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Chapter 2
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
At the N.I.C.E.’s temporary headquarters, Feverstone introduces Mark to the N.I.C.E.’s Deputy Director John Wither, who avoids Mark’s questions about what his new position will entail. After several attempts, Mark gives up this line of questioning, afraid that he will lose the sense of trust and companionship he has found. Mark is further confused when Feverstone and Wither leave him without directing him to an office.
The conversations among Mark’s colleagues at Bracton College made clear that the N.I.C.E. presents itself to outsiders in a vague and confusing way on purpose, perhaps to create a false sense of trust. Mark’s introduction to the N.I.C.E. is confusing and disorienting, which increases his insecurities and makes him more desperate to earn approval from Feverstone and Wither.
Themes
Mark encounters William Hingest, a Fellow of Bracton who works for the N.I.C.E. Hingest tells Mark that the N.I.C.E. would have compelled Bracton to sell Bragdon Wood no matter what the Fellows decided at the College Meeting. He reveals that he is leaving the N.I.C.E. that night, and he advises Mark to do the same. The conversation is interrupted by other employees of the N.I.C.E., who confuse Mark with conversation full of acronyms and references he doesn’t understand. One man encourages Mark to endear himself to Wither and the head of the N.I.C.E.’s police, whom he calls “the Fairy.”
Hingest speaks to Mark clearly and honestly, in contrast to the continuing confusion that other members of the N.I.C.E. throw at him. This hints that Mark should trust Hingest and heed his warnings to escape the N.I.C.E. while he can, but Mark is still too desperate to be included in the exclusive in-group to heed Hingest’s warning.
Themes
Meanwhile, Jane visits Miss Ironwood at her home on St. Anne’s-on-the-Hill. A woman named Camilla Denniston brings Jane to Miss Ironwood, who matches the imposing woman from Jane’s dream. Jane awkwardly explains her dreams to Miss Ironwood, who assures Jane that there is nothing wrong with her. Miss Ironwood explains that Jane is descended from a man who saw the future in his dreams and that Jane has inherited the gift. Despite Jane’s protestations, Miss Ironwood insists that the prisoner in Jane’s dream, Alcasan, is real. The dream sheds light on a matter that Miss Ironwood and the Dimbles are already concerned with. Miss Ironwood warns Jane that her enemies and associates likely know about Jane’s gift and will want to use it. Jane, disturbed, goes home.
Jane seeks to carve a niche for herself in the world of academia, which she sees as objective, atheistic, and masculine. Miss Ironwood emerges as a voice of reason, but at this point, Jane isn’t willing to embrace what Miss Ironwood has to say. This reflects Jane’s rejection of anything remotely supernatural or religious. The fact that Jane’s power is an ancestral one also speaks to the importance of tradition in the novel.
Themes
Mark has drinks with “the Fairy” Miss Hardcastle, who tells him about her many adventures and her belief in the importance of the N.I.C.E.’s private police force. She asserts that police restricted by the government can only punish criminals as much as they deserve, while the N.I.C.E.’s police help “treat” prisoners as long as necessary until they will benefit society. Later, Hingest once again expresses his misgivings about the N.I.C.E., but Miss Hardcastle pulls him away from Mark, and they don’t see each other again until they are leaving the headquarters.
Miss Hardcastle’s nickname “the Fairy” may be a reference to Morgan le Fey (Morgan the Fairy), a sorceress from Arthurian legend who is often at odds with Arthur and Merlin. This allusion hints that the N.I.C.E. is in opposition to magic and anything connected to King Arthur—such as Bragdon Wood.
Themes
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Jane travels home from St. Anne’s, reflecting on her resentment of Mark for reducing her to the role of “wife” and her desire to have a full career before she has children. She arrives home, and these thoughts are interrupted by an alarmed phone call from Mrs. Dimble.
As Jane grapples with the introduction of magic into her life, her chief concern is still her identity as a woman. She finds the role of “wife” limiting, and because marrying Mark has placed her in that role, she resents him.
Themes
