Avoiding Evil In C. S. Lewis's Out Of The Silent Planet
What is required of one to be considered a virtuous person? Avoiding evil is not sufficient to be virtuous; one must also actively choose to do good. Ransom, in C.S. Lewis’s book Out of the Silent Planet, performed three virtuous acts, one in promising an old woman to find her boy, two in tearing himself from the hrossa in order to prevent two unsavory characters from disturbing them any longer, and three in sharing his unparallelled experiences. When Ransom promised an old, worried woman that he would search for her missing boy, he decided to actively help her for goodness’ sake alone. After Weston and Devine shot Hyoi, Ransom fled from amongst the hrossa so that the other two men would leave the placid hrossa alone, and so avoided bringing more evil upon the them. Finally, by publishing his journey and experiences in Malacandra, Ransom leaped to the beneficial action of improving the minds of those in his home planet. In the detail of Ransom’s selfless escapade to find a stranger’s child, one will recognize Ransom’s intentions to be oriented around the sense of duty and service to those less capable than himself. Many would concur that those who apply their superiority, whether of the mind, body, social status, or financial foundation, to serve those with less or weaker faculties
…show more content…
Ransom wanted to prevent the dispersion of Weston’s twisted, selfish resolve to overthrow Malacandra and snatch it away for cruel, mislead
Ransom wanted to prevent the dispersion of Weston’s twisted, selfish resolve to overthrow Malacandra and snatch it away for cruel, mislead