Perception Should Not be Reality; CS Lewis Critique of Totalitarianism: By Gavin Sapontzis
Merlin, the magician, grounded in his nature, uses his abilities to confuse the members of a totalitarian society called NICE at the banquet at Belbury. Merlin attempts to save the human race from this society by creating odd languages, similar to that of The Tower of Babel. In That Hideous Strength, resistance to the totalitarianism of NICE comes from those people grounded in the natural order that Lewis called the Tao, therefore illustrating how for Lewis a larger context of life in nature enables people to find truth outside what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called “the permanent lie.” Lewis uses The Abolition of Man to explain the Tao, or a natural law that gives all people an objective value and explanation of right and wrong. In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn explains “the permanent lie” as a fake reality that people must accept to be right even when they know it is wrong. Attempts of totalitarianism have happened in the past, such as Nazi Germany, and prevention is crucial because of the risk of terror and anguish upon human society.
Despite Sociologist Mark Studduck in CS Lewis’ The Abolition of Man’s love of the town of Cure Hardy, he must write a report about how much he dislikes it. Mark joined a new group of people referred to as NICE (National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments) and must write a report about the miniscule bad elements to the town therefore distancing himself from the tao. On his trip to visit Cure Hardy, Mark says, “ Mark was not as a rule very sensitive to beauty, but Jane and his love for Jane had already awakened him a little in this respect. Perhaps, the winter morning sunlight affected him all the more because he had never been taught to regard it as specially beautiful and it therefore worked on his senses without interference.” (Lewis 75). Mark shows that there is a universal beauty, just as there is a universal truth. Mark is violating the love of beauty and place through his propaganda and biased report despite knowing quite well how beautiful the place truly is. Similarly, Roger Scruton wrote about how important “oikophilia” or defense and love of one’s home. Despite the love of place by Mark, he is not defending his community. In Scruton’s How to Think Seriously about the Planet he declares, “That is why oikophilia leans naturally in the direction of history and the conservation of the past: not from nostalgia, but from a desire to live as an enduring consciousness among things that endure. The true spirit of conservation sees the past not as a commercialized ‘heritage’, but as a living inheritance, something that lasts because it lives in me.” (Scruton 234). Scruton explains the importance of history in his term of oikophilia, relating to the importance of respecting the tao. Mark is willing to destroy this beautiful community that his wife is attached to because he fears losing his place in NICE.
NICE plans to destroy the town of Cure Hardy and make a model village less than five miles away. The organization wants to do this because they want to control the village and all aspects. The novel states, ““That’s another advantage. We build a new model village (it’s to be called Jules Hardy or Wither Hardy) four miles away. Over here, on the railway.” (Lewis 73). These aspects include how people think, feel, and right from wrong. These people who determine right and wrong are similar to the conditioners as discussed in The Abolition of Man. Lewis explains in the text, “They are, if you like, men who have sacrificed their own share in traditional humanity in order to devote themselves to the task of deciding what ‘Humanity’ shall henceforth mean. ‘Good’ and ‘bad’, applied to them, are words without content: for it is from them that the content of these words is henceforward to be derived.” (Lewis 32). This explains how through the “ideal society” NICE can control the people in whatever way they choose. They can brainwash and use other tactics in order to get their way. They will use whatever it takes to get what they want. Similarly, the totalitarian government in The Gulag Archipelago tries to force individuals to follow the rules. Many people are murdered and taken by the blue caps because of this. Blue caps are the police type force that get to decide who lives and who is a traitor. For example in the text it states, “Once it was established that charges had to be brought at any cost and despite everything, threats, violence, tortures became inevitable.” (Peterson 41). This quote examines how the model villages can be similar to those in Russia during this time period. They are both being forced to live and complete tasks while surviving the totalitarian society. The bluecaps and the conditioners were very similar in the fact that they could decide what was right and what was wrong. This moves them away from the tao and forces them to create a “permanent lie” as explained later in The Gulag Archipelago.
Mark decides to lie to his wife, Jane, when he returns to his home after a few days with the men from NICE. Mark shows his beginnings of the ideology of the members of NICE and other totalitarian societies because of his willingness to convince himself of the lies he creates. Lewis writes, “You will quite misunderstand him if you think he was consciously inventing a lie. Almost involuntarily, as the picture of himself entering the flat, and of Jane’s questioning face, arose in his mind, there arose also the imagination of his own voice answering her, hitting off the salient features of Belbury in amusing, confident phrases. This imaginary speech of his own gradually drove out of his mind the real experiences he had undergone. Those real experiences of misgivings and of uneasiness, indeed, quickened his desire to cut a good figure in the eyes of his wife. Almost without noticing it, he had decided not to mention the affair of Cure Hardy; Jane cared for old buildings and all that sort of thing” (Lewis 77). Mark convinces himself so thoroughly that his imaginary speech is true, that he loses sight of what is truly right. This loss of sight is a loss of the Tao. The Tao is a doctrine of values that show everyone a right from a wrong. CS Lewis explains the Tao through a textbook written by two men called Gaius and Titius. These authors were trying to use their own moral code to try and teach young kids in the textbook. The two authors do not believe that personal value statements should be used. Lewis rejects this because if everyone had a different moral code and was subjective we would move further away from the Tao.
After Mark succumbed to the pressure of the “inner circle” and wrote false articles about the disturbances at Edgestow. Using emotional connection is a very powerful manipulation tactic. Mark disregarded his morals and integrity due to a fear of isolation. Mark demonstrated the “permanent lie” when he stated, “This was the first thing Mark had been asked to do which he himself, before he did it, clearly knew to be criminal.” (Lewis 116). Despite this recognition of it being illegal he followed through because of the intimate laughter and relationship he felt he was building with the inner circle. Similarly, in Solzehnitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, he discusses the idea of the permanent lie. In Russia, the only safe way to live was to lie. All books, phrases and essays were made to follow through with this. Everyone was being watched at all times to make sure the permanent lie would follow through. Solzhenistyn states, “Whether giving in to fear, or influenced by material self-interest or envy, people can’t nonetheless become stupid so swiftly. Their souls may be thoroughly muddied, but they still have a sufficiently clear mind.” (Solzhenitsyn 325). Mark muddies his mind when he follows through with his work. He gives in to fear of not being liked by the members of NICE and writes the propaganda that hurts society. Giving in to the permanent lie is the only way Mark can save his job at the company, and we soon later find out the only way to save his life.
Mark does not resist totalitarianism and disobeys the Tao when he makes his decision to write the propaganda for the NICE. Without the tao man can lose control of itself. In the Abolition of Man it is described as, “The Chinese also speak of a great thing (the greatest thing) called the Tao. It is the reality beyond all predicates, the abyss that was before the Creator Himself.” When man loses sight of the tao it becomes subjective to the group in charge. This is shown through the “inner circle” throughout the novel. Similarly in The Gulag Archipelago, The Bluecaps succumb to the pressure of the Russian government by putting faultless people in jail for crimes they did not commit. Solzehnitsyn states, ”They understood that the cases were fabricated, yet they kept on working year after year. How could they? Either they forced themselves not to think (and this in itself means the ruin of a human being), and simply accepted that this was the way it had to be and that the person who gave them their order was always right…” (Solzhenitsyn 67). Bluecaps accepted what they had to do because they are willing to survive at any price and only material results matter, both of which are major topics relating to totalitarianism. Solzhenitsyn continues by saying, “Interspersed with our thoughts about our future camp, we now love to recall our past: How well we used to live! (Even if we lived badly.) But how many unused opportunities there were! When will we now make up for it? If I only manage to survive–oh how differently, how wisely, I am going to live! The day of our future release? It shines like a rising sun! And the conclusion is: Survive to reach it! Survive! At any price!” (Solzhenitsyn 302). These leaders of totalitarian groups use their power to convince themselves that they will lose something if they don’t act the wrong way. Therefore, they lose their conscience because they are afraid of losing their life. Lewis also explains how surviving at any price means at the price of someone else. The price of Mark surviving with NICE, was the people of Edgestow.
NICE tried to control the outcome of the disturbances at Edgestow by having the papers written the night before it happened. “Stepping outside the Tao, they have stepped into the void.… Man’s final conquest has proved to be the abolition of Man.” (Lewis 77). Lewis believed that the innovators of new technology would eventually become known as conditioners. These conditioners could change the tao in any way they’d like and control the outcome of humanity. The conditioners CS Lewis talks about in The Abolition of Man are very similar to the NICE in That Hideous Strength. In this way, they can make sure they get control and dominance over this town. Every advance of man can weaken man because it leads individuals away from the Tao. They act like they are advancing mankind in order to gain more personal power and opportunity. Lewis does not believe that the conditioners are good or bad. This is because they get to decide what is good or bad from then on. This is Lewis’ idea of the abolition of man.
Many of the characters are excited when discussing their plan to start the disturbances at Edgestow. The tone of this part of the novel is a bit eerie and exciting because Mark opposes the natural order. In the text it states, “Mark glanced in bewilderment from her face to Feverstone’s. The latter doubled himself up with laughter and Mark, almost automatically, gave a jocular turn to his own bewilderment. “I think the penny hasn’t dropped, Fairy,” he said. “You surely didn’t imagine,” grinned Feverstone, “that the Fairy left the initia- That Hideous Strength 115 tive with the natives?” “You mean she herself is the Disturbance?” said Mark. “Yes, yes,” said Filostrato, his little eyes glistening above his fat cheeks.” (Lewis 114-115). Lewis uses his description to show how what they are doing brings them happiness. By the use of laughter and glistening faces, the NICE members are excited about what they are doing.
In That Hideous Strength, resistance to the totalitarianism of NICE comes from those people grounded in the natural order that Lewis called the Tao, therefore illustrating how for Lewis a larger context of life in nature enables people to find truth outside what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called “the permanent lie.” Society has experienced multiple different totalitarianistic societies in recent years. Today, countries such as North Korea and Iran are thought to still have this. In order to prevent it, it is important to understand how it occurs and what shows examples of how it can exist. In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn gives first hand accounts of how detrimental the effects of totalitarian regimes are on a society. They prevent the right of thinking between all people. He emphasizes how wrong his country is and explains the changes that need to be made. Freedom of thought is crucial to all people especially at a young age. Making sure kids are not reading and being taught propaganda ridden textbooks can benefit all.