That Hideous Strength - Ch 4 - The Liquidation of Anachronisms

The title gives away where this chapter heads.  The death (liquidation) of the old, or at least what is viewed as old-fashioned, out of place, and awkward.

When Ms. Dimble arrives at Jane's, she relates how a construction crew (under directions from the NICE - the National Institute for Co-Ordinated Experiments) arrived, who cut down all the trees around their house, and began to rip up their yard (the old).  They told the Dimbles they had no objection if they stayed in the house until 8 o'clock the next morning.  Meanwhile big trucks arrived along with tractor engines and a huge crane.  The Dimbles don't know what to do.  Ivy Maggs, Jane's part-time servant was also turned out of her home.  Jane assures Mother Dimble she can stay as long as she likes.

At night, Jane awakes Mother Dimble with shouting while dreaming.  Jane saw a man being killed by three others who beat him to death in a cool manner.  She found it horrid.

A mad parson?

At Belbury, Mark meets a minister, Reverand Straik (whom Bill the Blizzard had called the Mad Parson). Straik believes the NICE program must be carried out with violence, a shocker for Mark.  Straik repudiates the after-life, as well as all organized religion.  Instead, he interprets the gospel to mean Jesus wants us to bring about the Kingdom of God in the here and now, through the instrument of science, by ensuring that"every knee shall bow," which the NICE will carry out.  Straik believes himself a prophet (and in a way, he is revealing what the NICE is about).  Straik says Mark has no choice about being used by the NICE, for "no one goes out of the NICE.  Those who try to turn back will perish in the wilderness."

Mark notices his wallet has gone missing, and wonders what could have happened to it.

At a NICE Committee meeting, the Deputy Director, Withers announces that William Hingest (Bill the Blizzard) {old & old-fashioned} had been murdered, beaten by a blunt instrument, and found lying near his car about 4 in the morning, dead for several hours.  The good news was that the NICE police, led by Miss Hardcastle, were the first on the scene, and the local police and Scotland Yard were allowing them to take the lead in the case, and cooperating wonderfully.  A subdued round of applause followed.  After expressing regrets about Hingest's resolution to withdraw from the NICE, Withers delivered an obituary about his life, and then they observed a moment of silence (during which Mark heard a lot of odd creakings and breathings).

Jane enjoyed her morning with Mrs. Dimble.  She felt that since she "had it all out" with Miss Ironwood, the dreams would stop.  She wondered aloud why Ivy Maggs, her part-time servant hadn't showed up yet.  Mrs. Dimble said that since they took Ivy Maggs' home, and she no longer had a place to live in Edgestow, she would no longer be working for Jane, and she moved to St. Anne's, and had some sort of work there.

Murder by beating

Later in the day, Jane ran into Mr. Curry (the Sub-Warden at Bracton).  He informed her of the news of the murder of Mr. Hingest (Bill the Blizzard) in the middle of the night (small hours of the morning), with his body found badly beaten about the head.  Jane escaped into Blackie's for a cup of coffee.  The news shattered and sickened her.  It confirmed that her vision dreams had not ended - instead, she now believed she actually saw the murder of Hingest in her dream.  She felt powerless to stop these visions. They would drive her mad.  She didn't want to go back to Miss Ironwood and and the company at St. Anne's.  She felt they were somehow mixed up in this.  It was all so unfair - she simply wanted to be left alone.

Meanwhile, at the NICE in Belbury, a man named Crosser tells Mark they have a job to do - prepare a report on a village, Cure Hardy.  The NICE needs to redirect the Wynd river, which presently goes through Edgetow, through the village of Cure Hardy.  This will wipe out the village, which the NICE will rebuild as a new model village four miles away.  The report must list all the reasons this beauty spot must be got rid of.  It's unsanitary.  It has undesirables, small rentiers and agricultural labourers.  They will write the report first, and then go see the village {backwards, of course}.

A small British village

As they go the next day to Cure Hardy, he notices it's especially beautiful, something his love for Jane has awakened in him.  It made Mark feel like he was on holiday, since that was the only time he wandered English villages, which gave him pleasure.  Though he tried to look at it as a sociologist, he couldn't help but like the village. As they have lunch in a pub, Mark tries to express his finding that the village is pleasant.  Crosser dismisses this by saying that is the concern of someone else at the NICE.

Suddenly, Mark discovers that he thinks Curry is a bore, and he feels sick about the NICE.  He thinks he might chuck it and return to Bracton.  As they return, Curry drops Mark off in Edgetow, and he returns home to see Jane.  There is much they do not tell each other, and Jane feels that Mark isn't telling her everything about the NICE and Belbury, though he speaks confidently about them.  She worries whether he gave up his fellowship at Bracton, and he reassures he hasn't. (They are both young.)

Meanwhile, the Fellows at Bracton meet that evening over wine and desert.  They can hear the very noisy work by the NICE at Bragdon Woods, so that its difficult to carry on a conversation.  Lord Feverstone attends and informs Curry (the Sub-Warden) that Mark is not returning to Bracton, but he's not sure when he'll send a formal resignation. Feverstone regards this as good, since it means they can have someone lined up when the formal resignation comes through, and Feverstone already has someone in mind.  Curry is not so sure, but agrees to meet him once his calendar clears up after the Hingest funeral.

The noise outside gets louder, the floor starts shaking, they wonder if someone is being murdered, and finally, a splintering of the large glass window fell as a shower of stones fell on the floor.

Ch. 3 - Belbury and St. Anne's-on-the-Hill

Ch. 5 - Elasticity

Overview of That Hideous Strength

List of Characters