“The Screwtape Letters” is described as a Christian novel written by Clive Staples Lewis, or commonly known as C.S. Lewis. It is generally written in a epistolary, satirical style, including fiction and non-fiction parts. Screwtape Letters was published in 1942, and it has film adaptation and comic book adaptation as well. “The Screwtape Letters” explains the Christian view of demons and how they affect the life of every human being.
The book is written in a form of letters exchanged between Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood. Screwtape is described as senior devil whose job is to tempt people away from Heaven and into Hell. Screwtape do this by tempting people to commit sins that can take their minds away from God. Under Screwtape’s control is his nephew Wormwood, a junior devil who receives detailed instructions from his uncle. His job in the book Scrwetape Letters is to tempt a newly converted Christian men from Heaven into Hell. Screwtape helps his nephew by giving him instructions what to do. The newly converted Christian man is known as the “patient”. For Screwtape God is the “Enemy”, and they need to fight against Him. At first, Screwtape teaches his nephew about how to tempt human beings away from God. In the book, Screwtape is presented as a experienced, subtle and very wise demon. His nephew Wormwood is a student who needs to learn how to tempt the “patient” to abandon Christianity and to deny God. “The Screwtape Letters” ends when the “patient” escapes from Wormwood by dying and going into Heaven. Wormwood is being doomed for not completing his mission and becomes a meal for his uncle. The entire book takes from of series of letters exchanged between the senior and junior devil. Although “The Screwtape Letters” is generally written from a demon perspective, C.S, Lewis naturally highlights what he sees as essential truths of the Christian worldview.
Both amusing and shocking, “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis was a bestseller, sold in more than a half a million copies all around the world. It was seen as incredible presentation of the creeping existentialism, materialism and atheism. It attracts readers who may have dismissed and abandon Christianity as a moral guide. Screwtape Letters is a challenge for every reader to understand it, because everything presented in the book is morally reverse and opposite from what is known as a good way of living. As a reader, you need to remind yourself that the life explained and advocated by Screwtape is opposite of what needs to be the real Christian way of living. Every chapter covers different temptation, such as lust, smugness, lack of love, etc. “The Screwtape Letters” is a timeless satire presenting the spiritual conflict and psychology behind every temptation which are all part of our lives.