There is a part of me that just doesn’t like Lewis’ Perelandra, and I’m not entirely sure why. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the imagination and creativity involved in portraying a utopia such as Perelandra. It’s just the idea of a book revolving around a utopia that gets me. The world is just too perfect and innocent, as personified by the Green Lady. It had a static nature to it that didn’t satisfy me. Yes, I know the book has a plot, but something inside me likes the idea of a fall followed by redemption rather than there be no fall at all. I want there to be a Christ figure. One could argue that Ransom is that figure, but he serves more as one to stop a fall rather than a redeemer from one.
Another reason for my dislike of the novel is my expectation before I read it. Since I had always heard the trilogy referred to as a space trilogy, I expected a story more reminiscent of Star Wars or Star Trek, complete with futuristic technology and intergalactic struggles. Instead, what Lewis gives in Perelandra is just the opposite, a primitive world with no struggle whatsoever. This did actually interest me at first. If anything I was caught off guard, but in the end I was still left wanting some sort of struggle that was more than just the end of the un-man.
Perhaps I want the inhabitants of Perelandra to experience and undergo what we as humans have had to experience as a result of our fall. Without a fall, we would not be able to fully grasp the greatness of God. Similarly, I think Perelandrians’ view of Maleldil is lacking since they lack a fall. Light is much brighter when viewed from a dark perspective. All in all I think my dislike for the story Perelandra is a good thing because the book made me appreciate the redemption found in reality.
I like this post. I second it as well.
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