Men Without Chests—Lily Caswell

 At the end of Chapter 1 of Abolition of Man, Lewis writes about what he refers to as “Men without Chests.” He says “They are not distinguished from other men by any unusual skill in finding truth nor any virginal are our to pursue her… It is not excess of thought but defect of fertile and generous emotion that marks them out.” (Lewis, p 8) When I read this passage, I had flashbacks to my first semester of Honors, where we studied the ancient period (Greeks and Romans) and almost every class talked about honor in some way, shape, or form. Dr. Schuler would talk about C.S. Lewis writing about “men without chests” or men without honor, so it was a relief to finally get to read what was referenced. Lewis also says that “It may even be said that it is by this middle element (the chest) that man is man: for by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.” (Lewis, 8) Man is broken down into three sections: the head (intellect), the chest (heart, honor…), and the gut (passions, lust, hunger, etc.). So if a person is missing the chest, then they are ruled by either their passions or are simply for all purposes, a robot, ruled by their intellect with hardly any emotion.


I commented on Samantha’s and Isabelle’s posts.

Comments

  1. Haylee LyndMarch 14, 2022 at 9:48 PM

    I agree, Lily, it felt so enlightening to read what I have heard so many times. I feel more well read already. I thought often to studying the Ancient Period as well, and, how, the values of honor they held are no longer truly held. I think Lewis might consider that period to be the Golden Age, especially if he saw us in the modern day. I believe he would say most individuals in our society are not really men as they do not have chests.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A House Divided//Emily Otts

The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 12 remind me so much of this play: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) King Lear, at the end of the day, is about a family being divided multiple ways. These divisions arise over greed and hatred for one another and cause the whole family to be ruined because of it. King Lear first divides the kingdom after his daughter Cordelia does not proclaim her love to him, so he banishes her. Later, his daughters go against him for not doing as they asked, believing he is unfit and unworthy to be king, secretly plotting against him. But all of this comes to a head in Act 5. After capturing King Lear and Cordelia, Edmund plans to have them killed. You would believe the sisters would be able to work together because their plan is working, but an even greater division has risen between them. Both of them wish to have Edmund for themselves, and they plot against each o...
Read more

The Plague in Everyone// Emily Otts

     In part 4 of the Plague , Tarrou tells Rieux about how he has had the plague forever. Except, this is not the same plague as the one ravaging the town. Tarrou speaks of how his father was a lawyer who believed in the death penalty, how he saw so many people support it and be comfortable about it, and how he had to witness the executions of prisoners. He explains how this sort of mindset is a plague itself, one Tarrou had been fighting for a long time. " That's why everybody in the world looks so tired; everyone is more or less sick of plague. But that is also why some of us, those who want to get the plague out of their systems, feel such desperate weariness, a weariness from which nothing remains to set us free except death" (Camus, part 4, chapter 6). Tarrou wants to desperately not submit to such awful ways of thinking.      Tarrou does not realize it, but the plague he is talking about is sin. Everyone has it, some people give in to it and let...
Read more

The Thirst for Knowledge

     With Book Seven of Milton's Paradise Lost, Raphael is continuing his exposition on Satan's apostasy. The plan is to expose Adam and Eve to the wretched fate of those who cross God's will. The more he shed's light on the subject, however, the more Adam is inclined to ask for more information. He wants to know everything about the subject, as well as God and His creation.      However, while the taste of such knowledge leaves Adam yearning for more, there are boundaries. It is like a toddler eating a cookie... and eventually begging her mother for the rest of the jar. Is it a coincidence that the one thing Adam and Eve are not to touch is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Most readers know how the story ends: these toddlers are never going to be content with a few cookies. They're going in for the jar.   There is a statement in the Bible that is constantly being repeated throughout the Old Testament: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of ...
Read more