Michael Hemmer: The Fight with The Un-man and Proper Hatred (Perelandra Chapter 12 Part 2)

 In many ways, Ransoms fight with the Un-man is the climax of Perelandra, in which the two finally face off and fight for the future of the planet. Ironically, the high and mighty philosophical fight that was fought for most of the book boils down to a slugfest between two aging academics. In the same vein, I don't think Ransom could have won if he had not been egged on by the Un-man and later in the fight, given the gift of proper hatred. The fight starts with a strife from Ransom, but is quickly followed by a brief verbal assault by the Un-man. The Un-man boasts of his victories over the years, referring to many great tragedies of Earth, culminating in his statement of "hideous parody"; "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!" or in english, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!". By this of course Ransom solidifies his recognition of the demon at the core of the Un-man. Of course this is perceived by Ransom as a lie on 2 fronts. The first being the distorted context by which the quote is presented by the Un-man. Yes these were the words spoken from the cross, but these words and Jesus' last words "it is finished" are the first and last lines respectively of Psalm 22 , which demonstrates that this anguished cry was not one of distrust or misunderstanding, but rather one of faith and prophetic fulfillment. The second lie is revealed in that the Un-man viewed this statement as a victory, when in reality this moment in the Christian mythos was one of ultimate defeat and a sealing of the fate of all demonic forces. However, it is with this statement that the Un-man and Ransom begin their fight. 

    The second vital moment in the fight occurs largely internally within Ransom as he experiences "a torrent of perfectly unmixed and lawful hatred." (Page 139, emphasis added) Ransom gets a second win as he experiences and realizes that the Un-man can lawfully and perfectly hated. On Earth, there can be no proper application of hatred to any being. However in this instance, the Un-man is a person of perfect hatred. Ransom even goes so far as to say that he felt joy from "finding at last what hatred was made for." This again steels Ransoms resolve and allows him to beat the Un-man into fleeing, which begins a pursuit carried into the next chapter. 

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