Random CS Lewis question

[tree_and_leaf]

I was thinking - mid washing-up - about Voyage to Venus, specifically about the way in which the plot requires Ransom to kill Weston, or at least to kill his body if we assume that Weston's soul really is gone and not capable of being restored.

Why isn't some kind of exorcism a possible solution, and why doesn't it even occur to Ransom that it might be?

I mean, yes, the series is full of plot holes, even if you prefer to pretend that That Hideous Strength didn't happen, or alternatively that the Director isn't actually Ransom at all given that he isn't actually all that much like him, Symbolic Wounds aside*, and could have benefited from a rigorous beta reader. But that one seems particularly odd.


* In the immortal words of Dorothy L Sayers, "I liked Ransom better before he took to lying on sofas like the Heir of Redclyffe", though I think she was actually being a little unfair to Yonge there.

Comments

[legionseagle]

I'm now envisaging Captain Jack producing bell, book and candle from wherever he kept his blaster in the Trinny and Susanna robot sequence.

[tree_and_leaf]

Now that's a mental image to treasure!

Actually, you don't need any of the paraphanalia - as far as I know, that applies even in the case of the full Roman Rite major exorcism. (I can't find a reliable text of the rite online; it is restricted to those authorised by the bishop, which is probably sensible). The bigger obstacle is that Ransom isn't a priest.

"Minor" exorcisms are actually just fairly emphatically worded prayer for healing, blessing, protection and deliverance, and don't need any special kit at all, or indeed require the officiant to be ordained, though for obvious reasons, DIY exorcisms are generally discouraged.

Oddly enough, there's actually an exorcism prayer in the baptismal liturgy, though it's quite tactfully phrased, and for obvious reasons I don't call it that when talking parents through the service. But it is, nonetheless, an exorcism.

[cheyinka]

What obvious reasons? When my sons were baptized, the mandatory baptism class came right out and called it an exorcism, and I seem to recall the deacon calling it that during the services too, but I could be wrong there. :D

[tree_and_leaf]

Because it suggests a horror movie. (I actually might use the term in preparation, but I wouldn't in the service, given the likelihood that many of the family's guests never go to church and would immediately start thinking of the movie).