Intersections between science and belief in some 'novels of ideas' by Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis

Abstract

Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' and George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four' stand amongst the foremost socio-political and anti-Utopian narrative texts of the twentieth century. A half century onwards, when the increasingly huge and questionable shadow of science, and especially its technologically-induced, anti-Nature presuppositions, along with the ubiquitous utilization of technology's by-products in every sphere of Western existence, have led to massive ecological upsets, these prophetic books are no less relevant. Particularly is this so in a period when, evoking the old catch-cries of freedom, democracy and security the government is actually increasing the number of laws eroding basic liberties long fought for. ... The texts under investigation are Huxley's 'Brave New World', 'After Many a Summer' and 'Island' and Lewis's 'Out of the Silent Planet', 'Perelandra' and 'That Hideous Strength'. Aware that much textual explication has capably and frequently been carried out before, I especially want to focus on how, generally speaking, the larger ideological concerns are handled by these two writers and how, specifically, key scientific and religious ideas and attitudes relate to characterization in these six imaginative volumes. In helping to elucidate the nature of these somewhat overlooked texts, (at least in Australia) a few comparisons or contrasts have been made in passing with a leading figure who significantly forged their views. In Huxley's case this was D.H. Lawrence, while in Lewis's the friend and colleague was J.R.R. Tolkien. I believe there is more than ever a need for research that concentrates on broad fields of enquiry and on difficult topics. Wary of what is merely exotic or fashionable, such research can focus on those pre-eminent thinkers and artists often facing neglect, who matter at this momentous juncture in world history. I hope it will be shown in the following pages that Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis have every right to take their places as subjects worthy of serious literary and philosophic investigation in the humanities and social science courses in the universities of the twenty-first century.