Brainstorming for Analysis Ideas

Here are some of the topics I have.


1) I think that pleasure and pain are symbols for reality. "The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality." (Lewis, 64). 


2) The Screwtape Letters, often uses the Bible and God as pleasures. "...that sort of pleasure which the book and the walk gave him was the most dangerous of all..." (Lewis, 64).


3) Music, poetry, movies, etc, are symbols for the different blessings that God has given us. The ability for us to enjoy these things is a blessing too because people like Screwtape don't understand the importance of music, etc. like we do. "Something like it is expressed in much of that detestable art which humans call Music, and something it occurs in Heaven-a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us." (Lewis, 53, 54).


4)When people read the Bible and get the pleasure from reading it, they are pulled away from the devil's deception. In the movie Inception, the characters used an object called a totem to tell whether they were in reality or whether they were being deceived. We use the Bible and God as our "totem" to make sure we are not in a dream created by the devil to distract us from our job to fulfill God's will for our lives. 


5) I also believe that the author uses Allegory through all the characters in the story. Screwtape, Wormwood, and all the other devils that are mentioned throughout the story are an allegory to man's sinful nature and temptation. 


6) Just like Screwtape and the rest of his friends, temptation always attacks our weak points when we are in those tough situations. 


7) When someone is taking a test and the person sitting right next to them is not covering their answers, the situations suddenly turns into a difficult one. Man's sinful nature then screams to the person, "CHEAT!" Screwtape is always trying to find our vital points and attack us when our faith is at our weakest. This is just like when the temptation to cheat instantly pops in our heads the second we notice our neighbors test answers are not covered.