Eugenics Rhetoric in C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength and Essays

Authors

• Michelle Griffin, Missouri University of Science and Technology

Abstract

In the book That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis depicts the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) as an exclusive organization dominated by scientists, academics, and state authorities, mirroring the professional middle class that shaped British eugenics in the 20th century. Throughout the book there is evidence of eugenics discourse relating to human experimentation, feeblemindedness, sterilization of the “unfit,” as well as the role of power dynamics, all of which points to That Hideous Strength being an intentional representation of the eugenics discourse happening in Britian around the same time in which Lewis wrote the book. There is substantial evidence to suggest that the rhetoric used by the N.I.C.E. was deliberately modeled on the language and practices of British eugenicists, including nonfiction essays written by Lewis such as The Abolition of Man, A Reply to Professor Haldane, Vivisection, and Is Progress Possible. The results of this rhetorical analysis show that there many parallels between the eugenics rhetoric within That Hideous Strength and 20th century British eugenics rhetoric.

Recommended Citation

Griffin, Michelle (2026) "Eugenics Rhetoric in C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength and Essays," RhetTech: Vol. 8, Article 6.
Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/rhettech/vol8/iss1/6