That Hideous Strength

Wither berates Miss Hardcastle for her attempted arrest of Jane. He says that the Head will see it as overstepping her bounds, especially as they want to obtain Jane freely. If they could have arrested her, they would have never bothered with “embarrassing [them]selves” (158) by bringing Mark to Belbury. The Fairy says that she was acting for their good and that the Head can’t possibly get upset with her trying to obtain Jane for their goal. She objects to Wither’s accusations that she handled the case either lewdly or crudely. Wither says they need to assess her humanely and scientifically, and not use fear. The Head wants to see Miss Hardcastle now, and she says she needs a drink just to see the Head. She and Wither then go together through a maze of corridors until they come to a door. They speak into a tube and are granted entrance by Filostrato, who gives them instructions on what not to do or say in the presence of the Head. They then enter the room.

Jane is allowed to rest for as long as she likes at St. Anne’s and is given reading material. Mrs. Maggs brings her tea and tells her that a Mr. Bultitude is in the bathroom presently but that she will get him out so that Jane can bathe. When Mrs. Maggs leaves, however, Jane doesn’t wait and goes into the bathroom. To her surprise, Mr. Bultitude is a large brown bear. Jane flees in terror, though Mrs. Maggs returns and tells her that he is harmless. Jane and Mrs. Maggs have a rather cold exchange where Jane seems to take offense to Mrs. Maggs calling Mrs. Dimble by the affectionate title of Mother Dimble. Mrs. Maggs eventually leaves and, after Jane bathes and has tea, she goes downstairs. She finds all the women in the kitchen and learns that it is the women’s day to do the chores. The Director has the men and women trade off on doing chores as nothing would get done if they attempted to do them together. She learns some of this through Mr. MacPhee,who, as Mrs. Maggs tells her, doesn’t believe in her dreams. MacPhee corrects Ivy by saying that there’s a difference in logic and belief and he has nothing against Jane personally. When Jane and Mrs. Dimble are alone, Jane questions Ivy’s familiarity and Mrs. Dimble explains that there are no servants among them—they’re all equal. This confuses Jane because the Director had been talking about equality the previous day. Mrs. Maggs admits that it’s hard to know what the Director is talking about. When Mr. Dimble arrives, some of the group goes in to see the Director.

Mark is elated at his success in the N.I.C.E. From all sides, the riots have gone well and his contribution in the papers is helping immensely. He’s proud to be counted among the inner circle. He’s deduced from talks that if things go poorly for the N.I.C.E. then Lord Feverstone, who is in charge of Edgestow, will be sacrificed as a scapegoat. Mark doesn’t wish Feverstone harm, per se, but he realizes now more than ever that everyone has a role and when that role is done, they are expendable. Even Wither has warmed up to Mark again.

One day, Wither takes him aside and congratulates him on all his hard work. He then tells Mark that he hopes the rumors about his wife being sick mentally are untrue, and that Mark should bring Jane to Belbury. Mark takes offense at the rumors and makes excuses to Wither, then leaves. He realizes that the worst thing for him would be to have Jane at Belbury. She would see right through what he has become, and she wouldn’t know (or want to know) how to play the game of keeping on everyone’s good side. Later that day, the Fairy meets with Mark and tells him that he is once again on everyone’s bad side. Mark is shocked at the sudden change and is told that he gave Wither the cold shoulder earlier. Wither never extends the kind of courtesy of inviting family as he did to Mark—it was a first. Mark rejected this favor, undermining his loyalty to the N.I.C.E. Wither is seen walking in the hall and they end their conversation.

At dinner, Mark sits next to Filostrato. He and others converse about the possibilities of ridding the world of all organic matter. Filostrato would love to have manmade trees that do no shed leaves, and inorganic birds, among seeing other changes. He says that the final thing will be making people live without needing bodies, and without reproducing or dying.

Filostrato warns Mark not to go to the Library because he is on the outs with the inner circle. He takes Mark to his room instead and converses with him. He tells Mark that they really want him to be part of the inner circle. He then explains that the Head wants Jane at Belbury so that she can join them, adding that Mark will hear this affirmation from the Head himself. Mark still thinks the head is Jules, a scientist who is the technical head of the N.I.C.E. but actuallya pawn for the N.I.C.E.

Filostrato then turns off the lights so that the moon is illuminated and begins to tell Mark about life there. He speaks of beings that live who do not need to reproduce and who have gotten rid of almost all organic life. Nature is being destroyed and the brain is made to live indefinitely. This will spread across the universe, and the N.I.C.E. is helping with this. Straik then enters and the three prepare to see the Head. Straik talks of a New Man being born from their research and Filostrato affirms that the Head is the first of these New Men. None of them know who the actual progenitor of this new type of mankind will be, yet they are working to make it a reality. Filostrato then tells him that Alcasan is the Head. They talk again about the New Man and how they are attempting to create a god who will have power over life and death. Mark is scared, but he knows that he has to go along with it or risk incurring the wrath of the powers that be. They egg him on and tell him not to be scared. 

Jane relates another horrible dream to the group at St. Anne’s. She recalls seeing a dark room with nobs and gears and noise. She then talks of three men entering the room and of a face in the room. The Head has glasses on, and the top of its head was open, with stuff oozing out of it. It looked lobotomized and was drooling. It was as if someone was prepping it to talk and to be human. She realizes that one of the men was Mark. A larger man was introducing Mark to the Head and the Head asked him something, to which Mark replied that he would try to oblige within a few days. Then Mark fell and got sick and was rushed out of the room.

The Director says that things are progressing, and they must hold a meeting at once. Dr. Dimble is away and they plan to have a meeting that night. The Director tells Jane that things are bad for her and worse for Mark. If they lose, they will join Mark, perhaps in death, but if they win then they will rescue Mark. They will also rescue Ivy’s husband, who is a jailed thief. Jane takes offense at the equation of Mark and a thief but says nothing. The Director then tells her that she can’t be in the meeting; she can’t hear what they say in case she is influenced by it. Also, MacPhee thinks that their talk will influence her dreams as well. The Director tells her not to be angry at MacPhee as he is one of the Director’s oldest friends.

Mark wakes up with a migraine. He realizes that he is in too deep, but he cannot leave unless he angers those with the power to destroy him. He realizes that all his life he has thirsted to be part of the in-crowd, even throwing his friends aside at the chance. His hunger for acceptance has led him to this position and he only has himself to blame. Mark further realizes that he will have to get Jane to come to Belbury to save his life. When he attempts to write to her, he is interrupted by the Fairy. She tells Mark that his wife has been in some trouble and that she was injured. She is telling everyone that Miss Hardcastle is the one who did it. The Fairy is afraid that Jane might end up in the asylum in her state. Mark wants to go to Jane immediately, but the Fairy tells him not to. He says he will see the D.D. and then go, despite the Fairy’s protestations.

Mark barges into Wither’s office. The fireplace, which is always on, is out, and Wither looks dead. When Mark approaches, he realizes that Wither is in a trance-like sleep, though Wither sees him and, oddly, speaks to him, telling Mark to leave at once. Mark, confused and afraid, flees Wither’s office and makes the decision to leave Belbury. He begins to walk away when he sees his path blocked by none other than Wither himself. Knowing he can’t escape, Mark sobs then returns to Belbury.

MacPhee tells Jane the peculiar story of the Director. He was once a man named Ransom who disappeared from his rooms at Cambridge for nine months. He returned and was in the sick ward for another three months. He said that he’d been to Mars and that he was kidnapped by Lord Feverstone and Professor Weston (a man who was earlier murdered). Ransom met creatures known as eldils. These eldils are highly intelligent don’t call any one planet home but do concentrate on one planet or other, and the criminal eldils are now on planet Earth.

It seems that the benign eldils in space want to get rid of the criminal eldils, which is what the coming battle is about. Camilla then interrupts and takes Jane for a walk. She tells Jane that the Director has seen the eldils and that, because of his traveling in space, he will never age. She also says that he is the Pendragon of Logres, an ancient place that has since become Britain. The manor, and those who live in it, are all that is left of Logres. Due to the weather, Camilla deduces that the eldils might visit the house and the Director that very night (which they often do).

The group (without Jane) discuss the consequences of her dreams. They deduce that the N.I.C.E. is working at Belbury to try and make mankind immortal, and that they are likely under the influence of bad eldils, whether they know it or not. MacPhee gets angry and says that if they would have gone with his plan to place their own members in positions of power, then they wouldn’t be outnumbered as they are.

MacPhee calls the Director on his position, or lack thereof, but the Director reminds him and everyone in the meeting that he did not ask them to come to his aid. They were chosen by his Masters, which means he has no power to tell them to leave and they have no power to do otherwise. He tells MacPhee to abandon his talk of disbanding the group, as they all must await orders. He then says that they should concentrate on another issue: the ancient power under Bragdon Wood. They all knew that the N.I.C.E. wanted the wood, and they now know that the N.I.C.E. wants to join forces with the power there. If the two forces combine, the world, mankind and Logres will be doomed. Merlin, who is believed to be under Bragdon Wood, is thought to be a remnant of ancient powerfrom the Middle Ages. Dr. Dimble and Ransom have confirmed that a real Merlin existed, and they believe that he is connected to eldilic knowledge, and that his power is vast. The eldils did not tell the Director this information upfront because they did not know it, something that people like MacPhee (who thinks greater beings should naturally be omnipotent) can’t understand. Once the eldils deduced from history all the plotlines that led to Merlin’s existence and what the N.I.C.E. might be up to, they informed the Director. If the Director and the others can’t stop Merlin from joining sides with the N.I.C.E., a literal hell on earth awaits them all.