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Copywork
About This Passage
Here Screwtape explains why flippancy is the devils' favourite tool: it costs nothing. A real joke about virtue takes wit, but anyone can be trained merely to talk as though virtue were laughable. Copying this passage shows a writer how an argument can rank its options and justify a preference — 'the best of all... very economical' — exposing how cheaply a serious thing can be made to seem absurd.
But flippancy is the best of all. In the first place it is very economical. Only a clever human can make a real Joke about virtue, or indeed about anything else; any of them can be trained to talk as ...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, retell Screwtape's eleventh letter to Wormwood in sequence. What are the four kinds of laughter, and how can you tell he treats flippancy as the deadliest weapon of all?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape sorts laughter into 'Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy,' confessing that Joy is 'a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.' Is Joy dangerous to the devils because of what it does to people or because of what it simply is — and which does Lewis emphasize? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
- Screwtape's 'real use' of humour is 'as a means of destroying shame,' so cowardice or cruelty can be excused once it 'can get itself treated as a Joke.' Why does Lewis treat the loss of shame, rather than any single sin, as the deeper victory for the devils? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to develop your answer.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A mismatch; something out of place or oddly inconsistent.
Item 2
A quiet satisfaction; being at peace with what one has.
Item 3
Not wanted; harmful or unwelcome.
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Critical Thinking
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