Perelandra

Ransom awakens and eats. As he walks, he notices an animal on the ground. It turns out to be an injured frog that has a huge tear across its back. He kills the frog to end its misery. He begins to walk againbut finds a trail of these injured frogs. The trail leads to Weston, who is tearing another frog with his fingernail. Weston looks up and appears corpselike. Ransom decides that whatever powers the body is no longer Weston. He sees pure evil in Weston and finds himself weakened by the presence. Ransom faints.

When Ransom awakens from fainting, he is alone. He decides to search for Weston, to try to stop him from meeting the woman. After travelling to find Weston, Ransom finds him and the woman in conversation. Weston is attempting to make her move to the Fixed Land. He argues that Ransom wants to keep her ignorant because he didn’t teach her about death. She asks Weston to teach her. Ransom tries to argue that she should learn these things as Maleldil teaches them, but Weston claims that Maleldil would want her to become her own, instead of relying on Him. He claims that Maleldil wants her to disobey. Ransom tells her that perhaps the reason for this command is so that she has something to prove her obedience. Weston argues that he is older than Ransom, revealing that he is a being who was with Maleldil in Deep Heaven. Ransom argues that older does not mean wiser. He tells the story of Adam and Eve and how darkness came from this same action of disobedience. Weston claims that great things came of this disobedience as well. The woman decides to leave to sleep. Before she does, Weston says that the only reason Maleldil became man was because of this first disobedience. Ransom is frustrated, as he finds himself unable to do anything but tell the truth in the face of Weston’s trickery. Finally, he tells her that, yes, good can come of disobedience, but the good Maleldil planned for us is lost forever when we disobey. He asks Weston to admit how he feels about Maleldil and Weston howls in defeat. The woman falls asleep. Weston, now called the “Un-Man,” squats beside her and begins calling Ransom’s name. When he answers, the Un-Man says, “Nothing.” This goes on for a long time. Eventually, Ransom stops answering, though Weston continues to say his name. Ransom realizes that while he must sleep, the Un-Man might not need to.