Perelandra, 9 - 11

The pace is quickening as the Unman reveals his true nature more and more to Ransom, while continuing to speak civilly and reasonably to the Lady. Chapter 9 begins with Ransom discovering and following the trail of mutilated frogs; they are to him an "obscenity" (94), completely out of place in this idyllic world. He contemplates the fact that there are two ways only to live in the universe--to move either toward the "Beatific or the Miserific Vision" (96). While this kind of language is found in numerous medieval thinkers, including Dante, it also makes me think of Charles Williams--and more reading I'll need to do.

The Unman tells the Lady his purpose in coming to Perelandra is to teach them Death; he couches this in nearly theatrical terms--as Ransom tells us. The Unman tempts the Lady to adopt the "role" of heroine for her race; he tempts her with her own beauty (Vanity) and with the idea of glorious self-sacrifice. Ransom feels he is losing the battle; it doesn't help when he loses his temper!

While the eldila do not interfere in Perelandra, Maleldil is present, and Ransom realizes that He has always been present--it's just that Ransom has managed to ignore Him while focusing on the battle of words and ideas. Three times Ransom thinks, "This can't go on." Finally he asks, "Why did no miracle come?" (119) At this point Ransom experiences the presence of Maleldil, which grows stronger until, Ransom says, it's almost a Voice, and eventually it speaks to him.

But first, Ransom feels himself divided into two arguing selves: one is clearly guided by Reason, the other is more holistic perhaps--the narrator later names it "intuition" (123). His reasonable, or as he says, his voluble self claims that he has done all he can, that all he has to do is his best and then "God would see to the final issue. . . . He must not be worried about the final result. Maleldil would see to that. . . . One must have faith" (120).

Immediately his other self recognizes the falseness of this way of thinking; if Maleldil's will is to be done on Perelandra, Ransom must DO it: "Ransom and the Lady were those hands" (121) which would accomplish the task. This made me think of a quote from St. Terese of Avila:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth,
yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good
and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.

Ransom realizes he is the miracle Maleldil has sent to Perelandra, and he moves to the certainty that he can and will physically fight to destroy the body of Weston, thereby erasing Satan's footprint on Perelandra.

Lewis gives such a clear picture here of our task as members of Christ's body; he says,

"As the Lady had said, the same wave never came twice. When Eve fell, God was not Man. He had not yet made men members of His body: since then He had, and through them henceforward He would save and suffer." (123)

Ransom must do his part, but Maleldil has said that His name, also, is Ransom; if Ransom avoids his path and his responsibility, Perelandra will still be redeemed but at a terrible price. And Ransom is given grace to accept his role.

This whole concept is so encouraging to me--daunting but also energizing. God has work for us to do--real, physical work. Sometimes this means physically avoiding temptation or physically putting ourselves in the path of grace, but it means being active, doing what God commands, in faith that He is with us. It also means what Charles Williams call "Co-Inherence" and "Substitution"; we're not responsible only for our own journey but for the others we meet on the way. We are the bringers of redemption--though Christ is the Redeemer. Lewis says, after Ransom has thought all of this through and is prepared to do battle, that Ransom "had been delivered from the rhetoric of his passions and had escaped into unassailable freedom. . . . Predestination and freedom were apparently identical" (127). Now there's something for a Presbyterian to think about! It seems clear, also, that Faith and Works are one. Perhaps from the predestination comes the Faith and from the freedom the Works. I'll have to think about this more--this is just writing as the thoughts come to me. I'm enjoying blogging!