Saturday, September 4, 2010

Screwtape Analysis (Final Draft)

        Screwtape says, “We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design them only for the table” (Lewis 40). Throughout the book, Screwtape suggests to Wormwood to use many temptations against the Patient to lead him off course. The Screwtape Letters shows how human nature is full of temptations that are constantly used by the devil to mislead a person.
        A major time when temptation is used to draw a person away from God is during the trough periods. Screwtape clearly states, "…the Trough periods of the human undulation provide excellent opportunity for all sensual temptations..." (Lewis 43) During this time, a human is feeling emptiness and depression from a loss or anything that has not gone according to plan. To fill this emptiness, the devil provides sexual temptations along with other temptations to draw the person away. The devil is very cunning in the ways he provides these temptations and when to target a weakened person. A Christian should especially be aware of this time. The devil is constantly targeting Christians and uses lust many times. An example of an actual time was Samson and Delilah. In Judges 16:6, “…Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength [lieth], and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee,” Delilah tempted Samson to find his weakness and turn him in to his enemies for money. She does this four times and he eventually fell into sin. Temptations are dangerous for many because it causes great loss and affects many people.
        The Screwtape Letters shows that during difficult times, the temptations to sin is high. The devil is constantly working to ensure that a person especially Christians would fall to the many temptations. Once someone falls into temptation, it is difficult to get out of it. It’s a never-ending cycle of sinful desires that continually grow throughout time. This is the main motive of the devil in order to take down whoever that has fallen into temptation with him in the end.


Works Cited

Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Print.

No comments:

Post a Comment