Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Reconstruct the argument of Screwtape's sixth letter in sequence, then identify the single principle from which the rest follows. How can you tell that the inward bend of attention, not the louder counsel about hatred and fear, is the letter's center of gravity?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape reduces his whole method to one 'general rule': keep the man 'unself-conscious' toward the object during vice, but 'bend his mind back on itself' during virtue. Why does Lewis suggest that self-consciousness is fatal to goodness yet useful against sin, and what does this imply about the relationship between attention and moral integrity? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
- Screwtape divides the Enemy's aim — that men be 'concerned with what they do' — from the devils' aim, 'to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.' Why might Lewis hold that the present moment of action, not the imagined future, is the only arena of genuine freedom, and how does 'suspense and anxiety' dissolve that freedom? Point to the words that describe the barricaded mind.
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Critical Thinking
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