40 pages • 1 hour read
C. S. LewisPerelandra
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1943A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 14-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
Ransom struggles to get to the surface. When he does, he fights Weston, eventually strangling him. Once Weston is dead, Ransom sits on him for a long time. They have arrived on a beach. Ransom decides to wait until morning to inspect the body and the land. After a while, he walks around and realizes he’s trapped in a pitch-black cavern. He works around and makes progress to escape. He hears noises as he goes. He sees some light in a higher cave. He makes his way up and rests, but he turns back to find the Un-Man following him, accompanied by a giant creature. Ransom attacks the Un-Man. The Un-Man falls, and the creature no longer seems dangerous. The creature leaves and Ransom rolls the Un-Man off a cliff. Ransom then takes a drink and falls asleep.
Chapter 15 Summary
Ransom awakes and continues. He sees four of the giant creatures, beetle-like, drawing a flat car with a figure driving them on. He hears distant drums and sees a column of light. He slips and falls into flowing water. He lands in a pool and finds some food. He eats and then falls asleep from exhaustion. He wakes up after a long sleep and explores this new area. He sees mountains and valleys and translucent cliffs. Ransom heals over the next several days but finds a bite mark on his heel that will not stop bleeding. Later, he writes an epitaph for Weston in the translucent rock. After this, he walks around the area more, finding small animals that seem like miniaturized versions of others he has seen. He finds a large, horse-like creature singing and attempts to befriend it, but it seems shy. As he continues, he sees an angel with a flaming sword. He comes upon a coffin like the one he first travelled in then realizes he is in the presence of two eldila.
Chapters 14-15 Analysis
Ransom considers the fate of Weston, whose frame seems to have been merely a vessel for evil. He considers, “The question whether Satan, or one whom Satan has digested, is acting on any given occasion, has in the long run no clear significance” (148). Lewis argues then that sin leads the sinner to total servitude to the will of Satan. But we see that both Weston and Ransom were acting in their roles, even though Ransom did so of his own free will. We see further comparison between the allegory and the myth with Ransom’s bleeding heel and Weston’s crushed head. The story of Adam and Eve includes the curse on the serpent (Satan) that, while he will have power to “bruise” womankind’s heel, she will have the power to crush his head. Ransom’s wound, then, comes to represent the universal struggle of good and evil, showing that evil will win battles but good will win the war.
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By C. S. Lewis
