That Hideous Strength - Ch 11 - Battle Begun

Jane, Dimble, and Denniston try looking for what Jane saw in her dream about finding Merlin.  However, it's dark, it's raining, making it difficult to see out in Bragdon Woods.  Besides, it feels scary.  As they go tramping about the countryside, exploring hill and dale, they start to feel like they experience an Ancient Britain.  Jane began to think about her childhood religion, something she left long ago, and began to wonder if there was a deeper, truer religion she might need to face all this.  They think they see a man, but are not sure if he is simply a tramp in modern clothes.

Meanwhile, Fairy Hardcastle tries to convince Withers (the Deputy Director) to let her try to use her methods to get Mark to disclose Jane's location (though Mark doesn't know).  But Withers resists, saying the worst thing in this situation would be to use torture.  Even if this obtained Jane's location, and they brought her to Belbury, her shock at discovering Mark had been tortured might be enough to dislodge her gift, which would render her useless to them.  Professor Frost (with the nez-pince glasses) concurs.  They dismiss the Fairy and begin their own private conversation about this.  Frost reminds Withers that "the authorities had access to the woman's mind for only a very short time," inspecting only one of her dreams.  They (the authorities) warn that if Jane falls into the wrong hands, she could pose a grave danger to them.  Since then, they cannot read Jane's mind, which means she has fallen into enemy hands.  They agree they must induce Mark to bring his wife to Belbury, and they agree the best means of achieving this comes by inviting Mark into a deeper unity with their deepest inner circle.  As they discuss this, Withers and Frost sit so close that they finally embrace each other swaying to and fro.

During this conversation, Frost reveals that though Filostrato really believes they are keeping the Head (Alcasan's) alive, this is not the case.  (More about this later.)

They also reveal they are interested in Mark and Jane for eugenics purposes.

Meanwhile, Mark despairs of life, sitting in a cell, facing a charge of murder, and facing the death penalty.  It slowly begins to dawn on him he might be a Belbury.  He begins to believe all there are his enemies and he was a fool for every having trusted them.  He also began to clearly see his folly at always seeking inclusion in the most inner circle he could find.  He looked back upon his life with "disgust at its dreariness."

His thoughts turned to Jane.  He began to recognize what a deep person she truly was.  He began to think his death would be lucky for Jane since she would be free to someone worthy of her.

Finally, Professor Frost entered his cell, which confirmed to Mark he was at Belbury.  But Mark saw something about Frost he never noticed before - he appeared more frightening than death itself.

Ch. 10 - The Conquered City

Ch. 12 - Wet and Windy Night

Overview of That Hideous Strength

Character List

That Hideous Strength - Ch 10 - The Conquered City

The D. D. (Withers) asks Mark to an immediate meeting where Fairy Hardcastle appears.  There they inform him the NICE Police found his wallet (which Mark was missing) about five yards from the dead body of Hingest (Bill the Blizzard).  Withers talks about how fortunate the NICE Police made this discovery instead of the regular police, since he views the NICE as one big, happy family.  Mark finds offense at this, since he knows he was nowhere near Hingest, and suspects someone in the NICE not only pilfered his wallet, but planted it near Hingest, so they could hold it over him, and thereby manipulate him (with the implicit threat of taking this to the regular police if he resists.  At first he protests, but then realizes its better to play along and express his gratitude that the NICE Police made this discovery (instead of the regular police).  Mark then discovers their real aim is get him to bring Jane to Belbury to live with him.  He realizes he must warn Jane.

As soon as Mark can leave this meeting, he immediately leaves the NICE.  He encounters Withers outside, but when he strikes a blow, the shape mysteriously vanished.  As he began to leave Belbury, he begins to see signs that tell him refugees flee Edgestow (where the NICE was building its new facilities) because of the terror being established in the town - turned out of their houses, riots, and rule by the NICE Police.

Mark easily found an empty bus to Edgestow (since all the traffic headed out of it).  When he arrived, he found one house of three empty, half the shops boarded up, and large villas taken over with large placards with the NICE symbol in front.  NICE Police were everywhere, along with notices of EMERGENCY REGULATION.  Mark went into his home, but clearly Jane had not been there for quite some time.  He noticed an unmailed letter from Jane to Mrs. Dimble, and Mark figured Jane went to stay with the interfering Dimbles (whom he didn't like).

Mark went to see Prof. Dimble, and demanded to know where Jane was, but Dimble refuses, for Jane's safety.  Mark doesn't understand.  Dimble explains the NICE Police tortured Jane.  Mark still believes the story the NICE Police told him that this didn't happen and is evidence Jane suffers from a nervous breakdown.  Dimble corrects him by informing that a doctor, who dressed the burns, thinks otherwise.

Painting of the Fall of Constantinople,
by Theophilos Hatzimihail (1932)
(A conquered and occupied city)

Mark asks - why didn't Dimble go to the ordinary police about this? Dimble replies there are no ordinary police left over in Edgestow, everything is ruled by the Emergency Commissioner, Lord Feverstone.  Effectively, Edgestow has become a "conquered and occupied city."

While Mark tries to insist on his right to know Jane's whereabouts as her husband, Dimble points out that he is a high ranking NICE official, and for now, the NICE presents a real threat to the safety of Jane.

Dimble offers to rescue Mark from the NICE, but Mark hesitates, delays, and eventually leaves Dimble.  Outside, the ordinary police arrest Mark for the murder of Bill Hingest.

Merlin

Dimble goes back to St. Anne's, and while eating dinner, the Director tells him he must go back out because of the most recent dream of Jane.  She dreamed about a long tunnel with a very gradual ascent with an entrance under a heap of stone that would lead them Merlin (whom she had dreamed about before).  The Director deduces the NICE have not yet found Merlin (whom they are looking for) and this is the one chance they have to find him first.

MacPhee (the resident atheist or agnostic) tries to argue he should go, but the Director decides otherwise.  Only Dimble knows the "Great Tongue," and the Director tells him what he should say, and asks him to repeat it.  As he does, Jane heart leaps, while everything else in the room suddenly quiets.  The narrator tells us this is the language before the Fall and beyond the Moon.

As the others take a break before setting out, the Director asks Jane if she is in obedience to Maleldil (God).  Jane says she doesn't know Meleldil yet, but she places herself in obedience to the Director, to which he replies that is enough for the present.

Ch. 9 - The Saracen's Head

Ch. 11 - Battle Begun

Overview of "That Hideous Strength"

Character List

That Hideous Strength - Ch 9 - The Saracen's Head

Medieval Europeans used the word Saracen to describe a Muslim.  (If you recall from Ch. 1, Alcasan, beheaded for poisoning his wife, was an Arabian radiologist - and could be referred to as a Saracen.)

Jane tells her latest dream to Grace Ironwood and the Director.  She saw a head floating before her - a face with a beard, nose, and eyes with colored glasses on.  The top of its removed skull boiled over with a great mass as though something inside had boiled over.  Then she realized the head did not actually float.  It was fixed on something with rubber tubes, bulbs, and little metal things hanging below it - with the tubes going into a wall.  It began an imitation of breathing, in a rhythmic - huff, huff, huff - and it dribbled at the mouth, but had no hands to wipe it.  It worked its mouth and licked its lips.  It seemed to Jane like a machine someone was getting into working order.

Then Jane saw three persons enter the room all dressed in white with masks on - walking extremely carefully.  She recognized the third person as her husband, Mark.  They bowed to it and it spoke to them in French, so that Jane didn't understand it well.  One of the three seemed to introduce Mark to it.  It said something to Mark, and Mark replied something about trying to do it in a few days if possible.  She could tell Mark couldn't stand it and was going to fall sick, but the others got him out of the room before that could happen.

A Council

Jane felt horror about the dream, to the point of nausea, as she realized Mark's real surroundings as associates.  The Director confirms Mark suffers, and they will try to rescue him.  He calls for a council, but says he must exclude Jane since some believe too much information could affect her dream abilities which they rely upon as a news source.

Meanwhile, Mark resolved he must bring Jane to Belbury, but not for whatever purpose NICE had in mind, but to save his life, which he now worries about after seeing the head artificially kept alive with air and saliva pumped from the next door room.  With his "modern" education, he has nothing else to fall back on.  But then he worried if she comes there - would they bring her before the Head?

Suddenly, Fairy Hardcastle appears.  She tries to convince Mark to sign a form which would allow the Fairy to bring Jane immediately to him at Belbury.  She argues otherwise she might be sent to an Asylum for accusing the Fairy of burning her with cigarettes.  Mark responds he must go home at once to talk with Jane about this.  He tries to see the Deputy Director to report his decision, but can't at first, and then later finds him in a trance-like mostly unresponsive state.  Mark leaves, but then finds the D.D. blocks his path outside, and walks back to Belbury, tired, with his eyes tear filled.

Back at St. Anne's, MacPhee (the resident skeptic) invites Jane into "his little room" - his office.  He mentions the Director is actually Ransom, a philologist.  Jane recognizes the name as the author of " Dialect and Semantics."  MacPhee relates skeptically the Director's story that he had been to Mars (Book 1 of the Space Trilogy - Out of the Silent Planet).  Jane believes it.

A depiction of Eldils

MacPhee relates, skeptically, the Director says he met eldils on Mars, not exactly Martians, who live in empty space and don't breathe, as he has been told - they alight on planets like birds on trees, except those on earth are hostile.  Again, MacPhee skeptically relates the Director claims to continuously receive communications from the eldils, those not on earth, who sent him to Venus (Book 2 of the Space Trilogy - Perelandra).  They informed the Director about a conspiracy against the human race.

Later, Jane talks with Camilla Denniston.  She asks why the Director looks so young.  Camilla replies that's because he returned from Perelandra (Venus), where Paradise still goes on, and those who return from there never age, never die - they eventually move onto the Deep Heaven.  She reveals him as the Pendragon of Logres.  (In the last chapter, I explained about the title of Pendragon.  As for Logres, it's an ancient name for England associated with the Arthurian legends.)

One map depicting ancient Logres

Later, the Director holds Council with those at St. Anne's.  He finds that Jane's dream reveals the NICE have "discovered a way of making themselves immortal," which they will call the next step in evolution.  MacPhee wants to know what the Director plans to do about it.  However, the Director says he never brought the company together, nor selected them.  Instead, he says he acts under the directions of the eldils, who somehow brought them all together, and will reveal their plan in their good time.

The Company tries to figure out why the NICE wanted Bragdon Woods.  They come to some conclusions.  It has something to do with the Arthurian legends where Merlin was buried, or at least fell asleep.  They wanted to join his ancient powers to their modern powers.  His ancient powers were not exactly magical, but somehow more profound than the powers we possess in the modern world.  It belonged to Numinor (which ties Lewis' world to Tolkien's, as well as to the Atlantis' legends).  Their combined powers would seek to subjugate Tellus (the ancient word for Earth).

Ch. 8 - Midnight at Belbury

Ch. 10 - The Conquered City

Overview of "That Hideous Strength"

Character List

That Hideous Strength - Ch 8 - Moonlight at Belbury

The Deputy Director (Wither) expresses his displeasure, diplomatically of course, to Fairy Hardcastle (the NICE Police Chief) about how she handled Mrs. Studdock (Mark's wife) [arrested and tortured her].  The Fairy replies that they all badly want Jane, and she had to take the chance, especially to try and find out the headquarters of the enemy, which she tried to press out of her before she lost her in the tumultuous crowd.  In any event, the Head of NICE summons the Fairy.

Meanwhile, Jane wakes up at St. Anne's with Ivy Maggs (her prior servant) serving her, but it all feels different now.  She begins to become acquainted with various people living at St. Anne's, several she knows, but it all seems different now.  Jane meets Mr. Bultitude and receives a shock to find he's a bear who lives there at peace with all.  All there support Jane, though a Mr. MacPhee doesn't believe in her dreams, because he says he insists on empirical evidence to support any beliefs.  Jane discovers much more about life at St. Anne's - and more about the Director, who has charitably taken in many there who have lost their homes.  Jane admits her puzzlement about the Director's views about marriage.  Mother Dimble admits its a lot of fuss "about something so simple and natural that it oughtn't be mentioned at all."  However, she admits she was raised with the intention "to love, honour, and obey."

Meanwhile, Mark found himself in good spirits.  Everyone at Belbury talked about how the riots went well, and he enjoyed reading his account of it in the newspaper.  Most at Belbury, except the inner circle, did not know he wrote those articles, which please Mark even more.  It seemed clear now that the government would put Belbury under the temporary control of the NICE police, and appoint an emergency governor, most likely Lord Feverstone (but who could be sacrificed if things went wrong).

The D.D. (Withers) now warmed up to Mark, speaking about the great work he was doing.  He encouraged Mark to invite Jane out to join them.  Suddenly, Mark realized he would not like this.  She wouldn't understand the NICE or what he did for them.  Her presence would make the laughter of the inner circle sound hollow.  He excused himself, and got away from the D.D. as quick as he could.

Later he ran into the Fairy, who chided Mark for giving the D.D. the cold shoulder about inviting Jane to Belbury.  She informed him the D.D. now says Mark is not really "settled" at the NICE.

At dinner, Mark converses with Filastro and others.  Filastro presses that he would like to do away with the messiness of organic life - do away with trees, birds, and even humans.  All we need preserve is the mind, and clean metal (such as artificial metallic trees). After dinner, Filastro invites Mark to his sitting room for a private conversation.

Moon Surface

Filastro says he believes the request to invite Jane came not from the D.D., but directly from the Head.  Mark thinks he means Jules, but Filastro asserts Jules is not the Head.  Instead, Filastro asserts Mark will meet the Head and hear the request from his lips.  But then Filastro begins talking about the cleanness of the moon - with no vegetation, no atmosphere, no moisture, and its clean, white powder.  Mark thinks it a dead world, but Filastro believes its Masters, who live below ground, disinfected most of their world, dispensed with their organic bodies, and keep their minds alive without organic food.

Filastro claims the real purpose of the NICE is the conquest of organic life, in a similar manner.  He says the process already began, and that the Head has survived death, and his brain lives on.  He reveals the Head is Francois Alcasan (who was previously guillotined in punishment for killing his wife).  Filastro takes him to another room in the outer reaches of the building to a room with many tubes and dials, all leading to an adjacent room.  They must strip to their underclothes, wash, and put on white clothes, gloves, and a surgical mask and go through an air lock to enter the adjacent room.  (The Chapter ends here.)

Ch. 7 - The Pendragon

Ch. 9 - The Saracen's Head

Overview of the Book

List of Characters

That Hideous Strength - Ch 7 - The Pendragon

The Pendragon

I previously mentioned "Fisher-King" as a title belonging to King Arthur.  He held another title in the later Arthurian cycles - Pendragon - a title first held by his uncle in the Vulgate cycles (earlier), and then by his successor brother, Uther, father of Arthur, and then finally by Arthur himself.  In Welsh, this roughly means the dragon head - the leader.  As I mentioned before, Lewis, a medieval scholar, held an intense interest in Arthurian legends, since his other Inkling friends held a similar interest, Tolkien, but especially Charles Williams, who wrote some books about this.

When Jane arrives at St. Anne's, she first meets Mr. Denniston (her old professor), then Ivy Maggs (her last servant), and then found herself before Miss Ironwood (the therapist), along with Camilla Denniston.  Jane told them about her new dream about the corpse, which raptured their interest.  They asked Jane if she was prepared to meet the Director, and she replied she was.  Miss Ironwood then spoke with her alone and explained the Director might look young, but wasn't, he traveled where no one else had ever traveled, and he often undergoes great pain.

As soon as Jane saw him, "her world was unmade."  He laid on a sofa before her upon a dais which looked like a throne-room with with the blue screen behind him.  He appeared like a 20 year old golden boy, but his full beard and strength made it clear he was much older.  One foot bore a wound bandaged, and "pain came and went in his face."  His voice was seemed like sunlight and gold.

While the Director wants Jane to join them, he finds it difficult while Mark belongs to the NICE, and he urges Jane to ask Mark to leave the NICE.  While Jane sort of sees the point, she also insists upon their independence as separate persons - so that she protests - she feels she can join the Director's group with or without Mark.

The Director asks - does she wants to save Mark as well as herself?  Jane tries to ignore this question.  She confesses her unhappiness with Mark, but then - seeing the truth, denies it.  The Director says much depends on how Mark lost her love.  Jane can't seem to articulate this, so the Director offers to tell her, and Jane accepts his offer.  The Director says "you do not fail in obedience through lack of love, but have lost love because you never attempted obedience."  (Keep in mind, Lewis, at this time, was a confirmed bachelor.  He well might have written something different after he finally married Joy Davidman Gresham later in life, which he wrote about in, A Grief Observed.)  The Director says these are not his views about marriage, but those of his supervisors.  As Jane deeply reflects on this, she first finds grievances against her husband, but then pity.  The Director urges her to go back and talk to Mark.

When Jane left the Director, she felt like four different women:  the first simply receptive to what he said; the second deeply resistant; the third - a sort of moral Jane - agreed with the outlook presented by the Director; and the fourth Jane simply in a state of joy about what the Director said.

A Riot

When Jane arrived by train in Edgestow, she found the town in a riot, which she tried to avoid by finding some direct route home.  However, she got picked up by the NICE police, and soon faced Fairy Hardcastle, who wanted to know where she had come from.  By now, Jane felt enough loyalty to the group at St. Anne's that she did not want to disclose their location.  Though the Fairy inflicted severe torture upon Jane with a cigarette, and more than once, Jane did not disclose their location.  Eventually one of the rioting crowds burst in upon them, and Jane lost the NICE police in the crowds.

Finally, Jane got picked up by a couple, who, distressed by her appearance, offered to take her home.  Jane replied, somewhat to her surprise, that the Manor at St. Anne's was her home.  The couple drove her there, where Mrs. Maggs received her, but Jane was so tired, she couldn't remember how she got to bed.

Ch. 6 - Fog

Ch. 8 - Midnight at Belbury

Overview of the book

List of Characters