I now reiterate the short preface to the second book in The Space
Trilogy: "This story can be read by itself but is also a sequel to Out
of the Silent Planet in which some account was given of Ransom's adventures
in Mars - or, as its inhabitants call it, Malacandra. All the human
characters in this book are purely fictitious and none of them is allegorical.
Wait….really? C. S. Lewis has become, in my eyes, the primary author
when it comes to looking at the literary device of allegory. Even if the name
of the Space Trilogy's protagonist was not Ransom, I would still be incredibly
apparent that Dr. Ransom starkly represented J.R.R. Tolkien. Even the inside of
the cover noted this allegorical relationship, citing that,
"appropriately, Lewis modeled Dr. Ransom after his dear friend J.R.R.
Tolkien." And despite Tolkien's presence as Ransom and Perelandra
allegorically representing the Garden of Eden retold through myth, why would
Lewis tell the reader that the story is NOT rooted in allegory? My guess is
that Lewis is using this faux disclaimer to coyly prod the reader to take the
story as simply a story at its base level.
The question that I can't seem to understand: why would he put this at
the beginning of the SECOND book, and not the first one? Or even the third one?
What makes the second one so special? This leaves some interesting
possibilities for explanations. Assuming my original interpretation is true, it
could be argued that the second book is the most strongly allegorical, and
Lewis felt that book specifically should be taken as a story. I'm curious what
anybody else thinks, and I'd love to see a comment or blog post in reference to
what you think about Lewis' motives.
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