The theme of deception can first be seen when Screwtape recommended that Wormwood trick him into praying the wrong way. "Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment." (Lewis, 17); this quote shows that Screwtape was trying to deceive the patient into believing that the success of each prayer depended on whether he got what he asked for. When Christians ask God for courage, God puts them through trials where they need courage. God does not instantly gratify a person with the attribute they have prayed for. Screwtape also suggested to Wormwood to trick the patient into praying to a composite object; during prayer the patient would be focused more on that object, then at God (Lewis 18). This is clear evidence that Screwtape was attempting to mislead Wormwood's patient about prayers by feeding lies.
Another way the theme of deception can be seen in The Screwtape Letters, was when the demons tried to deceive the patient about going to church. While Screwtape was talking about the church, he gave Wormwood this piece of advice, "One of our great allies at present is the church itself... Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous." (Lewis, 6-7). Wormwood got advice to fool his patient into judging the church by the people in it. People must realize that Christians do sin and are not perfect, therefore to judge Christianity badly because Christians are not perfect, would be a mistake. This tactic was used to try and turn the patient away from Christianity to make him think it was a big scam. Once the patient started to go to church, Screwtape tried to mislead him into "searching for a 'suitable' church", even if God's will was for him to go to a different one (Lewis, 81-82).
The last way Screwtape and Wormwood revealed the theme of deception was by trying to lie to the patient about who Jesus really was. The demons tried to deceive the patient by making them think of Jesus in the wrong way. Screwtape wanted him to think of Jesus more of a teacher then the Son of God who came to teach us about our morals and "remind" us of our wrong doings (Lewis, 125). When people see Jesus as a human who just had some good ethical ideas, they are not getting the full picture. "We thus distract men's minds from who He is, and what He did. We first make Him solely a teacher, and then conceal the very substantial agreement between His teachings and those of all other great moral teachers. For humans must not be allowed to notice that all great moralists are sent by the Enemy not to inform men but to remind them..." (Lewis, 125). It is important for Christians to remember all the things Jesus has taught them during His life. He is not just a teacher, but the Son of God, who came to earth to die for the sins that we have done and will commit.
The patient endured some struggles and was constantly being lied to by Screwtape and Wormwood. Their lies were all part of their plan to bring him farther away from Christianity and closer to Hell. They tried to deceive the patient about prayer, going to Church, and who Jesus was. The patient was consistently being deceived by the two demons, but his Christian friends, family, and God all helped him to see through Screwtape's deception and make it to heaven in the end.
Works Cited
Lewis, C. S., and C. S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters: with Screwtape Proposes a Toast. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print.
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