Anatomical Imagery
C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man is a book that uses the anatomy of humanity to show how man has been created and why this creation is essential. Lewis argues that the current movement toward secularism is attempting to destroy the “head” of man, which he calls Tao. Tao is an all-encompassing way of living and viewing the world passed down from generation to generation from the beginning of humanity. The current movement toward secularism runs counter to Tao and takes away what makes us human. In order to argue for this thesis, Lewis uses four examples from history or mythology and compares them with contemporary examples to show how modern society is trying to destroy the head of a man by teaching people not to think for themselves or act morally but instead to do whatever they want regardless of consequence.
Tao Imagery
In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis uses imagery from Taoism to illustrate two opposing views of reality. The first is the objective view or the idea that some things do not change and are permanent. This is the traditional Western way of seeing reality. The second is the subjective view of reality, in which everything is understood by what it does for us, and therefore nothing has any fixed meaning or value. The Taoist imagery used to describe these views and their implications is very helpful in understanding Lewis’ argument against subjectivism, but it can also be confusing. Lewis was a Christian, and he did not believe that Taoism was authentic in the same sense as Christianity.
Control Imagery
In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis uses the term “control imagery” to refer to the values that culture has accepted as its own. In many cultures, this set of values is passed down from one generation to another and is not questioned. Thus, when Lewis refers to “control imagery,” he means that the values that the culture passes on are the ones that control their lives and their attitudes toward each other.
The control imagery functions so that it controls what people think without them realizing it. Because of this, Lewis says that control imagery is the active side of the Tao. People accept what they are taught as truth and act accordingly but do not realize that their culture influences them to think in a certain way. A person controlled by control imagery has no awareness that his ideas are being controlled by something else. He thinks and acts according to tradition.
The Castrated Horse
In "Men Without Chests," Lewis argues that society removes the "chest" from people via the educational process and yet demands that they function as if they had one. This is essentially equivalent, in the imagery of Lewis, to castrating a horse and demanding that the gelding "be fruitful." This image is a painful yet accurate one of the ironic disaster that society is inflicting on its inhabitants.
C. S. Lewis also uses the ‘Castrated Horse’ imagery in his book The Abolition of Man to describe a society that has lost its moral values and the education system that promotes this amoral society. Lewis uses this imagery to warn us of the consequences we will face if we continue to deny objective truth and fail to teach it in our schools. In essence, we will be left with a ‘castrated horse’ of a society that appears perfectly normal from the outside but lacks any moral strength or integrity and is utterly subservient to men who can manipulate its ‘emotions’ through propaganda. Lewis warns us that we cannot hope to maintain our ‘civilization’ unless we teach children right from wrong.
Chestnut Tree
The imagery of the chestnut tree is interesting because it shows how Lewis was able to use text and imagery to illustrate his argument. Where the Chestnut Tree is a beautiful source of shade, it offers no fruit. In contrast, the horse chestnut tree has no shade but produces a delicious "conker." The Chestnut Tree represents tradition. The way that Lewis develops the imagery of the Chestnut Tree helps to support his central argument in "The Abolition of Men." The Tree's beauty is not in its ability to produce fruit but rather in its mere existence. To chop down this kind of tree would eliminate tradition, something that Lewis felt was essential to life. In contrast, the conker is seen as something that could be changed and modified by humanity. To chop down this kind of tree would be an act of change, something that Lewis saw as more readily open for manipulation. Where Lewis uses imagery, he also uses text to support his viewpoint. There is a direct connection between the imagery and text presented here. To chop down either tree reflects an action based on what one values in life and what can be changed instead of what cannot be altered or modified.
