The Technique of General Conversation

She turned to Ransom for the first time....Her failure to greet him at his arrival had resulted from her never having envisaged the possibility of a conversation between more than two speakers. And throughout the rest of their talk, her ignorance of the technique of general conversation gave a curious and disquieting quality to the whole scene. She had no notion of how to glance rapidly from one face to another, or to disentangle two remarks at once. Sometimes, she listened wholly to Ransom; sometimes wholly to the other, but never to both.

--Perelandra, C.S. Lewis

I remember being struck by this passage the first time I read Perelandra. To me, this demonstrated the thoroughness of Lewis’ imaginative vision. It would never have occurred to me that in a world comprised of only two people, those individuals would not instinctively know how to engage in conversation with three or more people. Yet, once pointed out to me, the idea seems completely obvious. The Lady’s struggle with group conversation serves as one more example to highlight the vast gulf that lies between her being and understanding and that of our own. This made her seem more alien to me than her green skin.

And yet....

Lately I have been mulling over that passage, and wondering exactly how well (if at all) I have mastered the technique of general conversation. Though unlike the Lady, I cannot plead lack of imagination or experience for any lack of technique.