C. S. Lewis and Myth 2023

I n Lewis’ Out of A Silent Planet. While waiting for the 28 day trip to Malacandra, Ransom entertained himself by getting to know his captors more intimately. Devine was quite open about his motivations. Ransom explains, “ for the most part [Devine’s] conversation ran on the things he would do when he got back to Earth: ocean-going yachts, the most expensive women and a big place on the Riviera figured figured largely in his plans. I’m not running these risks for fun.” Similar to Weston’s outlook on life Devine in another representation of another grave evil. This one being hedonism. While the consequences of this philosophy isn’t as clear as Westons they are just as bad. When one selfishly pursues their own lusts and desires they not only corrode their soul but they effect those close to them. There is no end in the path of hedonism. No women, job, money, or power will be enough to satisfy you. You will be constantly restless to the point where you must numb yourself with even more pl...

In Lewis’ Out of A Silent Planet a certain physicist, Dr. Weston kidnaps Ransom and takes him aboard his spaceship headed towards Malacandra. Once Ransom awakes from his slumber and realizes that he is in a spaceship he begins to question the estranged physicist. With little resistance Weston begins to explain his philosophy of life. Ransom responded, “ you hold all the cards, and I must make the best of it. I consider your philosophy of life to be raving lunacy. I suppose all that stuff about infinity and eternity means that you think you are justifiable in doing anything–absolutely anything–here and now, on the off chance that some creatures or other descended from man as we know him may crawl about a few centuries longer in some part of the universe.” Weston responded, “ Yes–anything whatsoever”. Weston resembles one of the great evils of mankind. That being the telos of evolution or in other words survival of the fittest. That is the basic idea the it is a means to an end and not ...

  Hear me mortal, and tremble. I am the god Hades, and my voice is the last that the ears of men hear. Among your people I may go by a different name, but in the hereafter, names mean nothing. I am the one to whom you thought of sending yourself, your father, Psyche, on occasion your sister, and the one who received that whiny Prince of Phars (his thought that he should not wet his sword with a woman's blood, and that he insisted that he should hang you assuming his victory in single combat, was deeply offensive to me. Where else is equality so real than the grave?) Among womenfolk I do not often find one so unperturbed about the transportation of others' souls from the realm above to my realm below. I took a special interest in you, my child, on that stormy night, when you journeyed to the border of the realm of the gods. In that moment, you saw the reality of existence, that mortals rarely ever perceive on this side of the grave. That reality, that the meaningfulness of lif...

  Why do Lewis and Tolkien, two respectable academics in their own rights, spend so much time in their stories developing the complex cultures (and in the case of Tolkien, even a full language) of their fantasy stories? Why should we care for the various types of humor offered by each of the species “the jokes of all three were equally incomprehensible to him. He thought he could see differences in kind- as that the sorns seldom got beyond irony, while the hrossa were extravagant and fantastic, and the pfifltriggi were sharp and excelled in abuse…” or for the random poetic breaks in the journey of the fellowship of the Ring: “"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” So much time and effort was placed in the creation and fleshing-out of a world that is not real. Or at least, not real in the sense that it cannot be touched, seen, or smelled. However, it can be felt. And th...

  It is remarkable that the characteristics of these fantasy creatures is so well established and understood that, if one were to ask a stranger to describe an Elf (provided it was established that the subject was not Santa’s little helpers), they would likely describe something similar to your understanding of the creatures, even down to the details of their haughty demeanor and isolationist tendencies. We all understand what Elves are, which, one could argue, makes them just as real as the material world. The myth is so powerful that, though the fantasy-worlds of Tolkien and Lewis exist in our minds’ eye, the vividness of the mythos allows us to collectively enter that space together. Perhaps the overwhelming feeling of isolation which many experience in the modern world is due to the lack of a shared mythology. “The American Dream” used to be that shared myth, along with all the stories of the founding fathers and their grand aspirations for the fledgling country. Now, that myth...

  I recently went to New York for a family trip. One should expect that New York City, having an enormously high population density and is the East Coast’s hub for “culture” would be an incredible place.. If all one knew of New York City was the songs and movies about it, they might imagine it as a place right out of a fantasy novel. Granted, it was incredible. But while some might look up at the lights and impossibly tall skyscrapers of Times Square and feel “in it”, I looked up and felt alone. Though thousands of unfamiliar faces brushed by me like sediments of sand on the ocean floor, it felt as if I was trapped in a neon prison of lights, sounds, and smells. The billboards, blazing with every color under the sun, demanded my attention, insisting that the product they were selling was exactly what I needed to fill the void. If I bought this car, then I’d be happy. Upon reflecting on this, I could not see the city for its beauty, but only as a place which voraciously consumed all...