The Screwtape Letters

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The Screwtape Letters (10/12/99)

        The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, is a very entertaining book. It is written in the form of a series of letters from Screwtape to his nephew, instructing him on human nature, temptation, and general corruption of humans. Screwtape is helping Wormwood in an attempt to lure his 'patient' into Hell. The setting of this story is unclear, except that it is set during the 'Second German war'. The setting is unimportant up until the very end of the story.
         The main characters of this story are Screwtape, a devil, and his nephew Wormwood (also a devil), whom he is instructing. As well as Wormwood's 'patient'. Other characters are mentioned, but do not play any part in the story. Since devils aren't real, I don't see how they could seem realistic. However, the 'patient', although little is known about him from the reader's point of view, seems realistic. My favorite character is Screwtape, because although he is a devil, he is very knowledgeable of human nature and how to manipulate it. (We know this must be true, otherwise Screwtape would not be instructing Wormwood) He is courteous (or at least knows the basics of formal writing), by always beginning a letter with "My dear Wormwood...", and ending it with "your affectionate uncle, Screwtape". Things are outlined and explained clearly. Here is one example, "In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face. ...Your patient must demand that all his own utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on the actual words, while at the same time judging all his mother's utterances with the fullest and most over-sensitive interpretation of the tone and the context and the suspected intention." His explanations of things always seem very true, and his advice very logical, simple, and understandable. (This is not to say that his words are to be interpreted as correct.) If I were to trade places with a character in this book, it would have to be Wormwood, because he seems to be having fun with his job.
        I chose this book because of what I've heard about it, not because I thought it just might be a good book. I did not rely on the beginning of the book to capture my attention, it was already captured by the theme. The reason I wanted to read about it is because the theme is a little out of the ordinary. It's not a love story of boy meets girl, it's not about a hero that saves a life, but it's about a devil teaching another devil. The main problem is just another human being who, apparently, is only trying to be a better person. He converts to Christianity and goes to church and prays. The 'patient' also (much to Screwtape's displeasure) falls in love. It is the job of Wormwood to lead him away from the ways of the Enemy (God) and to the ways of 'Our Father Below'. This also involves keeping the 'patient' in the dark, not letting him realize things that might lead to the Enemy. One of their greatest weapons is ignorance, and the ability to keep the patient from realizing his thoughts, feelings and attitudes. Confusion is another one of their greater weapons. My first thought of the situations faced by the characters was 'This is for obvious reasons, like nothing I've had to face in my life. Because I am not a devil. I don't have a demonic uncle instructing me on how to lure humans into Hell.' But I soon realized that, although I am not a devil, I have at one time or another been assigned the job of leading a person astray. This is usually a job that is accomplished by lying, or distracting a person or doing something similarly un-constructive. And just like Wormwood failed to lure his his patient into Hell, I have always failed at leading people astray. Although I could not have done a better job at handling the task, I do not agree with the way Wormwood handles his job. He is irresponsible and easily distracted from his job. Because of his irresponsibility, the patient to falls in love. And in the end, the patient 'sees the light', and is saved. This is the worst possible thing that could happen to Wormwood's patient. This is bad news for Wormwood. I think it might lead to his destruction. (I don't know, dear Wormwood's fate is unclear, except that he will be punished. I don't know if this means that he will be tortured for eternity, eaten, etc.)
        I think the theme here is about how evil can creep up where you least expect it, and that what makes it so dangerous is how it is never recognized as evil. In the story, Wormwood manipulates the mind of his patient. The patient seems to hear Wormwood as just another voice in his head, telling him what to do. I think the author's point here is that you should be wary of evil, for sometimes it does not appear to be dangerous and threatening as evil usually appears to be. If you read the book, you would have remembered how courteous Screwtape was. This is a fine illustration of the author's point. Screwtape is just as evil as any demon or devil, but if you were to meet him on the street --washed and groomed and dressed up in a suit and tie-- would you know he was evil? Chances are, you wouldn't.
        This book has had at least some effect on me. One of the reasons I liked this book is because it's not the type of book I usually read, and this was sort of a breath of fresh air for me. The last few books I read before this were 700 page novels published within the last few years, written by best-selling and current authors. This book was about 160 pages, and written about 50 years ago by a classic author. It has affected my interest in older and slightly more 'classic' authors. This is a good book and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.