Perelandra Symbolism

Reading Lewis' fiction for an older audience was a really interesting experience.  Perelandra is something of a sci-fi, the second book in a trilogy.  It is a re-telling of the fall of man, similar to Dante's journey.  While it was difficult to get into at first (mostly to orient myself with this new style), I really liked it.  Until I enrolled in this C.S. Lewis class I had no idea that he published adult fiction, yet, Perelandra has many of the same things that I've seen in his other works, like The Chronicals of Narnia.

There are countless symbols that Lewis uses in Perelandra, but I thought I would note a few of my own thoughts and some that we mentioned in our class discussion:

Ransom- A Christ figure, his name being significant of that.  He is someone we can relate to as well, helping us see what we need to do to be Christ-like in our own ways.  In class we also learned that Ransom was based on J.R.R. Tolkien.

Perelandra- Or Venus, is basically the Garden of Eden in an unfallen world.

Maledil- God in this story.  At times he lets the characters grow and develop on their own by staying behind the scenes.

Then Green Lady- An Eve figure, has never heard of evil, and is the victim of potential temptation

"The Bent One"- Satan, the fallen angel who has influence over Weston.

Weston- Not Satan, but a form of evil who falls under Satan's influence.  In a way he is like the snake who tempts Eve in Eden.  He is not like the Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, and is generally kind of stupid until he enters into debate.  He never appears to sleep, much like sin.  Weston is overcome by pride in the end.

Fixed Land- represents temptation, the forbidden fruit.  It is more about obedience than anything, and the geography is significant.  The waves surrounding it represent God's own plan and intentions.

Cave- While there can be many things to draw from the cave, to me it seemed like the fact that this was a struggle away from the surface showed this ongoing fight between good and evil, that is always there, but not always visible on the surface.  The good won in the end though.  The entire scene is a descent and assent, symbolizing the resurrection and baptism. 

Red Lilies- Easter lilies near the tomb/spaceship, representing the resurrection.  The flowers are red because of the atonement and sacrifice that Ransom performed.

The Mountain- As in the case in many instances in scripture, the mountain here represents a temple, or a sacred space.

Eldila- Literally are angels, while other characters in the story are just representations.

The Sea Voyage- baptism, and renewal.

Ransom's Wounds- Ransom has a wound that will not heal while he is on Perelandra, representing the wounds of Christ that help Him and us to always remember that sacrifice.  It is a scriptural reference in Geneses as well, that Ransom's heal is bruised and the serpents head is crushed.  Lewis definitely used this intentionally.

There are many more symbols, but these were the ones I found that were the most powerful.  I look forward to another class discussion to make sense of a few more.  There are so many! I feel like the symbolism in Perelandra is more "in your face" than any of the Narnia books.