Out of the Silent Planet

Devine leads Ransom into a disorganized room whose clutter displays “a strange mixture of luxury and squalor” (17) and goes to procure drinks. As he waits, Ransom reflects on his history with Devine at Cambridge. Although he once admired the man, he quickly grew tired of Devine’s “ready-made” personality, which consists largely of shallow parodies and clichés. Despite lacking any distinctive charisma or talent, Devine was mysteriously elected to the Leicester fellowship after leaving Cambridge and has since amassed wealth of unknown origins.

Devine re-enters the room with a bottle of whisky. As he pours, he questions Ransom about the walking tour, particularly interested in whether anyone knows where Ransom is. Ransom admits that no one is overly concerned with his whereabouts. Devine notices that the whisky bottle is empty and goes to the scullery to fill Ransom’s glass with water instead. On returning, he explains that he and Weston are working together—Devine is putting some of his wealth toward Weston’s experiments, which he describes as “all straight stuff—the march of progress and the good of humanity and all that, but [with] an industrial side” (19). As Devine speaks, Ransom finds his words increasingly unintelligible. Ransom begins experiencing hallucinations and suddenly sees himself in a bright, walled-in garden with Weston and Devine. Beyond the garden wall lies a vast darkness. Weston and Devine insist on climbing over the wall. As Ransom reluctantly hoists himself up to follow them, a door opens in the wall, and a group of “the queerest people [Ransom] had ever seen” (20) escort Weston and Devine back into the garden.

Ransom regains consciousness in time to overhear Weston and Devine arguing. Devine exclaims that Ransom will serve their purpose just as well as Harry, but they must get him “on board” as soon as possible. Weston disagrees, insisting that Harry was perfect because he was “incapable of serving humanity and only too likely to propagate idiocy” (21), but Devine counters that Harry’s disappearance would have caused a disturbance, while no one will come looking for Ransom. Noticing that their captive is coming to, Devine leaves to get another dose of sedative. Sensing his chance, Ransom throws himself at Weston’s feet, knocking him down. He runs through the hall and to the front door, but before he can open it, he is knocked unconscious from behind.

Ransom awakens to find himself lying in bed in a dark room with a pounding headache. Heat is emanating from the walls, and a skylight above the bed displays a multitude of stars “dreamlike in clarity, blazing in perfect darkness” (23). Moments later, an unnaturally massive full moon appears in the skylight, illuminating the small room. Ransom wonders if whatever substance Weston and Devine drugged him with has affected his eyesight, because all of the room’s walls seem to slope outward, creating the feeling that he is lying in a wheelbarrow. When he tries to rise from the bed, his body goes flying toward the ceiling, and his head crashes into the skylight.

Gaining a sense of his surroundings, Ransom notes that the room is “walled and floored with metal” (25) and is vibrating constantly. He discerns that he is in a kind of airship, a realization that causes him to oscillate between excitement and fear. As the moon grows ever-larger, he suddenly remembers that “he had walked from Nadderby in a moonless night” (25), so the bright sphere looming in the skylight cannot be the moon. Weston enters the room. Gripped with terror, Ransom demands to know what the huge orb is. Weston responds that it is the Earth.