Imperial Topography in C. S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet

Abstract

C. S. Lewis’s travel narrative, in general, seems to compose his theological perspective of the world reflecting the probability of restoring lost faith. Nonetheless, underneath the context, the complex anxiety of the declining British Empire is intermingled throughout the narrative. Applied to Mary Louise Pratt’s term “contact zone,” in the essay, C. S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet (1938) examines the moral dilemma of emancipating the colonies and, at the same time, re-empowering the Empire. More specifically, underneath the fantasy narrative in Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis’s story prevails to the ambiguous aspects of imperial history in England. The story is influenced by the tradition of English knights who protect the weak, as we can see in the literary tradition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A white male protagonist displays knightly values as compared to Victorian gentlemen who hunt, cultivate languages and education, and are warriors. Thus, the main protagonist’s reactions to violence in Out of the Silent Planet display a somewhat ambivalent imperialist attitude because of a national narrative in terms of reflecting the nostalgic values of declining empires.