Column Entry, November, Exile and Ache, by Brandon Knight

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Canalizing Sehnsucht

In the preface to the third edition of The Pilgrim’s Regress, Lewis clarifies the purpose of the text. After all, the analogy is of Lewis’s pilgrimage to find that which he desired: “The sole merit I claim for this book is that it is written by one who has proved them all to be wrong. There is no room for vanity in the claim: I know them to be wrong not by intelligence but by experience… For I myself have been deluded by every one of these false answers in turn, and have contemplated each of them earnestly enough to discover the cheat.” [1]

In other words, like John’s experiences in the Regress, Lewis found himself met with many different voices after experiencing sehnsucht. Each character voiced different solutions to this feeling of exile that often took him further away from that which he sought—the Island. In earnest, Lewis explains to readers that each voice took him from the main road. Nevertheless, it was through the dialectical activity of interacting with each voice and even by being fooled that he found insight into this ache. From this perspective, we likewise will continue analyzing the various characters and their rhetoric of longing as was done with Mr. Enlightenment.

In the novel, the main character, John, eventually heads North only to run into Three Pale Men. These three gentlemen—Mr. Neo-Angular, Mr. Neo-Classical, and Mr. Humanist—host John and his fellow traveler, Vertue. From this brief meeting, much is learned about the three men and, despite their major differences, how they can live together. Of the three men, I will focus specifically on Mr. Humanist.

Vertue, John’s co-traveler, is intrigued by such strange bedfellows and interrogates them on their common ground. Realizing they are all sons of Mr. Enlightenment, Mr. Humanist shares their purpose for being in the North. They moved there to create a new society. He shares this purpose with Vertue when saying, “‘We are founding a new community. At present we suffer the hardships of pioneers and have to import our food: but when we have brought the country under cultivation we shall have plenty—as much plenty as is needed for the practice of temperance.’”

When asked about the Landlord, Mr. Humanist declares him to be a fable despite his brother, Mr. Neo-Angular, believing him to be a fact. Despite Mr. Angular’s belief in the Landlord, the other brothers are willing to remain with him because he relegates and privatizes such beliefs to the other side of the Canyon. For instance, Mr. Classical says, “I cannot agree with his notions about the other side of the canyon: but just because he relegates his beliefs to the other side, he is free to agree with me about this side…”[2]

Mr. Humanist adds to this sentiment arguing, “‘He canalizes all the mystical nonsense—the sehnsucht and Wanderlust and Nympholepsy—and transfers them to the far side: that prevents them from drifting about on this side and hindering our real function. It leaves us free to establish a really tolerable and even comfortable civilization here on the plateau…”[3]

A few considerations to clarify from the allegory.

Mr. Angular seems to depict a religious person emptied of his power due to social pressure.

Mr. Classical depicts the civilized man who believes in tradition despite not having a foundation.

Lastly, Humanist allegorizes those desirous to transcend the old world due to its failures and backwards thinking (ie, religion).

Despite their major differences, they primarily agree about the relegation of sehnsucht to the other side of the canyon, which is probably Lewis’s reasoning for depicting them as pale. Such “canalization” as Humanist puts it, takes away from their life and vitality. However, as is obvious from the religiosity of Mr. Angular, partnering with Classical and Humanist has all but emptied him of his true, authentic belief.

Mr. Humanist and the New Society

As depicted by Lewis, Mr. Humanist desires a new society. However, to live in harmony with the other sons of Mr. Enlightenment, even Mr. Angular has canalized the longings authentic to Christianity. After all, he still believes in the Landlord. By doing so, even Mr. Humanist is willing to build a new community alongside him.

What does Mr. Humanist mean when saying about Angular, that he “canalizes” sehnsucht?

It is interesting that Lewis would use this term, because it connotes the phenomenon does not simply disappear but is diverted or reconfigured.

If my analysis is correct, then Lewis is arguing that the Humanist’s desire for a new, tolerable community is, in fact, our desire to be at Home with God. Despite our attempts, longing is not done away with; rather, it is repurposed for the physical world. To Lewis, there is an effect on the Humanist from these actions, which is evident in the character’s pale complexion. In a way, he is malnourished and lacks sustenance.

From Lewis’ perspective, any attempts at canalizing sehnsucht result in mere derivatives of that which the human heart truly desires even for those around you.

There are historic examples that demonstrate the truth of Lewis’s claim. Take for example, the American Humanist Association.

Following the Great Depression, humanism emerged seeking to constitute a new collective aiming toward a better future with a re-formation of religion which focused on humanity. These early humanists declared such aspirations in their first manifesto written in 1933 entitled The Humanist Manifesto.[4] In this text, the proponents propose a future wherein they were to be the embodiment of a new type of religion based in rationalism superseding traditional religiosity, the proclaimed culprit of many social woes.

Distinctively, this movement was hopeful, despite the public crisis, and thus was eligible to use the moment as an opportunity to rhetorically envision a new progressive humanity. The manifesto itself has the rhetorical purpose of making manifest a new world.

Like Mr. Humanist, this earliest iteration of humanism canalized sehnsucht to create a new society. Science is disconnected from Religion by a Grand Canyon with walls high enough the raging river of sehnsucht cannot reach the banks of the dry soil of the North. However, just because one tries to canalize this feeling of exile does not mean it goes away. Such a society, or Island if you will, is still being sought.

Since 1933, two other manifestoes have since been published reiterating this desire—dare, I say longing—to create the world anew. In Lewis’s eyes, however, the humanist’s attempts to dam up this religious ache result in a form of malnourishment that science cannot explain away.

Conclusion

So, what is the takeaway? Well, one does not have to be a proud cardholder of the American Humanist Association to be faced with this dilemma. In many ways, all Westerners are sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, which means we too have imbibed in some way the notion that religion and science should be radically disconnected. Even if you have not bought into this framework, you at the very least are tempted to canalize feelings of nostalgia and exile.

Believing the Three Pale Men of the North has a cost. Remember Mr. Angular. He still had his belief in the Landlord, but it was stripped down to simply content—a mere fact. As Lewis articulated in the preface of the third edition, the delusions must be not only learned but experienced to truly apprehend the right path. Hopefully, our hearing from Mr. Humanist helps us to experience in part what Lewis experienced in whole which, maybe, can lead us Home.

 

Notes

[1] C. S. Lewis. The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorized Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism. (1943) Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan. 8-9.

[2] Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress. 100

[3] Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress. 100

[4] Interestingly, the first edition of The Pilgrim’s Regress was published in 1933, the very same year as The Humanist Manifesto I.