Perelandra - Melissa Marazzi

At the beginning of Perelandra, we see Ransom’s friend, Lewis, walking over to meet up with Ransom. The entire walk there, Lewis ponders over and over how much he doesn’t want to go because to him the whole idea that Ransom has been interacting with aliens just doesn’t settle well with him. On multiple occasions he seriously thought about simply turning around and leaving because of his extreme unrest. Nonetheless, he pushes past his own unnerving thoughts. When he speaks to Ransom about it, Ransom mentioned to him that it was the evil eldila that were influencing him the entire time most likely. This greatly reminded me of one of C.S. Lewis’ other books, The Screwtape Letters. The premise of this book is about an elder demon writing letters to a younger demon, giving him tips and advice on how to properly and effectively tempt a human. In both novels, Lewis has the demons employ subtle and quiet attacks. I think this is an interesting concept to think about how nearly invisible it seems these demons keep themselves. Usually, in the Christian tradition, when one would think of something being influenced by Satan or one of his minions, one would think of some outstanding and obvious vice like murder. Lewis, however, makes the point in both novels that flying under the radar can be just as effective; especially since people are so inclined to reconsider a decision when the opposite seems to have their own, selfish ambition in mind (as Lewis from the book discovers).