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Till We Have Faces Analysis

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Myth, religion, and truth. According to some, these three words don't have much in common. C. S. Lewis believes differently, and expresses that through his novel Till We Have Faces. Religion is the belief inane worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. A myth is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Truth is a fact or belief that is accepted as true. In his novel, C. S. Lewis most clearly shows how religion relates to myth, truth, and the other characters.
As stated above, religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or …show more content…

For example, in chapter XXI, Orual hears the story of Istra (or Psyche, who is her sister), as told by the priest. The priest later tells her, “But, Stranger, the sacred story is about the sacred things - the things we do in the temple. In spring, and all summer, she is a goddess. Then when harvest comes we bring a lamp into the temple in the night and the god flies away. Then we veil her.” (280). All of the actions the priest performs are based off of the myth they have been told. These actions the priest performs could also be considered their “truths”. The tasks they have to perform are because of certain truths. On page 8, it says, “That was how I came to tell him all about Ungit, about the girls who are kept in her house, and the presents that brides have to make to her, and how we sometimes, in a bad year, have to cut someone's throat and pour the blood over her.” All of these things are done to because of something they believe to be true. Sacrificing someone on a bad year could mean to them that Ungit will aid them, and help get rid of their troubles. To Orual, many of these actions they have to perform, and the way her religion works causes her to despise the gods. When Psyche is in the …show more content…

Myth is what guided and started much of the religion in the novel. An example of this is when the priest was telling the king the story about the Accursed. Because of this myth about the Accursed, the priest and others believed that the only way to properly appease and worship Ungit was to give the Accursed to the Brute. They would not have performed this religious ceremony if they didn't know the myths about the Accursed and the Brute. To them, these myths were true, which is not always the case. Myth and truth struggle with each other in the novel. An example of this is the myth of Istra told by the priest in the novel. It's based off of the true story of Psyche, but has many false additions such as both of Istras sisters showing up, and them wanting to harm Istra because of their jealousy. This myth is also closely related to Orual. The myth she hears from the priest is about her sister and her, but has a lot of false information in it. Throughout the novel, she is also uncertain about a lot of the myths she hears, such as the story of the brute. Many of these doubts came from Fox, who believed that all myths were the lies and creations of poets and storytellers. On page 9, Fox says, “It's only lies of poets, lies of poets child. Not in accordance with nature.” This statement causes confusions for Orual later on, when she

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