That Hideous Strength
by C. S. Lewis
Here's a really abridged summary of the book.
Mark Studdock
Character traits:
secretive — he does not tell Jane about his involvement with the N.I.C.E.
self-centered — for a majority of the book, he thinks primarily of himself and his own problems
logical — he is mainly intelligent and rational, prioritizing logic over feelings, which may be a cause of his shaky relationship with Jane
Jane Studdock
Character traits:
independent — she does not want to be associated with the general stereotype placed on women
afraid — despite her independence, she fears the strange occurrences she observes in her dreams
smart — she uses logic as well as Mark, but is slightly more in-tune with emotions than her husband is
Dr. Elwin Ransom, the Pendragon
Character traits:
mature — his age and experiences have contributed to making him very wise
intelligent — he is very knowledgeable due to his love for the study of philology
considerate — despite his large amount of knowledge, he no longer views himself as superior, choosing to help others out when they need it
Conflict: Men vs. Men
To portray the conflict in more depth:
"'I must do what I think right, mustn't I?' [Jane] said softly. 'I mean—if Mark—if my husband is on the wrong side, I can't let that make any difference to what I do. Can I?'" (pg. 145)
This displays the rift caused between Jane and Mark when she discovers that he is on the side of the enemy.
A precept to describe the conflict:
"Do not expect positive changes in your life if you surround yourself with negative people." — unknown
This describes the way that Mark's life negatively changes when he joins the N.I.C.E., showing how it contrasts with the positive change in Jane's life upon joining Ransom's group.
Theme: Good and Evil
This is a quote from C. S. Lewis (the author) that displays how he feels about the issue of good and evil that he wrote about in several of his books.
My favorite quote from the book:
This quote concerns a member of N.I.C.E. named Frost, who is probably one of my favorite characters. Though he is one of the antagonists in the book, I find his viewpoints to be very interesting and distinctly different. His way of viewing the world is very intriguing to me, and its paradoxical traits are all displayed in this quote. Though Frost is not a major character per se, his presence in the book adds a layer of depth that I very much enjoy.
A song that I think fits the book:
Elegy Context ~ Composer: Nekobolo; Vocals: IA; Movie: Suti
Second off, the English subtitles are in the closed captions, in case you couldn't find them.
Third off, it was difficult to find a song that fit a book like this, because being written a long time ago by a British Christian apologist, it's a lot different from the overused trends found in books or songs today. But I remembered this song existed and realized that it was probably the closest fit.
Okay, I'll actually get to the reason I think this song works with the book now.
Generally, I view it as being from Jane's perspective, representing the kind of life she had before she encountered Ransom's group. The whole song is centered around dreams, which is one of the things that makes me think of Jane, as she has frequently recurring dreams that she has trouble understanding. The bridge of this song doesn't make a whole lot of sense (I trust the translator of this song, and I know for a fact myself that that line does indeed say "a jellyfish bell" [or an alternate reading for "flower" instead of "bell", but enough of that]), but I think that contributes to why I think it works for Jane. She doesn't understand what she sees in her dreams. When the song says that "none of my words nor emotions are heard", I can see it as parallel to the gap in Jane and Mark's relationship. And during the line "A flower bloomed from someone's make-believe. Shimmering, waving, it vanishes into flame," I am reminded of the way Jane expected her marriage to be wonderful, but those expectations vanished. In my opinion, this is a very fitting song for this book, or at least as close as I could get to work with it.