I’ve reviewed the other two books in the Space Trilogy (here and here!) so in this post I’ll finish off the series and ramble about That Hideous Strength. I must admit that That Hideous Strength is my least favorite of the Space Trilogy, but I’m sure I’ll think of some things to ramble about. It is C.S. Lewis, after all.
~ As aforementioned, this is my least favorite book in the Space Trilogy. I think one of the reasons for that is that it has by far the most dystopian feel out of the three, and creepy dystopian things are Not My Vibe. (They’re especially not my vibe if there’s a supernatural element, which there is here.)
~ Tied in with that, and another reason why this is my least favorite, is that the evil forces in this one are just so dang creepy and gross. I know that in both THS and Perelandra the evil forces are really just the devil working through evil people, but in Perelandra – I know this sounds backwards, but – the fact that it was more clearly the devil somehow made it less creepy to me. I think the reason for that is because I can find things more disturbing if I’m only given a glimpse of them than if I’m able to look them in the face and know exactly what I’m dealing with up-front. Besides which, let’s face it, the way that the devil is working through a person in THS is just downright disgusting.
~ That being said, I also really didn’t like the way that the bad people were overthrown. For one, it was, again, just Gross. For another, it felt like this was supposed to be our satisfying conclusion, and I just don’t get satisfaction out of people gruesomely dying, even if they’re evil. (I know there are different perspectives on that; for instance, from what I’ve heard of some of the episodes in the Divine Comedy – which I have yet to actually read for myself, shame on me – Dante (the fellow with the circles) seems to have a different take on this than I do. At the risk of sounding abominably pretentious, however…I think I’m right. Every human being, no matter how evil, was made by God and has (or had, if they’ve died) the potential to be a truly beautiful reflection of Him, and I think their gruesome demise should be a sad event. We can be happy that they’re no longer spreading evil, but that’s not the same thing as being happy that they’re being killed.
~ Anyway! Onwards. As I mentioned in my Perelandra post, I’m not sure how I feel about Lewis’s interpretation of what the relationship between men and women should be. What I did unqualified-ly appreciate, however, was the focus on the unbreakable bond of marriage. Let’s be honest, Mark was no great prize. Jane saw that Ransom had all the qualities which she missed in Mark and which would have made a happy, fulfilling marriage so much easier. She really didn’t love Mark at all. Yet, she and Mark still belonged together and could only make a happy marriage with each other and with no one else. They were husband and wife, and nothing could change that. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
~ Speaking of Ransom, it’s interesting to see how Lewis decided to have his character progress. Though still himself, Ransom feels much less relatable and much less human in THS. It makes sense; Ransom has been through such purifying experiences and seen things so close to God and His glory that I don’t think he could just return unchanged to who he was before. As a result of this change, we the readers feel much less close to him, which is rather sad. I think Lewis realizes that we will not be able to feel as close to him anymore, and that’s why Ransom is no longer really the main character. We get most of the story through Jane’s eyes (some through Mark’s) and that makes sense; they are very imperfect, human, yet not really bad characters, and so we can understand them and can easily view the world through their eyes.
~ I’m not sure how much I like the whole Merlin subplot. That whole aspect of the book seemed supernatural in a slightly Weird way, way which I didn’t really like. I mean, it’s C.S. Lewis; you know that he means it all to be interpreted through a Christian framework…but I don’t know that everything that he’s interpreting through a Christian framework here exactly can or should be interpreted through that framework.
~ There are a couple insights from this book that I think are really true and really profound. The first one is just mentioned in passing, but it really jumped out at me: there is nothing that can so easily make a not-very-bad man do very bad things as a feeling of camaraderie. If Mark had been asked by someone he did not know to write a news article about an event that had not yet happened, he would almost certainly have indignantly refused, no matter what the monetary compensation was. But since he was asked by the coveted “inner circle,” the group he wanted so badly to be a part of, who seemed to be finally warming to him and letting him be one of them, he just naturally fell in with what they wanted. Lewis says that Mark did not have any one moment where he confronted what he was doing and overcame his scruples. He was so eager for approval that he didn’t even think about what he was doing, and easily drifted into unethical behavior to get that approval.
~The other insight is that evil is aesthetically gross. (As mentioned before, the grossness of this book is one of the reasons I don’t like reading it, but though I don’t enjoy it, I can recognize that it is making a good point.) Even before Mark was asked to do anything wrong or blasphemous in the Objective Room, it was just plain disgusting and icky and I-need-to-go-kiss-a-baby-bunny-or-something-to-get-that-taste-out-of-my-mouth. And that is, again, very true. Some things are objectively beautiful, and some things are objectively ugly. Some of our aesthetic opinions are social and/or cultural conditioning, and there are many things which I think it is no problem to have differing aesthetic opinions about, but I do think there is an objective element to beauty. Some things are by nature beautiful, and some things are by nature revolting. We can change it or warp it, but God gave us an aesthetic sense, and He did it for a reason. (It gets more complicated when talking about beauty in people – I think that beauty in people is very hard to qualify and is much more subjective, since if you find someone’s personality/character/✨vibes✨ attractive, that can make you find that person’s looks to be attractive too, even if you wouldn’t think so otherwise or even if someone else wouldn’t think so. Just look at how many celebrities there are where there are widely differing opinions about whether they’re good-looking or not.)
Well, that’s not a bad amount of rambling, considering that I was afraid I’d find nothing to say! Do you like That Hideous Strength? What do you think is the most profound insight in the Space Trilogy? How do you think aesthetic beauty and moral goodness relate to each other?
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Yay, more Lewis! 😀 I agree, this book is Weird. The whole series is kind of Weird. I’m not sure if I find the N. I. C. E. or Weston creepier. They’re both horrifying, but they way Mark is slowly drawn in, entangled, by having his pride gratified . . . That’s frighteningly relatable, at least for me.
Yeah, the gruesomeness was . . . gruesome. I don’t see it as a satisfying ending, either, but kind of, what else did you expect, kids, when you give yourself over to evil? (Actually, it was the teeniest bit satisfying, because that was the moment it clicked for me that the N. I. C. E. was a Babel parallel. I still think that’s cool, in a morbid way. And one has to wonder what chaos broke out at the actual Tower.)
I love the vibes at St. Anne’s–that band of misfits, really just held together by their collective love and respect for Ransom. I find the way they split the kitchen duties hilarious. Admittedly, I wasn’t big on Ransom in the first two books but found him fascinating here. It choked me up when he was leaving . . .
Hmm, that’s such an interesting point about objective beauty and ugliness. And it comes across very vividly. I don’t have anything of substance to add (have I said anything of substance??) but am glad you pointed it out.
Excellent post, Lizzie! 😀
Mark’s entanglement in the N.I.C.E is definitely frighteningly relatable. In a way THS is the most wacky and out-there of the Space Trilogy, but in a way I think it’s also the most real and realistic.
I feel like I had figured out/heard elsewhere about the Babel parallel, but I had completely forgotten about it, so thanks for mentioning that! I agree, that is cool. (And by-the-by, in case I didn’t make this clear in my post, I’m not saying the ending wasn’t just or fair. I just didn’t like it.)
I did like the vibe at St. Anne’s too – I love stories where a collection of very different people are drawn together for some reason. I remember your mentioning you liked Ransom best in this one! (I did still like him in this one…I just felt like I couldn’t have as much of a personal connection with him, if that makes sense.)
It is interesting to think about, isn’t it? I’m really not completely sure what my thoughts on this topic are…it’s interesting to mull over, though! (Heh, I think you said plenty of substance! :P)
Ach, I love That Hideous Strength! It may actually be my favourite of the Space Trilogy…although I know that’s an unpopular opinion!
Interesting that the Perelandra evil was less creepy for you! For me, that’s infinitely more creepy/absolutely terrifying, and I much prefer the THS style! (Even if it is, indeed, very icky.)
I hadn’t thought about the marriage/unbreakable bond of marriage aspect of it much at all–I really like that!
The Merlin subplot (and some of how Ransom is in this book, too, I think) is a result of Lewis’s very close friendship with Charles Williams, who wrote very Arthurian, mystical works, and some of that crept into Lewis’s writing here (somewhat to its detriment, I’m afraid). Tolkien wasn’t a fan of it, either, so you (and I) are in good company. 🙂
The concept of the Inner Circle (and people really wanting to get into it) is something I think about a lot, and that comes up in our family conversations a lot, too! Especially since my dad works at a big company…he’s often kind of looking out to make sure that he’s not joining any “inner circles”.
It is rather funny that we have such different opinions on this! I think it’s neat, though, and the mark of a well-written series, that different installments of the Space Trilogy speak to different people. (If the evil in THS was just purely human evil and corruption, with no supernatural element, I wouldn’t find it so creepy – though that probably hardly needs saying. I also personally found the man who died (blast, can’t remember his name…you know, the one Jane dreamed about) much grosser and creepier than the Un-Man.)
Yes, I’d heard that too about Charles Williams…I’ve heard that he was personally into some rather Sketchy supernatural stuff as well. I agree, I don’t think he was a good influence on Lewis. Ah well, none of us are perfect, not even Lewis (;
Absolutely! I think that’s an insight from this book that almost everyone can personally understand: both the temptation of wanting to be in the “inner circle,” and the danger that comes from being in that circle or even just fostering the desire to be in it. (Kudos to your dad for taking care to avoid them! :))
Thanks for sharing, Lizzie! Although THS is my favorite out of the Space Trilogy, I have to agree that the bloodshed at the end is gruesome. I thought the Merlin part was a bit weird… sorta like including Father Christmas in Narnia.
I don’t remember much about the novel since it was a while since I read it, but I think the curse of Babel was profound. The villains desired to gather the world under their power (like all the people uniting in building the Tower of Babel), seeking to be like gods themselves, but only God’s Word prevails.
Yes, I agree that the inclusion of Merlin is a little like the inclusion of Father Christmas in Narnia…I think the point Lewis is trying to make is that Christianity can kind of encompass all mythology, or that all mythology is trying to point to Christianity in some way (whether it knows it or not), and while I agree to a degree, I’m not always comfortable with how he does it or how far he goes with it.
Yes, that was really profound! And although it’s usually in a less dramatic way, I think we see this all the time in real life – when people feel like they can do it all on their own, everything just turns to chaos. We can’t do anything worth doing without God’s help!