Professor Weston (full name
Edward Rolles Weston) is arguably one of
C. S. Lewis's greatest satanic characters. An eminent physicist on earth, he first appears in Lewis’s
Out of the Silent Planet, which is the first in Lewis’s
Space Trilogy. He is defeated by the novel's
protagonist Elwin Ransom and the
Oyarsa, the ruling angel or eldil of
Mars (known to its inhabitants as "
Malacandra"), but he returns in the second book of the trilogy in an attempt to wreak havoc on
Perelandra (Venus), the "new
Eden."
Gold-digging on Malacandra
In
Out of the Silent Planet, Weston first appears with his accomplice, Dick Devine (who later becomes
Lord Feverstone in
That Hideous Strength), attempting to abduct a mentally impaired youngster named Harry. They plan to take him to Malacandra (Mars) as a
human sacrifice. It is then that they are surprised by
Elwin Ransom, the main character of the novel, who is known to Devine. Devine persuades Weston to abduct Ransom instead.
In the course of their flight to Malacandra Ransom overhears a conversation between Weston and Devine that discloses to him their sinister purpose in abducting him. Shortly after their landing on Malacandra Weston and Devine attempt to drag Ransom to a towering, distant figure making its way across a lake to meet them. However, an accident occurs, in the form of a dangerous fish-type or crocodilian animal in the water breaking Ransom’s captors’ concentration, and allowing him to flee. In the...
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