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.
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