Out Of The Silent Planet Analysis

Virtue is… What is virtue? Few can answer this question and even fewer can truthfully say they are virtuous. Virtue is a concept that has been forgotten by society. Many believe that by avoiding evil and wrong they are being virtuous, but this is not all you need to do to be virtuous. You must practice and uphold moral and ethical principles; you must actively choose virtue. Take C. S. Lewis’ character, Ransom, from his science fiction novel, Out of The Silent Planet. He proves to be virtuous throughout the story by retrieving a young man whom he did not know, by hunting an alien beast with an alien tribe, and by visiting the alien ‘leader’. Ransom’s first virtuous act was retrieving a worried mother’s son from his work. While on his walking …show more content…
Knowing neither the woman nor her son, Ransom offered to find Harry, in hopes he might find a place to stay the night. When he found the manor of which the woman spoke, he tried the gate at the front. The gate was locked, and Ransom was tempted to give up; but he had made a promise to the woman and felt inclined to keep it. Ransom hoisted his backpack up over the hedge next to the gate and crawled up under the hedge to the other side. He came up to the door and rang the doorbell. By looking at the house Ransom could tell that he would most likely not be welcome to stay, but still waited to retrieve the boy. After an hour of waiting, ringing, and knocking, Ransom heard a commotion coming from the back of the house. He could hear someone shouting, “Let me go! Let me go!”, and rushed back there to see what was the matter. Two men were holding a young man, who turned out …show more content…
While hunting the hnarka, a creature called an eldil told Ransom to visit Oyarsa. The hrossa told him that you must always listen to eldila. After the killing of the hnarka and the murder of Hyoi by Weston and Devine, Ransom set out for Meldilorn, Oyarsa’s home. The hrossa told him to go to Augray, a sorn, and he would show him where to go. Augray lived so high in the mountains that Ransom nearly passed out. When he made it to Augray’s home, Augray gave him food, water, and oxygen. The next day Augray and Ransom began their journey to Meldilorn. Two days later they arrived at Meldilorn. Ransom spoke with Oyarsa the next day. Ransom could have disrespected the eldila by retreating and not meeting with Oyarsa, but he respected the Malacandrian customs and did as the eldil said. In conclusion, virtue is something you must chose and actively practice as shown in the book, Out of The Silent Planet, by the main character, Ransom. Ransom proves this by retrieving Harry for his mother, by hunting the hnarka with the hrossa, and by visiting Oyarsa. Virtue is the same on every