Analysis Of The Screwtape Letter By C. S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book made up of 31 letters of teaching, communication, and familial advice communicated with the only two physical tempters in the book, Screwtape, the mentor, and his young eager to learn “nephew” or mentee, Wormworth. Screwtape uses the letters to aid him in influencing his nephew to do as he does in actions, thoughts, and in his work and convinces him to follow the way of Satan, their “Father” and to follow in both Screwtape and the Devil’s path. Wormworth’s “patient” is a young male who has newly tried to connect with the “Enemy”, God. Screwtape uses very common flaws, some of which are, materialism, physical attraction, and gluttony to try to draw him away from God, and brainwash him into believing all of his thoughts and detesting all outside sources as much as he can.

In addition, here, as throughout much the poem, Satan continues to hedge the other side of the argument, insisting that he isn't forced to do evil by opposing God, but that "to do ill our sole delight" (160). This belief that he has a choice in the matter is tied up in the misconception that he was, and continues to be, equal to God, as "reason hath equall'd" (248) them.  Quite to the contrary, Milton makes it clear that "the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs" (211-3).  And it is only Satan's perverted sense of reason that convinces him that "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (254-5).  He believes that his reason and contemplation will help him discover "How overcome this dire Calamity" (189), or failing that, change his will such that it fits his current circumstance.  This is the classic method of the delusional and disenfranchised, holding out hope for change, but at the same time putting forth the belief that the current situation can actually be beneficial.  The sophistry has shown through Satan's speech, as he declares that there is no way for God to beat him, in his mind, when we know he is already defeated.

Have you ever wondered how demons try and lead us away from God and begin to sin? In the Screwtape Letters C.S Lewis shows us how a demon named Screwtape guides his nephew Wormwood on how to make sure their “patient” stays away from Christianity. The Screwtape Letters is an Epistolary novel that was written during World War II. In this novel God is considered “The Enemy” and Satan is “Our Father.” The main characters in this novel are Wormwood, Screwtape, and the patient. Screwtape is a demon who writes his nephew Wormwood from hell. Screwtape teaches his nephew the different steps of keeping his “patient” away from God. Humans are called patients by demons because they are trying to lead humans away from God. In this novel we don’t really

Oftentimes, the devil is depicted as an evil deity sitting in the depths of a burning pit, plotting the demise of mankind and creating all the evils that are in the world. However, in The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis, using a series of letters from an experienced tempter to his protégé, makes the case that this is false. He portrays the devils as a perverted spirit, the opposite of a guardian angel. Unlike God who truly loves man and embraces his individuality, the devil’s main objective is to cultivate humans for food, consuming their uniqueness. “We want cattle who can finally become food… we want to suck in… we are empty and would be filled”[i] Screwtape, the demonic mentor of Wormwood, writes bluntly in his letter in Chapter 8. In their

In The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis utilizes his character Screwtape to depict and essentially recommend three specific categories of temptation that humans typically fall into, which are the World, the Flesh, and the Spirit. In that order, the three categories overlap, meaning in the World is the flesh and in the Flesh is the Spirit. The Bible, my strongest point of reference, bares insight into what the temptations of the World are and why God considers them to be fatally corrupt. 1 John 2:15-17 reads “don’t love the worlds ways. Don’t love the worlds goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world- wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important- has nothing to do with the Father. It just

I chose to do my research and reading on The Screwtape Letters written by C.S Lewis, which is a novel written in unique perspective of a Senior Devil named Screwtape who writes thirty-one letters to his nephew Wormwood who can be considered somewhat of a novice devil or demon of some sort. In these letters, as readers, we find that they are undated and that they are meant to offer advice to his younger demon nephew as he attempts to steal the soul of a human, referred to as “the patient”. We are first introduced to the concept of “the patient” rather than “the human” when Screwtape explains to Wormwood about one of his first experiences with one. In his first letter, Screwtape explains that the best way to lose the human is if the human somehow decides to use reason because at that point, his reason will take him to God. He does this by teaching his nephew that, “Your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Teach him to call it “real-life” and don 't let him ask what he means by real” (2). Ironically, the devil 's resort to calling God, “the Enemy”. We are first introduced to this idea in the introduction on the first letter when Screwtape states that “The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle on to the Enemy 's ground” (2). Wormwood must find his opportunities by getting his patient to make unwise choices or let his emotions get the best of him. When the patient turns to

In The Screwtape Letters by C.S.Lewis, the novel is from the perspective of Screwtape, who is writing letters to his nephew. Screwtape shows clever subtlety in tempting patients to self-centeredness in prayers through feelings and images, to gluttony through delicacy, and to pride through membership in an elite Christian social circle. Screwtape uses many, seemingly good, things to manipulate his ‘patients.’ Lewis uses this as an illustration of how easily humans can fall into temptation. Screwtape uses pride, and intellect as a form of temptation throughout the novel, even while the patient is a Christian.

In the novel “The Screwtape Letters,” C. S. Lewis depicts how Christians have strong reason and faith. These letters are used to contradict the bible as if god is satin and satin is god. Within the letters, the patient is supposed to be a Christian man that is being used in an experiment for the dark side. However, the patient resisted the temptations that the devil threw at him, and is able to beat the devil by having faith. This is a strong point that the narrator illustrates, because Screwtape is considered like a devil who is trying to influence his incompetent nephew, Wormwood.

Lewis’ Screwtape Letters is an amusing and profound story of the world 's temptation and a Christian 's victory over it. In a collection of letters, an old demon, Screwtape, gives advice and guidance to his young and naive nephew, Wormwood, on how to lure his "patient" to Hell. Amateurishly attempting to tempt his patient to commit some great, extravagant sin, Wormwood lets his hand off the wheel and his patient becomes a Christian. Even in a seemingly hopeless situation, Screwtape kept his cool and advised Wormwood "to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action...Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened."(pg.66-67) Screwtape and Wormwood work to work to keep the patients ' faith in a passive, lukewarm state and put out his fire for the Lord. They try to distract him with the ways of the world, but they are unable to put out his burning fire for the Lord. In an unexpected bombing, the patient slipped through Wormwood 's hands and into the open arms of his Heavenly Father. Some ways Wormwood is instructed to tempt his patient is by keeping him either stuck in the past or hag-ridden with the future, creating doubt during the low or struggling times and distracted during the good times, and with love.

As a way to discuss his beliefs and thoughts on his faith, government system, society in that time and mankind in general, C.S. Lewis created The Screwtape Letters, a book in the form of letters from senior demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a sort of demonic trainee. For all purposes, they are lectures, but lectures jazzed up and made more suitable for a students mind. After reading the book, I was really enlightened and reminded of the truths that we humans should believe about God.

C.S. Lewis is one of the greatest authors in history. His books are still widely available and sold to many interested readers. In Lewis’ childhood, he experienced a tragedy that affected his belief in god; in his middle life, he mainly focused on college and his studies, but his father’s death played a role in Lewis later becoming a Christian. In Lewis’ later life, he married one of his own fans. Clive’s passion for writing began when he was a small child, and it continued to grow as he furthered his education to become a college professor at Oxford University. Lewis is still remembered today for his great works, such as The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a popular series among children.

Do you ever tire of reading stories were the good guys always win? If so, The Screwtape Letters is the book to read. C.S. Lewis portrays his “good guy” as a demon named Screwtape who has a young apprentice named Wormwood. In the story, Wormwood has the task of tempting “The Patient” and making sure that he goes to Hell. Throughout the book, Screwtape tries to advise Wormwood on how to tempt successfully. All is going well for Wormwood until “The Patient” becomes a Christian and turns his life over to the “Enemy”. Screwtape initially tells Wormwood that all will be okay and explains to him that it can be a simple fix. Unfortunately for Wormwood, things do not turn out to be so simple and ultimately Wormwood fails to ensure “The Patient’s” eternal damnation. The punishment for the apprentice was to become Screwtape’s dinner. Although one can be distracted by the intriguing plotline, there are many things that can be found throughout the story. To name some extracurricular items that can be found: Anthropology, bibliology, Christology, theology, and soteriology.

If Satan is able to keep us entangled in sin, no matter how small, we begin to drift away from God and follow our own path, while still thinking we are close to God, when the reality is that we have given ourselves over to something else. The reason Satan’s methods work is because we are so often focused on ourselves that we don’t even see the road we are walking.

Satan comes to man with his temptations as an angel of light, as he came to Christ. He has been working to bring man into a condition of physical and moral weakness, that he may overcome him with his temptations, and then triumph over his ruin. ...He well knows that it is impossible for man to discharge his obligations to God and to his fellow-men, while he impairs the faculties God has given him. The brain is the capital of the body... pg. 236

Temptation is an unavoidable part of life that has been around since the creation of the world and man. After the creation of man, God placed him in the Garden of Eden, and gave him dominion over the Garden and everything in it. The only command given to man, by God, was to not eat from one particular tree or he would die. In an act of rebellion against God, Satan approached Eve and persuaded her to eat from the tree that God forbade them from eating. This persuasion included lying to Eve about dying and that they would be like God (Genesis 3:4-5, NIV). On top of the lies, “the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6, NIV). Satan placed Eve in a situation where she gave in to her desires, lust for the fruit, envy and greed to be like God, these are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Just because Satan tempted Eve does not mean that she sinned, “temptation is not to be equated with sin” (Towns, The Essential Element of Sin, 2002). Eve acted on her desires and ate the forbidden fruit. She in turn, led Adam to eat from the tree. This act of defiance, by Adam and Eve, against God resulting from the temptation and deception, by Satan, led to the original sin and to the fall of man. The fall of man resulted in the spiritual separation of man from God. Temptation led to sin that then led to the fall of man and resulted in a separation from God that comes to an end with spiritual and physical