Sehnsucht in Space Trilogy:
The Space Trilogy uses space exploration as an attempt to seek knowledge about the nature of the cosmos. This is an example of sehnscuct, because it is a longing that looks to beyond our scope of reference for the answers to our questions about the cosmos. In Out of the Silent Planet, those answers about the nature of the cosmos are given to Ransom by the Oyarsa of Malacandra, the presiding angel on the planet on which he first lands. This suggests sehnsucht because Ransom's longing for knowledge was granted via a spiritual symbol (the angel), representing truth found through the beyond. This idea of the "beyond" is fabricated through the myth of The Space Trilogy, where time-travel and angels in the stories bring knowledge, making readers think that the answers to the questions of the universe come from an understanding of religious views, and an acceptance of "the beyond" as truth.
I think that this view is dangerous because it promotes a fear of the unknown. I think it is important to embrace the ambiguity of the unknown, and realized that we will never really be able to explain everything about our world. Still, we will always wonder, and sehnsucht stems from this wonder we experience as we stare at the vastness of the night sky, full of possible explanations of other worlds.
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