Screwtape Letters Test Study Guide
Vocabulary:
Ceaseless
Covey
Chittered
Dank
Blustered
Interval
Pulque
Crevices
Lymphatic
Strenuous
Alms
Indigent
Scurrying
Estuary
Mirage
Vagueness
Bulwark
Poultice
Undulating
Obscured
Scuttling
Perceptible
Deliberately
Main characters in the book
Theme
Setting
“Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing
them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves.”
“Whenever there is prayer, there is danger of His own immediate action. But of course the Enemy will
not meantime be idle.”
Suffering is part of redemption – how?
Irony – him signing “Your affectionate uncle Screwtape.”
Screwtape tells Wormwood, “It is your business to see that the patient never thinks of the present fear
as his appointed cross, but only of the things he is afraid of.”
Screwtape has “great hopes that the patient’s religious phase is dying away.” Page 40
“We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons.” Page 41
Screwtape says the “Enemy’s servants have been preaching about “The World” for two thousand years.”
Then he adds, “ Fortunately they have said very little about it for the last few decades.” Pg 47
How does this affect us? Is this the world in which we live today?
Screwtape talks about the two parallel lives we lead: “a different man in each of the circle he frequents.”
Pg 47. Is this true with you?
Screwtape is talking about laughter, joy, music etc. He says Joy “Promotes charity, courage,
contentment and many other evils.” Pg 50
In letter XII (page 52), Screwtape talks about how he is glad the patients is still a churchgoer. He said, “as
long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who
has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was six
weeks ago.” Does this sound familiar?
Screwtape says that Wormwood will be able to slowly get the patient out of the habit(s) of being a
Christian. “As this condition becomes more fully established, you will be gradually freed from the
tiresome business of providing Pleasures as temptations.” Pg 53
“It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man
away from the Light and out into the Nothing.” Page 54
Letter XIII
Screwtape says that Wormwood has let the patient “slip through your fingers.”
“The repentance and renewal of what the other side call “grace” on the scale which you describe is a
defeat of the first order.” Page 55
Screwtape talking about God:
“Remember, always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of
every one of them.” Page 56
Screwtape is mad in XIV (page 58) that the patient has become humble. How does being humble bring
us closer to God? Are you humble? I am humble from being laid off.
XIV
Screwtape to Wormwood, The Enemy “wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognize all
creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things.” Pg 59
Screwtape says that The Enemy “would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity
or with the Present.” Page 61
Screwtape talks about marriage and how The Enemy created it (and all Pleasures). He says, “There are
several young women in your patient’s neighborhood who would render Christian life intensely difficult
to him.. . ” page 75
Screwtape says the patient is in love and the new approach should be to corrupt the spirituality in his
life. Page 85. How does the Devil try to corrupt us? What does Screwtape physically turn into after
getting so mad with Wormwood over the patients girlfriend?
In the end, the Germans invade the patient’s town (during WWII) and he is killed during an air raid. He
goes to Heaven. Wormwood is to be punished for “letting a soul slip through your fingers.”
When the patient dies, he sees Wormwood and recognizes him as a devil/demon (page 109)
“There was a sudden clearing of his eyes as he saw you for the first time, and recognized the part you
had had in him and knew you had it no longer.”
“He got through so easily!” Screwtape is livid that the patient went ot Heaven and without suffering (ie:
in a nursing home, “false hopes of life”, etc.) Page 110. He says that Wormwood will pay and be
reprimanded for letting this happen.