however, when looking back, the memory I have of these experiences make them even greater than the actual physical experiences themselves. Even when looking back at pictures from the past, I find myself being much fonder of these past events than I had at the time they occurred, thus evolving the remembered experience to being different from that which actually occurred. The question then becomes, which experience is then the “real” one?
“A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” (74)
ReplyDeleteThis is a quote from when Ransom is explaining war to Hyoi. Hyoi doesn’t understand war because on Malacandra they all get along and would never have such a devastating event. This quote is important because we as humans do not appreciate a feeling or an event like those on Malacandra. If there is something that we like and want it to continue to reoccur we abuse it and we get that feeling or event all of the time. Those on Malcandra only have this event or feeling once that way they can remember how great it was.
I think that Ransom begins to understand this at the time of the funeral for Hyoi. He will never be able to relive the moments he had with Hyoi but understands that they are so beautiful that a human and creature can have such a divine relationship.
On page 75, Hyoi says, “And how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back—if we did not know that every day in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day?” This happens when Hyoi and Ransom are having their talk about life and their two different worlds. Hyoi is talking about our instincts and how they differ from theirs. He is saying that it is not in the Hross’ nature to hold grudges or think about past differences or differences at all for that matter. How are we supposed to move forward and live our life if we are too focused on what happened in a day past? – is what he is trying to say. Ransom, during this conversation becomes increasingly more uncomfortable when he thinks about where he comes from. What we do on Earth is becoming something of an embarrassment to him.
ReplyDeleteOn page 58 there is a quotes that says, "The love of knowledge is a kind of madness." In the book this quote is said when Ransom sees the beast in front of him for the first time. All his natural human instincts tell him that he should be fear the beast and run aways form it. However, Ransom's desire to learn and understand the beast caused him to stay where he was. In the text this quote can be referred to Ransom's actions in many scenes. His whole journey in Malacandra could be referred to. In his initial arrival to Malacandra he is afraid but his desire to learn and survival keeps him going.
ReplyDeleteThis quote also reminds me of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". Where the prisoners learn from the shadows on the wall and believe them as true. But when freed and allowed outside they see things truly for the first time. Their desire to learn is a madness that changes the whole self in order to understand. Although they believed they had already "learned" what everything was, their desire to understand why drove them into a madness to change everything they believed to learn the truth. In life there is this need to always know and learn more. Often times when it is best for our own good not to know. A lot of the times it isn't even for the knowledge of what something is so to speak but, for the truth of how something came about or why it is a certain way. This madness to know why is what drives a lot of the learning in today's society.
"Small Claims must give way to Great" (29)
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting quote from Weston. It gives the reader an look into his way of thinking. He believes that it is not only justified but correct to sacrifice the life of one for the life of many. This to me is a very interesting concept. I can not decide which side of the argument I'm on, and if it has me thinking that much it did a good job making the story more in depth. This quote made me think of "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas." The people of Omelas sacrifice one child's life for the prosperity and happiness of the rest of the village. This scenario however makes the reader and several of the citizens of Omelas disgusted and many of them leave. I think it depends on the situation. For example in war sometimes a government will have the option to kill one person and it will save thousands. This is usually easier to agree with because the person is directly causing the death of many people. Also if a person were to volunteer to sacrifice their life to save their family and the rest of the world, it is a much nicer scenario than the child in Omelas or Ransom being taken against his will in OSP.
"No: space was the wrong name. Older thinkers had been wise when they named it simply the heavens…" (34) In its immediate context, Ransom is musing about how "space" was, to him, a black, cold, utter deadness which separated the worlds. He had thought that it was barren, but now experiences firsthand that it is so much more.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the book, Ransom finds out there are many, many other planets that have life, and not only are they inhabited, but also interwoven together through space and time. The only planet outside this connection is earth. In reality, the Earth is just merely space, disconnected from the rest of the heavens.
I'd like think there is more to this sentence that just that. For surely man didn’t race towards conquering the moon just to claim some space? It was a reaching out towards the heavens. It is looking up towards the heavens that has inspired so many great poets, artists, and thinkers, and for that reason I am reluctant to just call the infinite sky above us space. I agree. Space is the wrong name for something that has had such a significant effect on mankind. the Heavens is perhaps the right word. Perhaps it is not. We cannot know for the concept of space beyond our own world is so unfamiliar, so foreign. I believe, though, that man will never stop trying to understand, trying to strive for, the heavens.
A phrase that I really enjoy is "What he had not thought about was being on it." It's a rather simple phrase from Ransom's thoughts. On his way to Malacandra, he had thought extensively on getting there, and had thought equally as much about escaping Malacandra, but he hadn't ever thought of being on Malacandra. It surprised him, every morning, to wake up and neither be arriving nor leaving Malacandra, but simply being there. This phrase stuck out to me simply because I believe a lot of us do that with life in general. We have all these goals in life, steps that we must complete. Once we jump one hurdle, we look immediately for the next, we don't enjoy the run in between. We list our lives in order of events; I went to preschool, then grade school, high school, college, got a job, got married, had kids, retired, had grandkids, died. Telling someone about your entire life is much easier when telling about the major milestones. The rest is good for small talk when you've already gone over the summary. The thing that's a little wonky is that we look at our lives from the beginning, and list them in the same order. We don't get excited about the here and now, or even just the next step. Most people spend all of elementary school saying they can't wait to be in high school. A couple of days into Freshman year and they're already talking about how much better college will be. Besides talking about how much you're going to party in college, you don't think about actually living the experience. When I was in high school, I didn't think about living within walking distance of all of my best friends. I didn't think about having dinner with my peers every night, instead of my parents. I didn't think about late nights that I would stay up and study in some lounge, with a couple other people around me, doing the exact same. I think this statement just goes along with life in general, for everyone. We never think about what happens once we get somewhere, we just plan to get there, and then plan our way to the next goal.
ReplyDeleteEvery animal’s eyes see some things but not others. P. 94
ReplyDeleteThis is a statement that Augray says when trying to explain Oyarsa to Ransom. Ransom is saying how he doesn’t understand the explanation of Oyarsa as having a body that you cannot see. This statement is true in the story, as each of the creatures sees the eldila and Oyarsa differently. Ransom can barely see them and describes them as slight variations in the light, but the hross and sorn clearly have no problems with that.
The statement rings true to us in everyday life as well. We know that different species can look at something in very different ways. For example, humans can look out at a meadow and see all the different colors. However a hawk or other predator can look at the same meadow and their eyes will pick out movement that tells them where prey is. However this is the literal meaning. Even more important than the differences between species is the differences between individuals. Take two people and show them the same situation, each person will see the same scene, but will notice different things about it. Try this with dozens or hundreds of different people, and the result will be the same. At the base, we are still animals. And as individuals, we will always see things different than those around us. That’s just a part of a completely normal life.
There were a number of simple sentences that appeared to be short and sweet, but in fact were filled with content in Out of the Silent Plant by C.S. Lewis. One that stood out to me in particular was when Ransom is speaking to the pfiftrigg on page 114 about different names and words between them, the sorns, and the hrossa. He asks, “the best poetry, then, comes in the roughest speech?” This was significant to me because, though I never thought of it this way, it is true that the most immortal poetry and literature is the kind in which you must work through the tough language to find the content of the story. This idea is illustrated in this very book. Throughout reading Out of the Silent Planet, I was sometimes confused by wording and the way the characters speak. Lewis did not add “filler words,” he just said what needed to be said. I think this is why the book is somewhat difficult to read, though it is filled with content that actually makes the reader think about what is being said.
ReplyDelete“With every pore of his body he drank it in; with every desire of his heart he embraced the smell of the field about him – a patch of his native planet where grass grew, where cows moved, where presently he would come to hedges and a gate.” (149) Two of the senses are used in this phase. The first one how he drank with every pore of his body the rain (from the sentence before) and other things around him. Then the use of smell which he smells the rain, the grass, and the cows. He embraces these with desire. I think in some ways he is telling us that he is (in some ways) glad to be back on his planet because who wants to smell cows with desire (unless you are someone who likes to work with them). Where pops up three times in this phrase. It is gives us a place where he is now. I picture a hilly landscape with hedges marking each person’s land and the grass is the greenest I image and there is a herd of cattle in the distance. Something out of an Irish picture my grandpa once took. But it is raining. -Paige Landis
ReplyDeleteWhile reading The Tombs of Atuan, I noticed a interesting similarity between when Ged meeting Tenar and Ransom meeting the Oyarsa for the first time. To Tenar, Ged is a foreign creature, a man, who has experienced so many different things throughout his life. Unlike her singular existence, Ged is a well traveled mage and Dragonlord. He is a man who has entered the Tombs of Atuan without permission. When compared to Ransom's and the Oyarsa's relationship, it is very similar. The Oyarsa is almost godlike, and has lived so much longer than Ransom. The Oyarsa is so much beyond Ransom's understanding, yet they both try to understand eachother, whether it is mage and child or god and human.
ReplyDeleteI think that this parallel helped me understand how Tenar could be so infatuated with Ged after she first meets him. To her, it was like meeting a real life God, for it overturned her whole understanding of her faith and the reason why she even exists. However, there is also a difference between these two relationships, and that is who holds the power. Tenar held the power with Ged, and the Oyarsa held the power in Ransom's story. This may seem like a major influence on the dynamics of how they interacted, but I don’t necessarily think so. It all came down to one thing. Did The Oyarsa trust Ransom's word? Did Tenar trust Ged's word? In the end, it all came down the trust.
My favorite line from Out of the Silent Planet is “I do not think the forest would be so bright, nor the water so warm, nor love so sweet, if there were no danger in the lakes.”—Hyoi, p. 76.
ReplyDeleteThe immediate meaning of this line is simple: the hrossa hunt the hnakra, and the hnakra hunt the hrossa. This quote of Hyoi’s is a statement of the connectivity of all living things on Malacandra, and the two species have been an integral part of one another’s lives for years innumerable. The hrossa do not resent Maleldil for letting in the hnakra. They rejoice, because their struggle against the hnakra increases their value for life. They accept that this is just the way it is, and they hunt the hnakra to protect their species simply because that is what must be done to keep the hnakra at bay.
However, the great beauty of this quote is in the meaning it conveys for our lives as humans on Earth. We would not be as appreciative of the good times in our lives if we didn’t know what it was like to experience bad times. Times of hunger and want make us appreciate times of plenty more. Losing people we love makes us place greater value on the people currently in our lives, because we know how suddenly we could lose them. The good times give us the courage to endure the bad times because we know they will pass and brighter days will shine again.