The
Screwtape Letters
It shouldn’t
come as any surprise to a reader of C. S. Lewis (and certainly a student in
this class) that the author frames many of his writings advocating strong
values of Christianity. Aslan is an allegorical representation of the religious
moral good. In addition, Perelandra represents
Adam and Eve, and how corruption can tempt a place of purity. Both of these
stories are told from the eyes of a morally sound protagonist. But what would
happen if Lewis wrote about a set of characters that were on the other side of
the moral spectrum?
Not only
does Lewis write about a more evil character in The Screwtape Letters, he writes about one within dogmatic
representation. The novel, which takes place over the course of a series of
letters, is written between two characters. Screwtape, a demon, writes to his
nephew Wormwood, a younger and newer demon. He is charged by his uncle with the
task of steering the Patient to Satan. He wanted to confuse and corrupt the
individual, slowly leading him down the path to hell. In the end, Wormwood
fails; the Patient goes to heaven.
The
interesting thing about this story is not the overtones of Christianity, but
the way it goes about sending that message. Rather than taking the positive
manner of representing good, this book opts for the negative approach in
representing evil. I thought this was wildly effective, as it really provided a
great medium to further the message. The relationship between Wormwood and
Screwtape created an incredibly interesting dynamic, as it was interesting to
see how the styles of the elder and younger demons differed (both of which, in
turn, were easily contrasted to the approach of God). Personally, I really
would have liked to see The Screwtape
Letters as a reading for the class, and I think in the future it would be
great to add, perhaps as a complement to one of the other classes.
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