Ellis Nordberg

(A sunset on a Biblical cover: reflection on endings.)

For previous posts on this Bible-believing character, see Ellis (scroll down) and Nordberg.

The Devil's Game, ELLIS NORDBERG, pp. 191-200.

James Blish - and I agree with him - praised CS Lewis' ability to show us his characters' innermost self-deceptions. Just one example:

"If the idea, 'Feverstone will think all the more of you for showing your teeth,' had occurred to [Mark] in so many words, he would probably have rejected it as servile; but it didn't."
-CS Lewis, That Hideous Strength IN Lewis, The Cosmic Trilogy (London, 1990), pp. 349-753 AT CHAPTER 2, p. 379.

This servile idea does not even occur to Mark but he acts on it, nevertheless! Some of his motives are hidden even from himself.

How about Poul Anderson's Nordberg? Having murdered one of his competitors in the high-stakes game of Follow the Leader and considered offing another, he thinks about two others:

"...I'll have to be almighty careful. I wouldn't put murder past them." (p. 195)

Good Lord! (To appropriate Nordberg's Biblical terminology.)

He is a tasteless man, regarding Shakespeare, of all people, as an overrated windbag. (p. 192)

Christened Elias, he has had to waste hours explaining that he is not a Jew. (p. 198) Tough call, Nordberg.

Having murdered a Communist, he gloats that the man is now in hell. (p. 194)

Can we find anything whatsoever good to say about this guy?

Where should the murdered Orestes and his murderer, Ellis, go in a hypothetical hereafter? If I had any say in the design of a hereafter, then they would both go somewhere where they would be able to reflect and learn - but I am not Ellis' indignant, fiercely angry, jealous LORD. (p. 191)

Ulterior Motives

"The Night Face," III.

I have found the passage that I was unable to find here:

"Raven's ulterior motive was simply that he enjoyed her presence and wanted to keep her here a while longer." (p. 572)

There are

stated motives;

unstated, ulterior but nevertheless conscious motives;

ulterior and unconscious motives.

The narrative is in the third person. Therefore, it is not Raven himself but an omniscient narrator that informs us of his ulterior motive. Therefore, Raven himself could be either conscious or unconscious of this motive. However, we assume that the narrator is, as usual, recounting Raven's conscious point of view, not his unconscious psychology. That would have required a more roundabout text to clarify the distinction between Raven's conscious and unconscious mental processes. The master of writing such texts was CS Lewis and I have quoted a relevant passage twice before. See the blog search result for Feverstone.

How do neuronic interactions generate not only consciousness but also the paradox of unconscious mental processes? CS Lewis rightly rejected reductionist mechanical materialism but at the same time uncritically accepted the traditional doctrine of an immortal soul surviving in an indefinite hereafter. I think that for the time being we have to acknowledge the mystery of consciousness while continuing to try to understand both minds and brains.

Evasive Language

Poul Anderson, The Avatar, XXVI.

The premier of Great Russia proposes that the conspirators kill not only their (innocent) prisoners but also even the guards. Ira Quick responds:

"'Sir, let's sleep on it and then talk further, but at the moment I am inclined to believe that in principle you are right.'" (p. 232)

That translates as: "You are right," or, in one word, "Yes." The preceding twenty one words seem to qualify but instead merely delay Quick's admission of his complicity in murder:

sleep necessary;
further talk necessary;
at the moment;
inclined to believe;
in principle...

How many prevarications are possible? An American celebrity once said, "I (used to be a person who) was promiscuous."

Before speaking, Quick thinks:

"I've had an inferno's worth of hours to agonize over the moral issues..." (ibid.)

We do not think that Quick has ever agonized over a moral issue but he has to tell himself that he did. Dishonesty begins within, as with CS Lewis' character, Mark Studdock:

"If the idea, 'Feverstone will think all the more of you for showing your teeth,' had occurred to him in so many words, he would probably have rejected it as servile; but it didn't."
-CS Lewis, That Hideous Strength IN Lewis The Cosmic Trilogy (London, 1990), pp. 349-753 AT p. 379.

Quick's inner thoughts continue:

"A time finally comes when the civilized man must attack alongside his ally of expediency, or be left behind and have no voice at the peace conference."
-op. cit., p. 232.

One word: expediency.