Space Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet-Melissa Faller

C.S. Lewis’ space trilogies are books written beyond human experience. The books take place on other planets such as Mars and Venus. I find that writing Sci-Fi books in the 1930s was not only a brave move but that it was also very clever. When it comes to science it does not normally blend well with religion; however C.S. Lewis did an amazing job creating a fantasy world that could subtly speak the truth of a Christian narrative. One of may favorite parts of space trilogy is in the first book Out of the Silent Plant, in which Ransom has been kidnapped and is in the shuttle on his way to…well he doesn’t exactly know where. The normal human reaction to being kidnapped and discovering that he has been placed in a shuttle should be panic. Instead, of panicking Ransom, is amazed by his surroundings. Ransom is not upset about where he is but he is completely astonished by the beauty of outer space. At this moment he reflects back on the scientific term for outer space and disagrees with the title it has been given. He believes that nothing this beautiful and filled with this much wonder and glory should be called space. Ransom writes “No space was the wrong name. Older thinkers had been wiser when they had named it the heavens” (p.34). I enjoyed the way C.S. Lewis wrote this part. In an ideal situation if a person was really caught and brought to space he would be in a state of panic, however Ransom is so distracted by the beauty of space. To me this is a great way to illustrate the true beauty of space, and to emphasize that it should not be called space at all but rather heaven was truly genius. C.S. Lewis was able to subtly introduce to the reader the true beauty of Christianity.