Essay Questions

How does Ransom's mission to Perelandra parallel Jesus's descent to Earth?

Maleldil sends Ransom to Perelandra, a planet to which he is alien, in order to combat the powers of evil and darkness and provide a way to preserve the life of its rational inhabitants through grace. In the same way, God sent Jesus to Earth, a planet to which he is alien (and yet fully human), in order to combat the powers of evil and darkness and provide a way to preserve the life of its rational inhabitants through grace. Each savior comes in an unassuming body - Ransom because he looks ridiculous to Tinidril, like a piebald creature, and Jesus because he seemed to be simply a normal human born to a normal mother (Isaiah 53:2 - "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him"). In both the cases of Ransom and Jesus, they descended, literally or figuratively, into the depths of Hell and did battle with the forces of darkness, emerging victorious and reascending into the light. The injury on Ransom's heel also draws a parallel from the Genesis 3:15, which is a prophecy saying that the savior of the world will crush the head of the serpent (conquer death), but the serpent will strike his heel.

How does this novel fit into the overall arc of the Space Trilogy?

In Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom undertook his first interplanetary voyage to Malacandra (Mars). While there, he came to understand the universal truth of Maleldil and his creation as well as the origin and current existence of the "black archon" and the forces of evil in the universe. This first voyage equipped him with the knowledge and ability to fight these forces himself. Perelandra is his first major opportunity to do so; he fights the Devil himself in the name of Maleldil, defeating him in a drawn-out climactic battle. In the third novel, That Hideous Strength, the fight is taken directly to the center of darkness: Thulcandra (Earth). It is the darkest and most sinister of all planets mentioned, and it will be an incredibly difficult struggle to redeem that world. In a sense, Perelandra is the middle volume in the descent into the realms of evil for the purpose of defeating them: Malacandra was an old, already redeemed planet; Perelandra is a young planet still dealing with the initial temptation of evil; and Thulcandra is still thoroughly in its grip. Perelandra can also be seen as the middle chapter in a cycle that brings Ransom through Mars and Venus back to where he began: Earth.