ScrewTape Analysis Rough Draft

Sean Kakigi

Mrs. Baniaga

Honors British Literature

August 31, 2010

The ScrewTape Letters Literary Analysis

The ScrewTape Letters is full of unique and interesting elements. C.S. Lewis's use of a demon's point of view portray the demon's goal and their thought process. Through this view, the reader is able to see what kind of temptations a demon would put into a Christian's life. From the demon's point of view, it is also clear that there is a another faction involved in the Patient's spiritual life. It is evident that the theme of spiritual warfare plays a significant role in The ScrewTape Letters; this can be seen by the demons' attempts to cause the Patient to sin and by the way God had been helping the Patient.

The theme of spiritual warfare can be seen by ScrewTape's and Wormwood's attempts to get the Patient to sin against God. Temptation is a method the demons use to try to get the Patient to sin, "All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden (Lewis 44)." The author was trying to show the readers how it is possible to fall into sin by indulging in pleasures. It also shows how their could be spirits influencing how a person acts. ScrewTape is also shown giving advice, in order to corrupt the Patient's thoughts, "The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves (Lewis 16)." This shows how the demons want to affect the Patient's mind so that he will not be able to pray effectively to God. Influencing the mind can easily influence actions; so the corruption of the mind can also lead one to act in the corrupted manner.

The theme of spiritual warfare can also be seen by the way God had been helping the Patient. Although the main focus of the story follows ScrewTape; God is also shown to be working in the Patient's life. While demons can influence a person's thoughts; the author makes it clear that God is able to do the same. "The Enemy presumably made the counter-suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear What He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch (Lewis 3)." This quote shows how God has to counter the influences of the demons in order to more effectively influence the person. It also suggests that demons are unable to understand what God is sharing with the person. This would make sense since the demons in the story can not fully understand God's thoughts. God is also shown to have protected the Patient, "The asphyxiating cloud which prevented your attacking the patient on his walk back from the old mill, is a well-known phenomenon. It is the Enemy's most barbarous weapon, and generally appears when He is directly present to the patient (Lewis 63)." This illustrates that God is able to prevail over the demon's attacks, but that He also cares about Christians enough to guard them.

The theme of spiritual warfare plays a huge role throughout the story, as seen by the demons' endeavors to make the Patient sin and by the help God had been supplying to the Patient. The ScrewTape Letters do a convincing job of portraying how demons, God, and Christians interact with each other on a spiritual basis. The author may have wanted to use this theme to show Christians that there is a battle being waged over their souls. The story and theme can also be thought of as a warning to Christians about the possible dangers of certain temptations and thoughts.

Word Count: 636

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

The ScrewTape Letters XXVI-XXXI

Chapter 26- "In discussing any joint action, it becomes obligatory that A should argue in favour of B's supposed wishes and against his own, while B does the opposite. It is often impossible to find out either party's real wishes; with luck, they end by doing something that neither wants...(143)"

ScrewTape is writing about how, sometimes, a sense of unselfishness can be used to cause conflict between humans. This passage shows that what some people may consider to be polite and thoughtful, can be turned into a means to argue with one another. It also shows how the demons have the ability to manipulate things into their favor.

Chapter 27- "And since we cannot deceive the whole human race all the time, it is most important thus to cut every generation off from all others; for where learning makes a free commerce between the ages there is always the danger that the characteristic errors of one may be corrected by the characteristic truths of another (151)."

This shows the need for Christians to be unified in their faith. As ScrewTape mentions how characteristics of error might be corrects; this shows how Christians and the Church and can help other Christians to have victory over their sins. This is not limited by one generation teaching another, but any Christian has the ability help their friends.

Chapter 28- "Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it", while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home in earth which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old. (155)."

This section shows how people can be easily caught up into the world when the obtain prosperity. The list of things a person acquires when he has wealth can also act as a distraction from God. The treasures he has on earth will make a man not want to leave earth since he feels like everything here is his extremely vital to him. This attachment to earth will cause many older people to try and remain on earth as much as possible. Thus making their goal to live for their own desires, instead of for God's will.

Chapter 29- "The danger of inducing cowardice in our patients, therefore, is lest we produce real self-knowledge and self-loathing with consequent repentance and humility (161)."

ScrewTape talks about how cowardice can be used as a good thing for people, which is bad for him. When people realize their true fear and cowardice, they begin to reconsider how to live their lives. If they repent and choose to follow God, then they will have thwarted the demon's plans. This also shows how tools for demons can be turned against them to work for God's desires.

Chapter 30- "It is not fatigue simply as such that produces the anger, but unexpected demands on a man already tired. Whatever men expect they soon come to think they have a right to: the sense of disappointment can, with very little skill on our part, be turned into a sense of injury (166)."

If a person is already tired and expects to be able to get rest; one of the most frustrating things to happen is to be asked to do something else. An idea in this passage is that people feel they have a right to their own time to rest. When that right is taken from them they feel disappointment, which can also lead to bitterness.

Chapter 31- "But when he saw them he knew that he had always known them and realised what part each one of them had played at many an hour in his life when he had supposed himself alone, so that now he could say to them, one by one, not "Who are you?" but "So it was you all the time". All that they were and said at this meeting woke memories (174)."

When the patient meets the spirits he is not shocked when he sees them. He has a sense of memory of them and the roles they played in his life. This suggests that other angels or spirits aid Christians in their faith. The passage also shows how spiritual warfare was being waged by God, as well as, his angels. This passage also suggests that people will receive revelations of the things they did in life. These happier revelations are opposite to the clarity one might have in hell as mentioned earlier in the book.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

Screwtape XVIII-XXI

Chapter 18- "This impossibility He calls love, and this same monotonous panacea can be detected under all He does and even all He is—or claims to be. Thus He is not content, even Himself, to be a sheer arithmetical unity; He claims to be three as well as one, in order that this nonsense about Love may find a foothold in His own nature (94)."


ScrewTape is writing about how God is contradictory in what He does and what He is. ScrewTape mentions how God claims to be three persons and one at the same time; this shows how ScrewTape thinks of God in a contradictory manner. His thoughts on God's contradictions may also lead him to believe that God is ultimately a flawed being. This quote also shows that ScrewTape does not see love, or God's divine love, as something that makes sense. Thus, adding onto the contradictory beliefs he may have towards God.


Chapter 19- "This Our Father naturally could not accept. He implored the Enemy to lay His cards on the table, and gave Him every opportunity. He admitted that he felt a real anxiety to know the secret; the Enemy replied "I wish with all my heart that you did". It was, I imagine, at this stage in the interview that Our Father's disgust at such an unprovoked lack of confidence caused him to remove himself an infinite distance from the Presence with a suddenness which has given rise to the ridiculous enemy story that he was forcibly thrown out of Heaven (99-100)."

This passage illustrates the demons view of the fall of Satan. It shows the, possible viewpoint of Satan before he was cast out of heaven. The claims between how Satan left heaven are different for the demons and God's point of view. ScrewTape claims that Satan was only curious in the intentions of God, and left heaven because he believed he was not being trusted by God enough. This shows how Satan is a liar, even to his own faction. The lie may also indicate a sense of justification for the demons, in the sense that they left heaven not because of sin but out of free will and disgust with God.


Chapter 20- "It is the business of these great masters to produce in every age a general misdirection of what may be called sexual "taste". This they do by working through the small circle of popular artists, dressmakers, actresses and advertisers who determine the fashionable type. The aim is to guide each sex away from those members of the other with whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are most likely (106)."

This passage shows suggests the amount of influence that demons have in society. By influencing key people, who in turn influence a great amount of others; demons are able to have greatly affected entire generations of humans. By preventing good Christians from marrying one another; the person may have a more difficult relationship with God.


Chapter 21- "They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption "My time is my own". Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours (112)."

ScrewTape is writing how to easily anger a man. In this section, he says that a person feels that his time is his own property, which is true for most people. This mindset that people have ownership and should have control over their time is one that can lead to a lot of frustration and anger. This is what ScrewTape wants the people to feel. This sense of false ownership and control can also contribute to selfishness and pride. If humans continue to feel time is their own, then they will not recognize that it is ultimately a gift from God.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

Brainstorming for Analysis Ideas

1. Allusions-The references to God and the devil throughout the story. "But what permanent good does it do us unless we make use of it for bringing souls to Father Below?"

2. Irony: How the morals of the demons differ from God's morals. "You will see the first among friends and lovers reunited on the eve of a holiday. Among adults some pretext in the way of Jokes is usually provided, but the facility with which the smallest witticisms produce laughter at such a time shows that they are not the real cause. What that real cause is we do not know. Something like it is expressed in much of that detestable art which the humans call Music, and something like it occurs in Heaven—a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us. Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged. Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell. (Lewis 53)"

3. Metaphors in how ScrewTape compares humans to certain things, like animals.

4. Allegory-the "Patient" represents a regular Christian and ScrewTape and WormWood who are trying to make the "Patient" fall.

5. The progression in the "Patient's" spiritual life

6. The unreliable narrator, ScrewTape, and his desire to teach his nephew to cause the man to sin

7. The reversed points of view between the demons and Christians.

8. Symbolism with the people the "Patient" interacts with.

9. The books motif showing how the demons constantly try to lure the "Patient" away form God.

10. Personification in how the different sins affect the patient.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

The ScrewTape Letters: Chapters IX-XII

1. Chapter IX: Why do our “trough periods” make us so vulnerable (Lewis, 43)? Is this applicable to you? We become vulnerable because we are not as resistant to temptation as we would be during a "peak" period. Our our outlook on Christianity may become boring or pointless; this can lead to people letting their guards down to temptation. Yes, it is applicable to me because, as a Christian I go through "trough periods" too. So I should try to keep my guard up to counter being vulnerable.

2. Chapter X: What are your thoughts regarding “parallel lives” (Lewis, 51)? What does this mean to you? "Parallel lives" can probably lead to a lot of inconsistencies between friends and the values placed on things in life. I think a person with parallel lives can expect those lives to leak over to one another in some way or form. My thoughts on parallel lives makes me want to stay clear of them more; because I would probably get very tired if I had to constantly switch between two different lifestyles.

3. Chapter XII: What is the “safest road to Hell” (Lewis, 61)? Do you agree or disagree? It is a gradual and, possibly, unnoticeable road. I think that this is true and makes sense. If a person does not realize that they are going to Hell, and may even think they are going to heaven; they will see no need change from how they are living and where they are heading.

4. Chapter XI: What are your thoughts on music and joy after reading this chapter? When music was brought up in this chapter; the question, "Why do we like music?" came into my head. Reading about all the different reasons for laughter in this chapter made me think that joy was the most pure out of the other reasons. I also began to think that it was pretty interesting how joy and music were being compared to each other as something puzzling as to why it makes us feel good.

5. Chapter XII: What is the role of “nothing” (Lewis, 60) and “small sins” (Lewis, 60)? What does that mean for you?  They both are distractions for people to become distant to God. They may not be as noticeable as murder, but they still can cause Christians to stumble in their relationship with God. This should let me keep in mind that any kind of sin can cause conflicts.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

The ScrewTape Letter: Chapters V-VIII

1. Chapter VI: How does “...malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary” (Lewis, 28)? How does this apply to your life?
When we show malice towards those we see on a regular basis, then we may begin to associate the person with malicious feelings. But if we are more kind to random people, and we never see those people again; then those acts of kindness will seem more distant. I should try to have a benevolent and patient attitude towards any one. This could help keep the benevolent feeling more real to me.


2. Chapter VIII: What is the “law of Undulation” (Lewis, 37)? Give an example of this in your life. In the book's context, this is the occurrence of change in a person's spiritual condition or how they feel spiritually. The person's spiritual condition may feel stronger at some points or weaker at other points. I feel this when I go to church or when I read parts of the Bible that seem to relate to my situation; so i feel closer to God. But if I do sin a lot and don't resolve them, then I feel low in my spiritual condition.


3. Chapter V: What is Screwtape’s idea on the best way for humans to die? Why?  He wants them to die old, in a nursing home, surrounded by people who are trying to make the person "feel" better, and indulging in a lot of their worldly desires. He wants this because it let's the dying person become content with the worldly pleasures; while ignoring their ultimate fate. The people that want to make the dying person "feel" better would not want the person to feel like they were going to die soon. So asking a priest to talk to the person would not happen; thus eliminating a way for the dying person to become a Christian. 


4. Chapter VII: How do you picture the devil? What does this chapter challenge you about regarding the spiritual warfare over your soul? I used to picture him as that guy in the red suit, with horns, a pitchfork, and a pointy tale. But now, I can't really imagine a face or body; but I get a picture of fire  and a shadowy figure in it. It kind of creeps me out a little at how detailed the demons are portrayed to be in trying to cause the man to struggle. It makes me want to be sure not to fall into any of the twisted mindsets about spiritual matters.


5. Chapter VIII: “Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys. (Lewis 40). What are your thoughts on this? It reminds me of Job and how he struggled. It also makes me think about how even when we go through the Undulation thing, we should still try and keep our relationship with God strong.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

The ScrewTape Letters: Chapter I-IV Questions

1. Chapter II: What kind of clarity do you think Hell provides (Lewis, 7)? I think that the "clarity" would reveal past misconceptions that could have severely altered how we thought or did things. So I think the clarity would lead to a sense of irony and regret.


2. Chapter II: What do you think about the following quote? "The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour" (Lewis, 7). I think that the quote shows that there are many unforeseen factors in the things that we do. It also shows how God would want Christians to truly desire and endeavor for a relationship with Him.


3. Chapter III: Give an example or two of situations in which you have neglected the obvious (Lewis, 12). I have walked into an automatic door before; this is because I neglected the obvious fact that it was not opening as I headed toward it.


4. Chapter IV: What does Lewis suggest when he says “...whatever their bodies do affects their souls” (Lewis, 16)? He might mean that the actions we do affect how we feel or think. For an example, the act of bending on the your knees to pray. I think this may cause us, as Christians, to humble ourselves more before God.


5. Chapter I: What does Lewis mean by “real life” throughout the chapter? He means the life that the person constantly experiences and is familiar with.

Work Cited

Lewis, Clive S. The ScrewTape Letters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Print.

Esafety Video

Honors BritLit Introductory Questions

1. What are your thoughts on writing? Writing has usually been something that I do not really enjoy. This may be because most of the things I have to write are usually History essays assigned by the school. AP History did not help my love for writing very much.

2. What are your thoughts on reading? The last book that I read was for the schools summer reading program, Faith of Our Founding Fathers. I don't really like reading text books; books with interesting stories or different comics seem more fun to read. My favorite children's book was The Hungry Caterpillar.

3. What are your thoughts on technology? I think that technology has a lot of good features like the Internet or video games. I am a gamer and I am horribly afraid that I will get hacked by a random 12-year old over Xbox Live. I do think that things like Gmail and Facebook are great ways to stay in touch with friends and family, but I barely use either of those sites.

4. What are your thoughts on learning? I do not like science projects or ridiculously long essays; those things are a real hassle. I am not too negative towards tests and quizzes unless I have no idea about when the occur. I'm not really sure how I learn best, but studying while exercising seems to help a little bit.

5. Why do you want to take this course? I originally didn't want to take it because I was unsure of how an online class would work or how well I'd do in it. I did have some thoughts about switching classes, but I was really convinced by Mrs. Baniaga to take it. So I guess I'll be taking it for the challenge; I'm pretty sure my dad wants to see me struggle with these kinds of classes.