Out of the Silent Planet Freyteg Triangle

1. Introduction:
The story begins with Elwin Ransom, a professor of philology, on a hiking trip in the English Midlands, knocking on the door of a cottage in an attempt to finding somewhere to sleep. He comes across an old cottage and asks the woman who lives there if he could stay the night. She told him he could if he went and picked up her son. Ransom goes and picks up her son, and finds that her son was with an old schoolmate of his, Devine, whom he does not like. Devine offers him a room, a meal, and a drink. Devine and his associate, Professor Weston, have different intentions. Weston is a scientist and has discovered a way to travel in space and the two men need another person to take with them on their journey. The two men drugged Ransom's drink and before he could escape he is hit on the head and loses consciousness. When Ransom awakes he finds himself on a space ship traveling through space to the planet Malacandra.

2. Initial Conflict:
While on the journey Ransom overhears Weston and Devine talking about whether they should again drug Ransom before they turn him over to the inhabitants of Malacandra, the sorns, or allow him to stay conscious. Ransom decides to escape as soon as he gets a chance.

3. Reversal:
When they land on the planet, Ransom runs off. Ransom runs into an intelligent native of Malacandra, a hross named Hyoi. He stays for several months at Hyoi's village, where he uses his philological skills to find out about their culture and learn their language. He also discovers that Devine's motivation for making the journey is to seek gold, known as sun's blood to the hrossa, because there is a lot of it on Malacandra. On a hunt for the hnakra, the most dangerous predator on the planet, Ransom is told that he needs to meet Oyarsa, the eldil in charge of the planet.

4. Climax:
Ransom meets Oyarsa. They have a long conversation. While the two are talking, Devine and Weston are brought in guarded by hrossa because they have killed three hrossa.

5. Peripetia:
Oyarsa becomes furious with Weston and Devine and tells them they must go back to earth. Oyarsa offered Ransom the option to stay in Malacandra, but Ransom decided that he does not belong there. He likes Malancandra, but he misses earth. After a difficult journey back, the ship finally makes it back to Earth.

6. Falling Action:
Ransom wonders if all of this was true or if he was dreaming because the ship "unbodied" when they landed on earth. A friend wrote him and asked him and asked him if he had heard of the latin word "Oyarsa" and he knew what it meant. He then believed that the trip really did happen and now his mission was to stop Weston from doing anything else evil.

Conflicts in Out of the Silent Planet

In class on Monday, we discussed five types of conflict: Man v. Man, Man v. Self, Man v. Nature, Man v. Society, and Man v. God/Fate. In my novel, Out of the Silent Planet, most of of these conflicts are introduced. Man v. Man is illustrated in my book when Ransom fights against Weston and Divine. Man v. Self is demonstrated when Ransom treks across this strange world and finds the courage to save not only an alien race, but also his own soul. Man v. Nature is introduced when Ranson runs off when the three reach Malacandra. He wanders around, finding many differences between earth and Malacandra, such as that all the lakes, streams, and rivers are warm, the gravity is significantly less, and the plants and mountains are strangely tall and thin. Man v. society is portrayed when he runs into an intelligent native of Malacandra, a hross named Hyoi. He becomes a guest at Hyoi's village for several months, where he uses his philoligical skills to learn the langauge of the Hrossa and finds out about their culture. Man v. Society is also demonstrated when he has to battle evil on this new world. Man v. God/Fate is demonstrated when he overcomes his fear and comes to fate.

The Empire Strikes Back Final Thoughts

I wasn't in class for the movie on Monday, but I have seen this film a zillions times before. After finishing the film, I am still left with many unanswered questions. Would Luke continue training with Yoda? Who did Leia really love, Luke or Han? Was Vader really Luke's father, as he claimed? I still believe that "The Empire Strikes Back" is the most imaginative and emotionally connectable "Star Wars" film.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

I consider the Empire Strikes Back the best of the Star Wars films. The film is set three years ago after the destruction of the Death Star. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker are pursued by Darth Vader and the forces of the Galactic Empire. Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda, while Han and Leia are chased across the galaxy by the Empire. Darth Vader secretly plots a trap for Luke that leads to a vicious confrontation. The script and directing gave more personality and depth shadings to the characters, and the effects were better than the first films. We get a much more interesting version of Luke as he continues his journey to becoming a full Jedi. Yoda is a good addition to the plot. Some themes that are developed in this series are power, good vs. evil, love is blind, loyalty-friendship, and obsession. It has a cliffhanger ending because it concludes with so many unanswered questions. Would Luke continue training with Yoda? Who did Leia really love, Luke or Han? Was Vader really Luke's father, as he claimed?

Out of the Silent Planet

I am reading Out of the Silent Planet. This book relates to faith in that a man explores a new world and overcomes fear and comes to faith. The eldila, who work for Oyarsa as messengers and maintainers of the planet, are meant to be angels. Oyarsa is the more powerful angel. Maleldil the Young, Oyarsa's superior, symbolizes Jesus. The "Old one, the creator of Mars, is God the Father. The underlying spiritual message is a rather complex exploration of just what evil is, where it comes from, and what a world without it might be like.

Out of the Silent Planet

The story begins...

Elwin Ransom, a professor of philology, is on a hiking trip in the English Midlands and is looking for somewhere to sleep. He comes across an old cottage and asks the woman who lives there if he could stay the night. She told him he could if he went and picked up her son. Ransom goes and picks up her son, and finds that her son was with an old schoolmate of his, Devine, whom he dislikes. Devine offers him a room, a meal, and a drink. Devine and his associate, Professor Weston, have different intentions. Weston is a scientist and has discovered a way to travel in space and the two men need another person to take with them on their journey. The two men drugged Ransom's drink and before he could escape he is hit on the head and loses consciousness. When Ransom awakes he finds himself on a ship traveling through space to the planet Malacandra. So far my book is very suspenseful. I can't wait to read on and find out what's going to happen next!

My reaction on "The Star"

For the most part I understood the main gist of the story. Discussing it further in class helped to clear up some things that I didn't initially understand. I'm not surprised if many people take offense to this story: It is questioning the fact whether God exists or not. If this were a true story, I'm sure you'd find people questioning their faith like the Jesuit Priest. Then again, I also believe this controvery would be a true test of their faith. I'm not going to lie, I thought twice about this controversy. I guess you could say I questioned my own faith. I keep reminding myself that this is only science fiction, although I find this story to be very compelling and persuasive. I believe in God, but I don't take religion very seriously. I should take it more seriously though. Maybe if I were more educated about religion, my reaction towards this story would be completely different. I do believe everything happens for a reason though. The bottom line is to stand up for what you believe in and take pride in it. If you strongly believe in something, you will strive to do your best and never give up.

The Star

I was absent the day the initial post was assigned on this matter, but I quickly skimmed the story before we discussed it the next day in class. This is what I got from it...
"The Star" is a short science fiction story that raises the issue of science vs. religion. I found this story hard to follow at first, but after carefully re-reading it I got the gist of it. It is very detailed and the author's choice of vocabulary is quite challenging. I didn't grasp the underlying message of the story until the very end, in the last couple paragraphs. "The Star" is about a group of scientists who discover a planet that was once the stomping ground of human civilization. It appears that a supernova completely destroyed the planet and took the lives of many intelligent human beings. Amongst the group, there is a Jesuit Priest who is alarmed by what they found. He wonders why God would do this to so many people and wonders if the supernova that appeared thousands of years ago was the light that was shone above Bethlehem when Baby Jesus was born. All of this makes him question his own faith. Did God cause the Supernova to inform everyone that his son was born? OR Did the star just blow up and the existence of God is unreal? It's up to you to decide...