Science Fiction and Religion: A parallel between The Time Machine and Perelandra

Abstract

C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy is the only daring excursion the author does in the world of science fiction genre. Thus, this article has as main goal to raise discussion on the elements of science fiction and religion present on Perelandra (1943), core novel of C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy and H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895). To this end, it is drawn a parallel between these novels in order to demonstrate the deep discussion on religious and scientific issues explored by Lewis and Wells, as well as shown their humanistic and religious views of the process of scientific development. As theoretical support, we build on the literary scholarship of Frye, (2004), Suvin (1979), McGrath (2020), among others. Through the discussion provided in this study it is possible to notice that Perelandra displays verisimilitude to The Time Machine in the narrative structure and plot. Both novels present eschatological characteristic, since the writers deal with the future of humanity, evolution process and its philosophical implications. For all those features, one can infer that both Perelandra and The Time Machine bring a deep reflection embedded in religious and humanistic knowledge and discussions