The Un-man Unveiled

The first appearance of the Un-man is slightly disconcerting. Weston’s monologue, occasionally interrupted by Ransom’s well conceived disagreeings, reached its peak when he proclaimed himself one with the universe. At this point Weston became the Un-man. Weston began to struggle for control and the Un-man won the battle by taking over Weston’s weakened defenses. The first act of the Un-man was to undo Weston. The man no longer posses control over his own body, or even over his own mind. The Un-man was his undoing

Another instance in which the Un-man undoes the natural order of creation is seen in chapter nine. Ransom awakes to find a line of dead or dieing frog-like creatures strewn upon the ground. Upon seeing this Ransom thinks, “It would have been better, or so he thought at that moment, for the whole universe never to have existed than for this one thing to have happened” (94). The Un-man has now begun to undo not only human life but creation as well. As Satan gained mastery over Eve, creation fell around her. So now the Un-man, attempting to dethrone the Queen, is also attempting to destroy her kingdom. The animals under her protection have been placed in danger by the Un-man’s presence, and she is unaware of the danger. Only Ransom, who has seen this type of destruction upon Thulcandra, can stop the fall of another civilization, and as the Un-man sits upon the mound of bodies, Ransom decides to guard against the threat that has been brought upon Perelandra.

The battle for the future begins with rest. A warrior must have the energy to fight, and energy is gained by sleep. If Ransom has a hope to win this battle, he must rest. However, evil never sleeps, and the Un-man is evil. The Un-man attempts to weaken our Warrior and undo Ransom before he has a chance to fight. By keeping Ransom awake, the Un-man is undoing Ransom’s humanhood. No sleep will defeat a man. So, tired and desperate, Ransom comes to the realization that Spiritual Warfare is not only a mental fight, but it is also a physical battle that be won with strength of might. Ransom begins to box with the evil that is attempting to destroy this Utopian existence. It takes all of Ransom’s strength and energy, but in the end, he stands victorious over the incinerated body which once belonged to Edward Rolles Weston.

Ransom’s fight with the Un-man is Lewis’ attempt to emphasize that World War Two was not the only physical battle that the soldiers and humans of the era had to fight. In order for us to defeat Satan, we must physically defeat him. Gaining energy from our rest and standing upon the promises of God, we take the battle to Satan. We may be beaten and bruised in the end, but ultimately, Satan has already been flung into the Lake of Fire, just as the Un-man was flung into the volcano.