Kira Nelson: Perelandra as Eden

C.S. Lewis’ in chapter three of Perelandra writes of the Eden-like paradise that his protagonist has found himself in. He writes eloquently of the wonders and beauties of that world, untouched and untainted by evil. He describes in great detail the floating islands and the flora and fauna there. He describes the colors painted across the gilded sky, the warmth and scent of the Perelandrian air, the deep color of the sea, the fruit the island bore and its taste, and the soft turf that made his bed. While reading this passage, chills swept across my body and my heart became light from the mere thought of a place so delightful and so pure. The passage in the beginning of Genesis came to mind in which God looks over creation and calls all things “good.” I felt as though the world Lewis described was chock full of goodness. In my mind’s eye goodness was moving with the waves of the sea that swept under the floating island, the sweet fragrance hanging in the air was imbued with it, and the gourd Ransom first tasted was oozing with goodness. As I read I was overcome with longing for such a place. It seems to me as though mankind as a whole is full of longing for paradise, constantly trying to fashion it for themselves on the earth. I think we have this longing in us because we deep down know that it’s’ something we once had but lost. Ecclesiastes 3:11 addresses this truth, “He has also set eternity in the human heart.”