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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in That Hideous Strength, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Obedience, Exclusivity, and Humility
Modernization vs. Tradition
Divine Conflict
Deception and Confusion
Gender and Marriage
Summary
Analysis
Merlin tests Ransom’s knowledge to prove that he does in fact serve the Oyéresu (the ruling eldils of the planets). The other residents of the Manor fall asleep in Merlin’s presence, and when Jane, Denniston, and Dimble return, Ransom and Merlin are gone. They wake their sleeping associates, and the Company finds Merlin with Ransom, who is robed and without his crutch. Merlin regards Jane as a sinner because she and Mark were prophesied to beget a child who could defeat the enemy, but the time in which the child could be conceived is past. Ransom tells the Company that Merlin is on their side.
Merlin’s remark to Jane represents reductive and outdated views of women, since it implies the best thing Jane could do for the world is have a baby. She has failed to assume the role of mother, so she now must work to salvage her role as a wife. At the same time, Jane’s prophetic powers have served the Company on multiple occasions, and those powers are Jane’s strength as an individual. Nevertheless, neither Ransom nor the narrative contradicts Merlin’s claim that Jane has sinned by not giving birth to the prophesied savior.
Themes
At Belbury, Frost and Wither decide to have Straik and Mark try to communicate with the tramp. The following day, Dimble and Mrs. Dimble discuss the difficulty of explaining modern life to Merlin. Dimble reflects that as time passes, things become more as they are; “good” itself gets better and “bad” gets worse, and neutrality disappears. He adds that Merlin is the opposite of the N.I.C.E., a being at one with tradition and nature.
Dimble reiterates what Denniston realized on the search for Merlin: that Merlin is a symbol of the righteousness of tradition that contrasts the N.I.C.E., a symbol of the perils of modernization. Dimble also addresses the question of moral nuance or gray areas, asserting that these gray areas are diminishing over time.
Themes
Merlin promises to help Ransom, but he requests time to reacquaint himself with the Wood. Ransom tells Merlin that the land has changed, and that nature has lost its soul. The Company can’t wage a direct war against the N.I.C.E. because their numbers are small, the press manipulates the public, and Christians are divided. Merlin offers to awaken nature and to heal Ransom’s wound, but Ransom refuses. He tells Merlin about his adventures on Malacandra and Perelandra (Mars and Venus), and Merlin realizes that Ransom’s claim to serve the eldils is not a figure of speech. The wizard pledges service to Ransom.
Ransom is one of the most powerful forces for good on Earth, being in direct communication with eldils and commanding loyalty from Merlin himself. Yet even Ransom can’t restore Britain to its former glory. Industrialization has robbed nature of its power, while propaganda and deception by the press and religious leaders prevent the public from seeing the truth.
Themes
