Out of the Silent Planet Literary Elements

Science fiction, fantasy

Modern (twentieth-century) England and the planet Mars

Third-person point of view solely following the activities of Dr. Elwin Ransom, a philologist who is taken on a remarkable journey to the planet Malacandra.

Wonder-filled, optimistic, intellectual, reasonable

Protagonist: Dr. Elwin Ransom, a philologist with a good heart and an unintentional journey to Mars. Antagonist: Dr. Weston, the manifestation of progressive utilitarianism and the kidnapper of Dr. Ransom.

Dr. Weston and Devine are attempting to exploit Malacandra for their own purposes, while Ransom and the native Malacandrans attempt to prevent this and change the minds of the "bent" humans.

The climax of the novel occurs in a dramatic scene where Weston converses with Oyarsa in a battle of reason and ideology. After gently defeating the stubborn Weston with logic, Oyarsa forces them to leave Malacandra and return to Earth.

Weston's speech extolling the value of sacrificing lives for the advancement of humanity foreshadows his attempt to take over the planet of Malacandra in order to provide a new planet for humanity to conquer and colonize.

"It seems to me that this is the beginning of more comings and goings between the heavens and the worlds and between one world and another" - Oyarsa (Ch. XXI)

In the novel, Lewis alludes to the fanciful science-fiction fantasies of H.G. Wells, an older contemporary of Lewis. There are also many allusions to the messages of Christianity as seen through the Old One (God), Maleldil the Younger (Jesus), and the eldila (angels).

The imagery of something good being "bent" to represent sin and fallenness in the Malacandran vocabulary occurs in many instances throughout the entire novel. This "bending," or "perverting" ("thoroughly turning" in Latin), of goodness produces the evil of the Silent Planet, representing the fallen and sinful nature of humanity, which is a recurring theme in the book and comes up on many occasions.

In the climax of the novel, Weston intends to give a grandiloquent speech in defense of his utilitarian and man-centered beliefs, but when he attempts to give it in the language of Malacandra, he sounds like an ignorant child.

Weston's attempt to sacrifice Ransom's life to the sorns to further his own cause mirrors his plan to take over the planet of Malacandra, sacrificing the lives of its inhabitants to further the life of the human race.

Oyarsa and the Malacandrans refer to Weston and Devine as "the bent ones" rather than as human or by their names.

"A line of foam like the track of a torpedo was speeding towards them" (Ch. VII)