Out of the Silent Planet: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

That night, Ransom sleeps in a guest house and reflects on the easy peace between all three Malacandrian species. The jokes he had heard during the evening’s dinner made no sense to him, but seemed to please sorn, pfifltrigg, and hross equally. He sleeps, and then wakes early the next morning to the voice of an eldil telling him that Oyarsa has requested his presence. Ransom rises obediently and feels nervous, as before an interview, but not afraid.

Ransom follows his instincts to the center of the island amid the grove of golden flowers. He sees that the stone avenue is lined with beings of all three Malacandrian species, and he walks to the center of the stones with a sinking heart as the hnau all stare at him. Ransom stops in the center, noticing that the stones are covered with eldila that he still cannot quite see. His mouth goes dry at the thought of giving his testimony to this audience.

All the gathered hnau rise and bow their heads as Oyarsa walks up to the avenue of stones. Ransom has no words to describe the figure coming towards him, a solid being made of pure light. The figure stops ten feet from Ransom, then asks Ransom why he is so afraid. Ransom answers honestly that he is afraid of Oyarsa and the fact that he cannot really see Oyarsa. Oyarsa responds that he cannot properly see hnau either, but that they both have much in common as beings made in the image of Maleldil.

Oyarsa tells Ransom that he was the one who sent the sorns that met Ransom his first day on Malacandra, as well as the hnakra to try to bring Ransom to Meldilorn. Oyarsa regrets that Ransom did not listen and only followed Oyarsa’s orders after his friend Hyoi died. Ransom is surprised that Oyarsa was the one who sent for him and asks for the reason. Oyarsa responds that he sent his servants into the heavens to watch for Ransom as he came in the spaceship. Ransom wonders out loud how any being could survive in space, but Oyarsa informs him that space is the true home of the eldila. The only place that is a mystery to the eldila is Thulcandra, the silent planet of Earth.

Oyarsa explains that Earth was not always cut off from the heavens, but that the oyarsa of Earth became “bent” many years ago and tried to spoil all the other planets, even causing the desolation of the ancient forests on Malacandra. A great war began and Maleldil drove Earth’s oyarsa, the Bent One, back to Earth and bound him there to the planet. Maleldil continues to wrestle with the Bent One on Earth, but none of the other oyarsas know how the fight is going.

Ransom tells Oyarsa that he was kidnapped and brought here by very bent men, full of evil and fear. Oyarsa is aghast that any hnau would bring another of their kind by force. Ransom asks again why Oyarsa wanted him, and Oyarsa tells of how humans first arrived on Malacandra ten years ago and started a settlement. Oyarsa sent a few sorns to greet the humans but the humans proved hostile and afraid. Oyarsa wanted a human to come to him to explain what they were doing on Malacandra, but did not understand that the humans would be so bent as to expect that Oyarsa wanted a human sacrifice. Oyarsa laments the time and effort the humans wasted in going back to Earth and kidnapping Ransom, when they could have made a short journey to Meldilorn and received free rein of Malacandra.

Oyarsa has two questions for Ransom: First, why the humans have come to Malacandra, and second, how the war between Maleldil and the Bent One is going on Thulcandra. Ransom answers the first by explaining that some humans care only for the gold on Malacandra, while other humans want to destroy the hnau of Malacandra and make this planet another world for humans to live on. Oyarsa is confused that any species would think it could live forever, but Ransom explains that humans do not know the will of Maleldil and should be killed to stop the threat completely. Oyarsa proclaims it a terrible thing to kill someone else’s hnau, and assures Ransom that the eldila can handle any evil Weston and Devine attempt.

Oyarsa asks Ransom again for news of the battle on Thulcandra. Ransom cannot answer, unsure if he can say anything about what happened with the ancient Bent One before humanity even began. Oyarsa apologizes, remembering that the hnau have much shorter lifespans and are easily scared by large numbers. As Ransom tries to speak about what he does know of Earth now, he is interrupted by the arrival of a large party of hrossa.