The Half Hnau of Earth
Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death (ESV). This verse asserts that the usual ways of man are not natural to him, but he desires to continue in a corrupted manner. As one can see from this verse, perverse ways only lead man to harm. Through Out of The Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis reveals the corrupted nature of humanity by comparing the earth to Malacandra , therefore demonstrating the harm humans distribute to themselves and others by relenting to a bent nature. Lewis compares the love that the hnau have for their fellow intelligent beings to the contempt humanity demonstrates to their own kind. Hnau is the term that the creatures on Malacandra use to describe a rational being with a soul. Eventually, Ransom realizes that the hnau on earth follows perverse desires instead of what should be a natural process to follow higher ideals. He finds out that his fellow humans are so bent (corrupted) that they have forgotten their tr...