Sweet Home Malacandra

Michael Straight · 30 May 2000, 15:35 · from urth-v0029.mbox · original

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Sweet Home Malacandra
Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 15:35:09
Message-ID: <urth-v0029-0051 at digest.urth.net>
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On 30 May 2000, Dan Parmenter wrote:

> And earlier Rostrum noted:
>=20
> > It's a fine point, but he didn't think space travel and immortality
> > are themselves sins, rather they are a bad idea because they would
> > allow sin to grow beyond it's current bounds of time (a lifetime)
> > and space (Earth).
>=20
> I think that this is only really explicitly stated in THAT HIDEOUS
> STRENGTH, the third (and weirdest, IMHO) book.

There's also the scene in OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET where the scientist who
captured Ransom is on "trial" and he gives this eloquent defense of
humanity's manifest destiny to conquer the stars, which becomes ridiculous
when translated into the Malacandrian language.  I can't remember it
exactly, but there's a part that, when translated, goes something like,
"He says that humans are never satisfied and always want more and compete
with each other and that only the strong survive, and that these are good
things and that therefore humanity has a right to spread everywhere."

I don't remember for sure, but I wouldn't be suprised if there's also a
hint of the idea in Ransom and Weston's conversations in PERELANDRA before
he becomes the Un-man.

-Rostrum

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