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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the chapter's central claim: courage is not one virtue among many but 'the form of every virtue at the testing point' — the quality each other virtue must take on when goodness suddenly costs something. The example of Pilate, merciful only until mercy grew dangerous, shows that a virtue which collapses under risk was never fully real. Copying the passage helps a student feel how all of Screwtape's tactics circle back to defeating courage.
He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or merc...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Reconstruct Screwtape's twenty-ninth letter to Wormwood in sequence: the choice among cowardice, courage, and hatred; the admission that the devils cannot manufacture virtue; the link between fear and hatred; the risk that facing cowardice could wake the man up; the claim that courage is the test of every virtue; and the closing technique of imaginary reservations. Then name the single idea you think organizes the letter.
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape separates 'the emotion of fear,' which is 'in itself, no sin,' from 'the act of cowardice,' which 'is all that matters.' What is the moral difference he is drawing, and how does it reshape what we should expect of a frightened person who must do their duty? Which detail in the letter to Wormwood helps you decide?
- Screwtape claims courage is 'not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.' What might it mean for courage to be the form every other virtue takes when tested, and why might honesty, mercy, or charity all depend on it? Use details from the letter to Wormwood to develop your view.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Following as a natural result or effect of something.
Item 2
An openness or vulnerability to some influence.
Item 3
Something gained to make up for a loss or hardship.
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Critical Thinking
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