Virtue In Dr. Ransom's Out Of The Silent Planet

Have any of you ever needed to make a choice between something that seems favorable, but could be harmful or something that you know was right? In Out of the Silent Planet, Dr. Ransom travels past a house in the countryside, where he discovers a woman crying for her son, who is long overdue to come home. Ransom then offers to find the woman's son and return the boy at once. Upon doing so he stumbles into an old colleague who plans to take the boy without the consent of his mother. At this time Ransom tells his colleague, Devine, to let the boy go. Devine releases the young man, drugs Ransom, and kidnaps him instead of the boy. Ransom sticks to his word and returns the boy to his mother, but at what cost to himself? Now, everyone can agree that to be virtuous is to be one who makes an active choice to follow a high moral standard in all circumstances. However, some people would argue that virtue is to simply stay away from things that could cause one to fall into sin. Being virtuous is an active choice that one must make and does not just come from abstaining from evil. For example, the Hrossa show Ransom the wonders of their world, Oyarsa gives each race meaning and a purpose for existing on

Each race has its own role in the community of Malacandra—the Hross, musicians who are eloquent with words; the Sorn, great intellectuals who think of vast concepts that the others could only dream of; and the Pfifltrigg, who are expert craftsmen of stone and metals. Even though these groups find it difficult to understand each other's actions, Oyarsa is the one being that each group can come together and discuss. Finally, they all live in perfect harmony with one another because they all make the conscious choice to follow Oyarsa's gracious teachings and