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Characters · 10
Our Father Below (Satan)
Our Father Below — the bureaucratic name for Satan in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters — serves more as a looming figure than an active character, representing the terrifying pinnacle of Hell's corporate structure.
character
Screwtape
Screwtape is a senior demon and the letter-writing narrator of C. S. Lewis's satirical novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
character
The Enemy (God)
In The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, the Enemy—who is referred to by that name solely through Screwtape's demonic letters—represents God, the ultimate opponent of Hell's bureaucratic system.
character
The Girl (The Patient's Fiancée)
The Girl appears in the later letters of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters as the Patient's fiancée. Although she never directly speaks or acts on the page, she serves as one of the strongest forces opposing Wormwood's plans.
character
The Patient
The Patient is the unnamed human soul at the heart of C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters — the focus of Wormwood's demonic temptations and, by extension, the subject of Screwtape's strategic advice.
character
The Patient's Mother
The Patient's Mother is a minor but strategically important character in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.
character
Triptweeze
Triptweeze is a minor yet structurally important demonic figure in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.
character
Triptweeze
Triptweeze (slug: triptweeze-2) is a minor yet telling demonic figure from C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, mainly serving as a warning within the bureaucratic structure of Hell.
character
Triptweeze (Screwtape's Secretary)
Triptweeze, known as Screwtape's Secretary, is a minor yet important character in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.
character
Wormwood
Wormwood is a junior demon and the main recipient of his uncle Screwtape's thirty-one instructional letters in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel.
character
Key quotes · 12
“Noise is the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile.”
This unsettling line is delivered by Screwtape, a senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's satirical collection of letters, The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter XXII (22)
“There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth.”
This line is spoken by Screwtape, a senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
This line is spoken by Screwtape, the senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter XXIX
“Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one.”
This chilling line is spoken by Screwtape, a senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter XII
“The present is the point at which time touches eternity.”
This line comes from Screwtape, the senior demon, in a letter to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter, in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter XV
“Even in human life we have seen the passion to dominate, almost to digest, one's fellow; to make his whole intellectual and emotional life merely an extension of one's own.”
This line comes from Screwtape, a senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's satirical novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape
“Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.”
This line comes from Screwtape, a high-ranking demon in Hell's bureaucracy, as he coaches his nephew and less experienced tempter Wormwood on how to lead humans astray.
Screwtape · Letter VIII
“She's the sort of woman who lives for others—you can always tell the others by their hunted expression.”
This wickedly comic line comes from Screwtape, a senior demon, in C. S. Lewis's epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter III
“He cannot ravish. He can only woo.”
This line comes from C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (1942), where the senior demon Screwtape writes to his nephew Wormwood.
Screwtape
“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
This chilling line comes from Screwtape, a senior demon in C. S. Lewis's epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape · Letter XII
“All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.”
This line is delivered by Screwtape, a senior demon and the letter-writing narrator of C. S. Lewis's satirical novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape
“He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.”
This line is delivered by Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew and apprentice Wormwood in C. S. Lewis's satirical epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters (1942).
Screwtape
Symbols · 5
Food and Consumption
In C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, food and consumption represent the demonic hunger for souls and the corrupting essence of Hell's economy.
Light and Darkness
In The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, light and darkness serve as the central moral and spiritual contrasts throughout the story.
Noise and Silence
In The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, Noise and Silence serve as contrasting spiritual forces.
The Bureaucracy of Hell
In C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, the bureaucratic setup of Hell reflects the ultimately empty nature of evil.
The Letters Themselves
In C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, the letters represent a twisted version of truth and corrupted communication.
Literary devices · 8
Paradox
In The Screwtape Letters, paradox isn't just decorative — it drives the entire narrative.
Personification
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis employs personification as more than just an embellishment; it serves as the driving force of the entire narrative.
Metaphor
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis crafts a satirical narrative through an extended metaphor: Hell functions like a bureaucracy, and temptation is portrayed as administrative correspondence.
Irony
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis cleverly uses dramatic irony throughout the work: every piece of "advice" Screwtape gives to his nephew Wormwood is aimed at leading a human soul to damnation, but the reader constantly interprets each wicked suggestion as a call for moral action.
Epistrophe
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis employs epistrophe — the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses — to echo the oppressive, bureaucratic reasoning of Hell and to highlight the emptiness of demonic logic.
Allegory
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis crafts a detailed allegory where the entire machinery of Hell — bureaucratic, officious, and predatory — symbolizes the real psychological and spiritual forces that undermine human virtue.
Allusion
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis weaves allusion throughout, trusting readers to recognize references that enrich the satire without disrupting it.
Dramatic Monologue
C. S. Lewis writes The Screwtape Letters as a continuous dramatic monologue: every word comes from the senior demon Screwtape, and the reader never directly hears from Wormwood, his human "patient," or any heavenly voice.
Vocabulary · 25
incompatible
Describing ideas or beliefs that cannot both be true or exist together at the same time without contradiction.
adjective · Chapter 1
doctrines
Formal sets of beliefs or teachings, especially those officially held by a religion or philosophical system.
noun · Chapter 1
pressing home
Driving a point or argument forcefully and repeatedly into someone's mind so it takes firm hold.
phrase · Chapter 1
pew
A long wooden bench with a back, fixed in rows inside a church for the congregation to sit on during services.
noun · Chapter 2
hitherto
Up until this point in time; until now. Used to describe a situation that existed before a recent change.
adverb · Chapter 2
benevolence
A genuine desire to do good and be kind to other people; goodwill toward others.
noun · Chapter 3
malice
The deliberate wish to harm or cause suffering to another person; spite or ill will.
noun · Chapter 3
unendurably
To a degree that is impossible or nearly impossible to bear or put up with; intolerably.
adverb · Chapter 3
partisan spirit
Strong, often blind loyalty to one side of a cause or group, to the point where fair judgment is lost.
phrase · Chapter 5
Pacifism
The belief that war and violence are never justified and that conflicts should always be settled by peaceful means.
noun · Chapter 5
barricading
Blocking or sealing off completely, so that nothing can get through; here used to mean shutting the mind against a thought or influence.
verb · Chapter 6
Diabolism
Worship of or dealings with the devil; conduct or beliefs associated with evil or demonic forces.
noun · Chapter 7
amphibians
Here used figuratively to mean creatures that belong to two different realms at once — in this text, beings who are partly spiritual and partly physical-animal.
noun · Chapter 8
trough periods
Times of low spiritual feeling, flatness, or dryness in a person's religious life, as opposed to the high or peak moments of strong faith and emotion.
phrase · Chapter 8
peak periods
Times of intense spiritual feeling, enthusiasm, and closeness to God — the emotional highs of a person's religious experience.
phrase · Chapter 8
in favour of
Choosing or preferring one thing instead of another; giving approval or preference to something over something else.
phrase · Chapter 9
dreary
Dull, joyless, and depressingly monotonous; lacking any spark of pleasure or interest.
adjective · Chapter 9
mortals
Human beings, understood as creatures who are subject to death, as opposed to immortal spiritual beings.
noun · Chapter 10
flippancy
A habit of treating serious matters as trivial or funny, using jokes and mockery to avoid genuine thought or honest engagement.
noun · Chapter 11
economical
Here used to mean efficient and requiring little effort or skill to achieve its effect, not relating to money or finance.
adjective · Chapter 11
sensibly present
Perceptible to the senses or feelings in a direct, unmistakable way; able to be felt or experienced concretely rather than merely believed in.
phrase · Chapter 12
craving
A powerful, urgent desire or longing for something, especially one that grows stronger the more it is fed.
noun · Chapter 13
diminishing
Becoming smaller, weaker, or less satisfying over time; steadily decreasing in amount or quality.
adjective · Chapter 13
rejoice
To feel or show great happiness and delight about something; to take genuine pleasure in a good thing.
verb · Chapter 14
self-righteousness
A smug certainty that one's own beliefs and actions are morally superior to those of other people, often combined with harsh judgment of others.
noun · Chapter 5