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Your Increasingly and Ravenously Affectionate Uncle,
Screwtape
Elizabeth Porter
Professor Mark Bennion
ENG 251-01 Fundamentals of Literary Interpretation
July 19, 2011
Brigham Young University-Idaho
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Table of Contents
Preface: Come Off Conqueror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Writer’s Chronology: C.S. Lewis, Champion of Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Critical Summary Essay: To Whom Were The Letters Really Addressed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Discussion of Literary Elements: The Complicated Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
T-Analysis: Why Screwtape? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Analysis Essay: Inverted Insight: A Psychoanalysis of The Screwtape Letters . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13
More Critical Applications: Purpose Behind Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15
Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Copies from “C.S. Lewis on ‘The Screwtape Letters’ and Man in Space”
Copies from “Diabolical Ventriloquism”
Copies from “Freudian Theory and Conciousness
Copies from C.S. Lewis: Images of his world
Copies from C.S. Lewis: The man and his message
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Preface: Come Off Conqueror
The advice on how to more effectively ensnare a human soul in C.S. Lewis’ The
Screwtape Letters fulfilled my desire to be moved by a novel to self-evaluation and deep
personal changes. Having my eyes opened to ways I could be stronger against temptation was
exhilarating!
My relationship with the novel was developed through my expectation, based on C.S.
Lewis’ reputation, to find great insights into how to be a better Christian. With every one of the
senior devil’s commands to his nephew, I heard, with equal forcefulness, direction to change
myself. The attacks Screwtape encouraged exposed how tares of un-Christian sentiment have
been sown right in with the wheat of my righteous desires. Recognizing those enemy sowers and
fighting against their stratagems empowered me as I could feel my testimony becoming more
fortified.
Aside from providing such powerful personal insights, The Screwtape Letters is uniquely
valuable in comparison with other Christian literature because of Screwtape’s role as a foil to the
Holy Ghost. His words echo nothing but contradictions to the Still Small Voice. There is only so
much one can learn from something without witnessing its opposite and Lewis uses this implied
comparison to maximize his reader’s desire to abhor what Screwtape represents.
Reading Screwtape’s letters has made me an even greater defender of his “Enemy”
(Lewis 1). I am more aware of temptation and, I hope, more resistant to its taunting. The changes
I have made as a result of my expanded spiritual sensitivity have allowed me to take a step closer
to conquering such attempts at my own soul!
Writer’s Chronology: C.S. Lewis, Champion of Christianity
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1898 Nov. 29 Clive Staples Lewis is
1905 Lewis family moves to “Little Lea” where he learns to love literature and writing.
1908 Florence Lewis, his mother, dies. He is devastated and begins questioning his faith. He is
sent to Wynward School in England and has a miserable experience under a brutal and
unstable headmaster.
1911 Sent to a Christian prep school in Malvern, England called Cherbourg. Here he becomes
atheist.
1914 Sent to study with William T. Kirkpatrick (“The Great Knock”) who helps him master
foreign languages, writing, literature analysis, and other important intellectual qualities.
1915 Experiences a life-altering paradigm shift after reading George MacDonald’s Phantastes.
1917 Entered Oxford University.
1918-19
Fought in France as an infantryman in WWI. Wounded after only 6 months and
sent home where he returns to Oxford.
1918-1930
Cares for the family of a killed battle buddy.
1919 Published a poetry collection, Spirits in Bondage, while still a student under the pen name
Clive Hamilton.
1922 Awarded a B.A. with First Class Honours in classics.
1923 Awarded another B.A. with First Class Honours in English.
1925-1954
Published many of his most significant works through the resources available
through his elected membership in an English Language and Literature fellowship at
Magdalen College, Oxford.
1929 After several years of study of the Gospels and conversations with colleagues, Lewis
acknowledges the reality of a God, though not convinced of Christ’s divinity.
1931 After a conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson and a trip to the zoo to ponder
it, Lewis is convinced of the truth of Christianity.
1942 Becomes president and university sponsor of the Oxford Socratic Club where students
discuss religious questions.
1942 The Screwtape Letters and A Preface for Paradise Lost are published.
1950-1956
Published the Chronicles of Narnia
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1952 Addresses to members of the Royal Air Force (Given 1941-1944) complied and
published as Mere Christianity.
1955 Published Surprised by Joy, an autobiography.
1945 Charles Williams, a close friend, dies and Lewis is so moved that he begins writing
Essays Presented to Charles Williams (published in 1947).
1946 Awarded a Doctorate of Divinity by St. Andrews University.
1948 Confidence in his intellectual proof of Christianity wounded severely in a debate with
Elizabeth Anscombe and revises last theological publication, Miracles.
1954-1963
Taught as a professor at Cambridge University.
1960 Joy, his wife, passes away. He is overcome with grief, never fully recovering. In
response, he writes A Grief Observed.
1961 Becomes sick and writes The Discarded Image and Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on
Prayer. Both are published after his death in 1964
1963 Gives away most of his literary earnings and dies.
Critical Summary Essay: To Whom Were The Letters Really Addressed?
In his dissertation, Daniel J. Coyle, a graduate student applying for a Master of Arts from
the University of Nevada Las Vegas, analyzed the methods C.S. Lewis used in The Screwtape
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Letters to achieve two objectives. First, encouraging a return to traditional Christianity through
rejecting modernist thinking and second, comforting a war-terrorized audience. Coyle asserted
that Lewis’ main methods for conveying these messages were inverted transcendence and
prosopopoeia.
Lewis’ purposes in writing The Screwtape Letters are likely less specific then Coyle
suggests. Lewis’ book has remained a classic for over 50 years and that is not because it was
only addressing issues prevalent during its first publication. The book discusses eternal
principles of human nature that are applicable in times of modernism and traditionalism, war and
peace alike. There is a lack of indication that Lewis was trying to return Christians to traditional
religion like Coyle believed, but rather trying to increase awareness of the negative implications
of fleeting ideologies. Letters that Coyle referenced singularly in relation to the the modernist
movement during Lewis’ time do address the idea of fads but their application is not so limited.
Coyle’s analysis of several letter’s direct references to the war, however, cannot be disputed. The
principles of those letters illustrate universal truths that can apply in other situations, but the
references directly addressed, no doubt, specific concerns of war-torn Europe in the 1940s.
Coyle’s analysis of Lewis’ rhetorical elements was very insightful, but their purpose
wasn’t as narrow as Coyle projected. Lewis’ structure of Screwtape’s letters will be appreciated
and adapted across multiple eras.
Discussion of Literary Elements: The Complicated Basics
(Setting) There is a dual setting in this story because the author and the recipient of the
letters that make up The Screwtape Letters are in different places. Screwtape, the advice-giving
uncle, is residing in Hell. Hell is not described in detail, but Lewis gives it a repulsive
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atmosphere through Screwtape’s smug pleasure upon repeatedly mentioning the “diabolical
consumption” (Lewis 209) of souls that are won. One frightening aspect of Hell is its malicious
efficiency in the process of damnation. Screwtape references organizations such as an “Infernal
police” (Lewis 165), a “Tempters’ Training College” (Lewis 208), an “Intelligence Department”
(Lewis 175) and others who work with single-mindedness to drag souls to Hell. The recipient of
the letters, Wormwood, is trying to deceive a young man in England during the 1930s and 40s.
Wormwood deals with several different specific settings and their associated environments. They
include war with its accompanying fear and radical movements, upper class social gatherings
with their false sophistication, home environments with their annoying “daily pinpricks” (Lewis
11), church meetings with their hypocrisy, and courtship rituals with their love and infatuation.
(Characters) Screwtape, although he is a proponent of evil things in our perspective, is
the protagonist who tries his best to help his nephew, Wormwood, be more successful in his
temptations. Screwtape’s antagonist changes. When Wormwood fails to follow through with
Screwtape’s direction or fails to tell him the truth, Wormwood takes this role. Another character
that acts as the antagonist is “the patient” (Lewis 2), or the man Wormwood is trying to deceive.
Often, he overcomes temptation and frustrates Screwtape’s plans. “The Enemy” (Lewis 2), or
God, is consistently tearing down the vices built by the demons. He is only referred to in the
novel but his presence and His works are evident. The Enemy’s foil is, of course, the Devil,
referred to as “Our Father Below” (Lewis 2). He is not an active character either, but it is he that
gives Screwtape and Wormwood’s actions meaning.
(Plot) Because of the nature of this novel, there is an unusual plot development. In the
preface, Lewis acknowledges that the letters are in no particular chronological order. Screwtape
and Wormwood are static characters; they do not make or experience any changes that would
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make a plot dynamic. The plot can therefore be measured (somewhat) by the only changing
character in the novel-the patient. The reader follows the patient through his spiritual leaps and
stumblings by way of his conversion, his relationship with friends and family, the events of the
war, and his falling in love. These events add movement but not any rising or falling action. The
last letter serves as both the climax and denouement of the story. It contains Screwtape’s final
words to Wormwood after the death and exaltation of Wormwood’s patient. For Screwtape, it is
a resolution of resignation, but for the reader, who has subconsciously been routing for
righteousness throughout, it is a glorious culmination of understanding and triumph!
(Conflict) The book is characterized by conflict between good and evil. The opposing
influences of “Our Father Below” (Lewis 2) and “The Enemy” (Lewis 1) create tension that
drives moral of the story. The fact that no resolution is found, or ever will be found, between
these forces emphasizes Lewis’ message that mankind must not give way to temptation if they
are to find eternal happiness. Another conflict that appears in the novel is between Screwtape and
Wormwood. Their different levels of skill often create friction in their communication. The last
letter’s resolve reinforces Screwtape’s superiority as he despairs the loss of the patient’s soul
with malicious condescension and supercilious finality.
T-Analysis: Why Screwtape?
Psychoanalytic Theory:
Question—In The Screwtape Letters, how did Lewis use the narrator’s promotion of and identity
with the id to reveal weaknesses in man’s ego and superego?
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“As always, the first step is to keep
The id must stay in the subconscious to have a
knowledge out of his mind. Do not let him
powerful influence. Screwtape references the
suspect …” (Lewis 45)
need for secrecy in his work often.
Our superego praises Jesus but this shows us
“All such constructions … of their historical
how the id twists the superego, or at least
Jesus… thus distract[s] men’s minds from
twists us into thinking we are in the superego,
who He is and what He did.” (Lewis125)
in a way that allows our id to surface.
“What he says … is all parrot talk… he still
Here again we see how the id can emerge if the
believes he has run up a very favourable
tempter can put us under the pretense that we
credit-balance in the Enemy’s ledger by
are exercising qualities of the ego.
allowing himself to be converted.” (Lewis 8)
The superego can be regulated by both our
“If he boasts of it in a jocular manner and
conscience and our society. The devil can
make the superego contradict the conscience of
twits his fellows with having been scored off,
he is no longer ‘mean’ but a comical fellow.”
an individual. When this happens, we will
usually tend toward the twisted societal
(Lewis 55)
standard instead of our conscience.
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“The only thing that matters is the extent to
Often we associate the ‘return of the repressed’
with monumental mistakes. The id doesn’t
which you separate the man from the Enemy.
It does not matter how small the sins” (Lewis
always work like that however. As long as the
id has a presence, it is effective.
60)
“Nothing throws him into a passion so easily The id thrives in its unconsciousness. If the
as to find a tract of time which he reckoned
devil can trick us by giving us truths that are
on having at his own disposal unexpectedly
not really truths, he will ensure that the id is
taken from him.” (Lewis 111)
evident when those ‘truths’ are contradicted.
An eternal principle used by the tempters is
that one thing is not another. If they can make
“Substitute for the faith itself some fashion
our faith anything besides real faith, our ego
with a Christian colouring.” (Lewis 135)
struggles to regulate because it can’t put a
finger on the discrepancy between our lack of
spiritual experiences and our beliefs.
It doesn’t matter how many virtues our
“Courage is . . . the form of every virtue at
superego has, if we have no ego to enforce
testing point.” (Lewis 161)
them, they are worth nothing.
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“When once a sort of official, legal, or
nominal Unselfishness has been established
If the devil can convince us that the virtues that
as a rule-a rule for the keeping of which their are a part of the super ego are only social rules
emotional resources have died away and their without value, he can kill our spiritual growth
spiritual resources have not yet grown-the
with “the most delightful results” for the id.
most delightful results follow.” (Lewis 143)
Using a devil as the speaker creates a backwards perspective that allows Lewis to focus on the
intricacies of the id and thus create a situation in which the reader can recognize the power of the
id on his own ego and superego’s weaknesses.
Analysis Essay: Inverted Insight: A Psychoanalysis of The Screwtape Letters
Approaching the art of temptation with the pen of a devil, C.S. Lewis provides unique
insight into the nature of the id and its influence on humanity. By using Screwtape as a narrator
Lewis adopts a demonic perspective, “Making goods ‘bad’ and bads ‘good’ gets to be
[spiritually] fatiguing.” (Buseck 1) Although Lewis did not enjoy looking through such a
demoralizing lens, the effect of this converse perspective supplies intriguing psychoanalytic
acuity into the reader’s psyche and is key to understanding The Screwtape Letters’ enduring
meaning.
Lewis employs methods that “strengthen the legitimacy of [Screwtape’s]
impersonation” (Coyle 77); they lead the reader to rely on Screwtape as an authentic source of
temptation tactics and thus an advocate of the id. Yet, in his preface, Lewis seemingly
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undermines his character’s trustworthiness by telling his readers that they must not believe
everything Screwtape says. Ironically, this warning only increases Screwtape’s credibility. There
is no morality in the id and Screwtape cannot maintain any moral characteristics, like honesty, if
he is to fulfill his role as a personification of the id.
If no morality principle governs Screwtape’s actions, how can such a character be
motivated? Lewis’ inverted perspective allows him to provide something as despicable as, “the
festering of [humans’] eternally impenitent spite, passing into [Screwtape’s] spiritual digestion”
(Lewis 209) as adequate motivation for an id-immersed character. Even when Screwtape
professed ‘love’ for his nephew, it was saturated in a self-serving desire for this pleasurable
consumption (Lewis 171).
Screwtape’s relationship with the id has significant effects on the reader. One psychology
expert, Avinash De Sousa, elucidated, “Unconsciousness may be perceived as entirely composed
of . . . some ideas that were not originally conscious but could become conscious.” (212)
According to Screwtape, the most important law of hell is to make certain that the preconscious
ideas Sousa refers to never become conscious. To ensure this, Screwtape causes the id bubble up
into expression without mans awareness. He twists man’s view so that they think they are
exhibiting characteristics superego while in reality, their motivation originates in the id. On the
subject of spirituality, Screwtape tells Wormwood, “As long as he retains externally the habits of
a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one”(Lewis 57). If the id can maintain its
position in the preconscious it can effectively trigger feelings of guilt and discomfort causing
man to not only succumb but to “beg [the tempter] to distract his purpose and benumb his heart”
(Lewis 59). All of Screwtape’s letters drive Wormwood to work towards this end.
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The anecdote for this deceit is epiphany. On epiphany, Screwtape rants, “Didn’t you
foresee. . . that it would peel off from his sensibility the kind of crust you have been forming on
it?” (Lewis 65) Screwtape’s abhorrence for epiphanies helps the reader, through Lewis’ inverted
prospective, see how valuable it is in their psychological progression to overcome the previously
unperceived influences of the id in their lives through recognition.
Without the id, there is no temptation; without temptation, there are no Screwtape letters.
Screwtape’s link to the id opens the eyes of the readers to its influence in their own lives and
motivates them to initiate life changes. This psychological connection has made The Screwtape
Letters a surviving classic.
More Critical Applications: Purpose Behind Meaning
Historical/Biographical Criticism: What works of C.S. Lewis were published around the same
time as The Screwtape Letters?
C.S. Lewis’ published works within a year or two of The Screwtape Letters all tended to
do with temptation and overcoming the natural man. A Preface to Paradise Lost analyzed
different aspects of the fall of man. The Abolition of Man spoke of the importance of morals in
helping man overcome the devil. Perelandra was Lewis’ idea of what would have happened had
there been no fall, and therefore no sin, in this world. Understanding the themes of these works
helps us appreciate that Lewis’ unique approach in The Screwtape Letters is one method among
many that he employed to convey his insights about sin and temptation. He obviously thought
this topic was of great importance.
Formalism: Why did Lewis structure the novel as a one way correspondence? In other words,
why did Lewis not include Wormwood’s responses to Screwtape?
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Psychoanalytic Theory: What qualities of persuasion were enhanced by using a narrator that
praised human id qualities and was perhaps even a representation of the id himself?
Reader-Response Criticism: Using the reception theory, what can we learn about relationships
between the readers of this novel and its text?
In most consumer reviews of The Screwtape Letters, one will find mention after shameless
mention of guilt as a reader reaction. This guilt has motivated people across the ages to resist
temptation. It has paid off for those readers (also evident in the reviews) and thus Lewis’ least
favorite publication has become one of his most popular.
Mythic and Archetypal: What implications does combining the archetypes of the trickster and
the wise old man in the story’s protagonist have on the impact of the message of The Screwtape
Letters?
Feminism: Why was Wormwood’s patient not a female?
Previous to World War II, women’s place was in the home. Within the story, the patient’s
girl plays into this role. Women had gained rights and were no longer under inescapable
oppression but they were still dominated by the traditional. That changed during and following
the war, but when Lewis wrote his book, it would have been a social taboo to write from a
woman’s perspective, especially as a man. Lewis wasn’t looking for that kind of attention, so he
stayed with what he knew was safe.
New Historicism: What influence did this text have on a war-torn Europe?
Multicultural Criticism: How does this text increase its reader’s accountability when faced with
the temptation tactics mentioned in the book?
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This book offers marvelous insight into ways the devil slips into our minds and
influences our thought processes. When these novel tactics are revealed to the reader, they
become aware of them in their own lives and, consequentially, can no longer be justified in
succumbing because of their ignorance. Screwtape’s suggestions create a higher standard of
resistance to evil that the reader must live up to.
Works Cited
Buseck, Craig von. “C.S. Lewis on ‘The Screwtape Letters’ and Man in Space.” CBM.com. The
Christian Broadcasting Network. 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Jul. 2011
Coyle, Daniel. “Diabolical Ventriloquism: A Case Study in the Rhetoric of Eternity with C.S.
Lewis’s Infamous Imp Screwtape.” Diss. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2010.
Dissertations & Theses: Full Text, ProQuest. 82-101. Web. 19 Jul. 2011.
De Sousa, Avinash. “Freudian Theory and Consciousness: A Conceptual Analysis.” Mens Sana
Monographs 9.1 (2011): 210-216. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 19 Jul. 2011
Gilbert, Douglas, & Kilby, Clyde. C.S. Lewis: Images of His World. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979. pp. 9-15. Print.
Lewis, Clive Staples. The Screwtape Letters. Great Britain: Goeffrey Bles. 1942. Print.
Skinner, Andrew & Millet, Richard. Ed. C.S. Lewis: The Man and His Message. Salt Lake
City, Utah: Bookcraft. 1999. pp. 168-172. Print.
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