Who is Ransom?

An autobiographical approach to Out of the Silent Planet

Introduction
The protagonist of Out of the Silent Planet is Elwin Ransom, a character who
bears many similarities to C.S. Lewis himself but is commonly held to be
based off of Lewis’ friend and fellow author J.R.R. Tolkien.1 However,
Ransom shares some peculiarities and sentiments unique to Lewis, and there
are many distancing devices inserted into the book, implying that an
identification of Ransom with Lewis himself is not implausible.
Ransom blunders into the story through a walking tour, a favorite pastime of
Lewis’, voices thoughts extremely similar to several of Lewis’ writings on
progress and vivisection, and feigns a personal relationship with a non-
fictional Ransom in the postscript to the story.
1 Rosenbaum, "The Company They Keep…”
Curtis Baum
Vivisection Postscript
In the postscript, Lewis insists that he was told this story by a “real” Ransom, and
Vivisection in Out of
published it as fiction so that it would be believed. “Dr. Ransom—and at this stage it
will be obvious that this is not his real name—soon abandoned the idea of his
the Silent Planet Malacadrian dictionary and indeed all idea of communicating his story to the world.”1
Lewis frames the book as an attempt to inform the world through fiction about a
Elwin Ransom and C.S. Lewis share a common “real-world” conspiracy, claiming that the names are disguises.
aversion to vivisection, which is the mutilation of The object of the book is to “effect in one per cent of our readers a change-over from
living animals for research purposes. Where this the conception of space to … Heaven.”2 Lewis goes to the trouble of creating a false
comes up in Out of the Silent Planet: identity for Ransom, and having a dialogue with him; I propose that this is a
• Weston uses the watchdog named Tartar in distancing device to hide Lewis’ straightforward meaning in fiction.
an experiment near the beginning of the book, 1Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet, 150.
2 Lewis, 152.
subliminally portraying him as the villain of
the book.1
• Later on Ransom ties vivisection to the

Lewis & Story

central philosophical question of the book:
whether “small claims must give way to
great.”2
• Weston and Devine also discuss the idea of If we grant that Lewis is writing
vivisecting a Malacandrian and rationalize the Ransom as a voice for himself, what
seroni’s (pl. of sorn) presumed sacrifice of new dimensions and questions appear
http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19470908,00.html
Ransom based off the fact that “at least he in the story?
wouldn’t be human from their point of view,” • The elements of enjoyment in
demonstrating an application of their otherworldly nature can correspond
devaluing of animal life.3 to Lewis’ own experiences
1 Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet, 14. • Lewis’ opinions on modernism,
2 Lewis, 29.
3 Lewis, 36.
progressivism, and vivisection can
be reinforced though another,
separate voice.
• We get a chance to see Lewis’ own
C.S. Lewis on vivisection reactions to an imagined
Lewis first mentions his personal thoughts on the question in his work, The Problem of Pain, experience.
published in 1940. The chapter on “Animal Pain” precipitated a response from a Mr. Joad,
philosopher at the University of London.1 In addition to Lewis’ response to Joad, the collection of https://apilgriminnarnia.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/lewis-letter-1956.jpg

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/433119689151674878/visual-search/?x=16&y=13&w=530&h=433
A Professor on a walk…
Conclusion:
essays God in the Dock also contains a piece explicitly on vivisection.
In the essay “Vivisection,” Lewis examines both sides of the argument, and after showing that both
concern for animal pain and the motivation to help the suffering through experimentation are
premised on the idea that pain is bad, summarizes: “Now vivisection can only be defended by
• The case for Ransom being a fictionalized C.S. Lewis is incomplete, but much more
showing it to be right that one species should suffer in order that another should be happier.” This
is the question which the debate in Out of the Silent Planet hinges on, as Weston and Devine consider
other human (as well as Malacandrian) lives to be unimportant in the face of progress.
probable than is typically thought.

Ransom describes himself as a “Cambridge Don” who is a professor of
philology and enjoys experiencing the British countryside as a pedestrian.
Lewis taught at Oxford when Out of the Silent Planet was published in 1938,
but later in life went to Cambridge (1954).1 J.R.R. Tolkien was also a
philologist, but Lewis understood and supported his linguistic creation in the
world of Middle-Earth and was also well-versed in the Greek and Latin
classics, in addition to other languages.2 Lewis also took this opportunity to
sub-create his own linguistic system, rudimentarily, but in the mold of
Tolkien. Walking out of doors was a popular custom among English
romantic poets and was popular at Lewis’ time. There is an extraordinary
amount of time (and ink) spent on walking in Out of the Silent Planet, The
Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. Lewis tremendously loved “a
ripping walk,” but Tolkien, although they were good friends, did not
participate on these perambulations.3 The whole of Out of the Silent Planet can
be seen as an unexpected extension to Ransom’s walking tour, and indeed he
continues his exploration and appreciation of nature even while roaming the
surface of Malacandra (or Mars).
1 Jacobs, The Narnian, 281.
2 Lobdell, The Scientifiction Novels of C.S. Lewis, 44.
3 Jacobs, 53-4.
Lewis does not promote the “non-violent” philosophies prevalent in vegetarianism or Eastern
religions, but allows that it is possible for a Christian to defend vivisection in good conscience, based
on the revealed superiority of man over beast, so long as he “does so with scrupulous care to avoid
the least dram or scruple or unnecessary pain, in a trembling awe at the responsibility which he
assumes, and with a vivid sense of the high mode in which human life must be lived if it is to justify
the sacrifices made for it…”2 The danger of most vivisection appears, Lewis states, when the those
who brush off vivisection as “necessary for research” also treat humans as no different from the
animals, and removing the Christian rationale for vivisection as well as opening the door for similar
devaluing and destruction of other people. “The victory of vivisection marks a great advance in the
triumph of ruthless, non-moral utilitarianism over the old world of ethical law; a triumph in which
we, as well as the animals, are already the victims, and of which Dachau and Hiroshima mark the
more recent achievements. In justifying the cruelty of animals we put ourselves also on the animal
level. We choose the jungle and must abide by our choice.”3
1 Lewis, “The Pains of Animals,” God in the Dock, 161.
2 Lewis, “Vivisection” God in the Dock, 226.
3 “Vivisection,” 228.
• Lewis provides another voice to disguise and promote his opinions.
• Out of the Silent Planet provides imaginary solutions to mundane problems through
story.
Bibliography
Jacobs, Alan. The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis. HarperCollins, 2005.
Lewis, Clive Staples. God in the Dock. Eerdmans, 1970.
Lewis, Clive Staples. Out of the Silent Planet. 1938. Scribner, 2003.
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Problem of Pain. 1940. Harper One, 1996.
Lobdell, Jared. The Scientifiction Novels of C.S. Lewis: Space and Time in the Ransom Stories. McFarland &
Company, 2004.
Rosenbaum, J. "The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community,
and: Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (review)." Children’s
Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 33 no. 4, 2008, pp. 451-454. Project
MUSE, doi:10.1353/chq.0.1882