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The Theme Of The Screwtape Letters

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In the novel, The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, a theme that is conveyed is that we must have resilience in the face of adversity within our faith lives. This theme is supported throughout the book when the Patient is given many temptations, or distractions, that he must overcome. One instance where this theme is supported is when the Patient is encouraged to become acquainted with the wrong crowd. These people are poor influences on the Patient and will eventually lead him to stray away from God. For example, Screwtape describes the group as being, “. . . rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly sceptical about everything in the world(49).” He finds these people to be the perfect fit for the Patient because they question everything that is put in front of them and cannot possibly believe in an almighty being. Because he is around them so frequently, he will start to act like them -vain, sceptical, prideful- which Screwtape believes will eventually become his new personality. If this attempt to sway the Patient to act like the rich and “superior” people is successful, then it will be very difficult for Him to bring the …show more content…

He is insinuating that they should guide the Patient to the wrong of his two desires in women. For instance, Screwtape states, “There is one type for which his desire is such as to be naturally amenable to the Enemy–readily mixed with charity, . . . obedient to marriage, coloured all through with that golden light of reverence and naturalness . . . there is another type which he desires brutally . . . a type best used to draw him away from marriage altogether(108).” He is implying that the latter is more helpful to their cause than the former. Even though the Patient is influenced by Screwtape’s beliefs and attempts, he is able to find a good, sweet, Christian girl that helps him connect with

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Lewis illustrates the power of group prayer in The Screwtape Letters Lewis very creatively writes letters from Uncle Screwtape (the head demon) to Wormwood, who is another demon living in a new believer on earth. Uncle Screwtape gives Wormwood advice on how to turn the man away from God so he advises against things that would bring man and God closer and endorses activities and thought that drives man and God further apart. In this letter Screwtape says “the best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether” (The Screwtape Letters 24). Screwtape recognizes the power and goodness of group prayer as a moral activity, because the people are doing it to worship God, not themselves or the devil.

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C.S. Lewis, a Christian writer from England, penned a manuscript in 1942 called The Screwtape Letters that examined the temptations presented to man by Satan. “Lewis's Screwtape Letters was certainly one of his most popular works, and by his own admission it was a work that he found easy to write” (Harwood 24). By being a Christian himself, Lewis could sympathize and identify with fellow Christians undergoing the onslaught of spiritual attacks. Christians struggle daily with the temptations of Satan similar to those that Screwtape directs his nephew, Wormwood, to employ towards the Patient. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis uses the character, Patient, to symbolize everyman and his struggles with overcoming temptations by showing how Screwtape attempts to conjure a plan for Wormwood to lure the Patient to the Devil’s camp with Satan’s insipid temptations of vanity,

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