Screwtape Proposes a Toast

This letter is from later in time. Screwtape is at the annual dinner for the Tempters' Training College for devils. He is there because the principal, Slubgob, has asked him to give a toast as the guest of honor. In his toast he talks about how the flavor was lost of many great sinners before. Also that that night's meal was more or less for people who went to hell for smaller crimes like corruption. Throughout this book Screwtape has been trying to convert Wormwood's patient away from Christianity. He corrupted him in a sense. I feel like that is an example of how people go to hell for small things like that rather than something larger like a genocide. All in all I felt that the book was a pretty easy read with some interesting characters and plots. 

Screwtape Letter # 31

The letter I chose to do was the last letter of Screwtapes, Letter 31. In this letter WOrmwood realizes that all is lost and want to know if his uncle really loved him or ever really even did. When Screwtape responds to this he does it in a way that is very nasty and mean. He assures WOrmwood that their mutual desire for each other has always been the same, but states that he is the stronger of the 2 in the world of Hell. In this world the strong prey on the weak and it will never change. The man was killed in this letter. Screwtape describes the incident as "the scream of bombs, the fall of houses, the stink and taste of high explosives on the lips and in the lungs, the feet burning with weariness, the heart cold with horror, the brain reeling..." (p. 172). This seemed very descriptive for me and somewhat unnesassary but that is also how Screwtape's actions have been throughout the book. All in all I think that this book has had its ups and downs but was a pretty easy read. I do not know how I feel about it still in terms of recommending it to a friend, but maybe after reading some blogs on it they could tell for themselves.

Letter #25

The letter I chose to do for this week was letter 25. In this letter Screwtape does not like the patient's new friends because they are Christian. He obviously does not approve of this lifestyle and is upset with his decision to be friends with them. He feels that the patient will become fixated in this religion and he wants to distract him, if at all possible from this. Screwtape also talks about how he would be ok with Christianity as long as it was not followed, but casually looked upon like a trend of some sort. He also talks about how the nature of humans is to constantly want change and they are never satisfied with what they have. Although your religion is not supposed to really change once you have your beliefs, this is not the fact with the patient. I think it's interesting that Screwtape began to compare the religion of Christianity to a 'phase' or 'trend' because I do not believe it should be compared in that way by any means. I feel that he is doing this because he feels it is the only way to sway the patient's thoughts and/or feelings towards it.

Screwtape Latter #22

The letter I chose to do was letter 22. In this letter Screwtape seems to be upset with his nephew Wormwood. Wormwood's patient has fallen in love and Screwtape was not informed of any relationship occuring. Not only has Wormwood betrayed his uncle by not telling him about his patient's new love interest, he has also leaked some of their personal information to the police. Although Screwtape has to deal with this as well, he fixes it and focuses on the bigger picutre, the new girl in the patient's life. He is worried about this new relationship because the girl is a devout Christian which is the worst kind of girl for the patient in Screwtape's opinion. It was interesting to see the patient actually meet and fall for someone. It keeps your interest as to what is going to happen in the following letters with this new girl and how Screwtape will deal with it with his nephew.

Screwtape Letter # 20

The letter I chose to write about was letter 20. In this letter the patient is going through a very calm time in his life. He has resisted all temptation but has also learned that it goes away just as quickly as it comes. Screwtape tries to tell Wormwood to find the patient an unsuitable woman to marry without the emotional attachments. He also says a culture's taste in females is manipulated by the devil in the media. I think that this idea is to remove men from the reality of women through the media's manipulation. By doing this men are unable to love because of the unrealistic images they've received from the media and our culture today. Screwtape is fully aware of this manipulation and is using it to his advantage on the patient.

Screwtape #18

In this letter Screwtape talks about the subject of the sexual temptations. He tells the head of the Training College that he did not teach the students very well. Hethinks that they should be taught more on the subject so that they're not fiends. Although his tone is snobby toward the head of the college, Screwtape acts as though he likes him. When he talks about the subject of sexual temptation, he talks about there are only 2 extremes. You're either completely abstinent or extremely sexually active. According to the Bible, when a man and a womand have intercourse they are made into "one flesh" which is a bond that lasts forever. I found it interesting how much Screwtape touched on this one subject throughout the letter. He seems to be taking a lot of sins to elaborate his feelings toward on in each of the letters.