DOCSLIB.ORG

Responding to CS Lewis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Responding to CS Lewis The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2008 Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis Lisa Moate University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Moate, L. (2008). Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis (Honours). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/67 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Arts and Sciences, Fremantle Is Pain Really God’s Megaphone? Responding to C.S. Lewis Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Philosophy of Lisa Moate Supervised by Dr. Richard Hamilton October 2008 2 DEDICATED TO C.S. “Jack” Lewis (1898-1963) and his beloved wife Helen Joy Davidman (1915-1960) 3 DECLARATION I declare that this Project is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary institution. ___________________________ __________________________ Name Signature ____________________ Date 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Richard Hamilton, who pushed me to work to the highest standards than I thought I was capable of. I would like to thank Dr. Dawn Darlastan-Jones, the Honours Coordinator, for her patience, advice and support; the staff in the School of Philosophy and Theology for their encouragement and assistance and for giving me the opportunity to work as a sessional tutor; Dr. Henry Novello who was kind enough to provide me with extensive critical feedback of the second draft; Dr. Angeline O’Neill, who read Chapter’s Four and Five; Mark Kingston and Peter Geers who proof read the first chapter; Mr Colin Redmond who was always willing to share his wisdom and offer support; and Ms Judith Schneider whose ‘door was always open’ and who gave incredible and insurmountable support and friendship throughout the year. Thanks especially for all the cups of tea when I needed a shoulder to lean on. Thanks also go to my students, who helped me realise how much I love taking the role of educator in the discipline of philosophy. I would like to thank James Higgins, who gave continual support and understanding over the last two years; and Colette Bell who has always been willing to listen when I needed to talk and who has given the utmost in unquestioning support and understanding through all the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’. I would especially like to acknowledge the late Associate Professor Anthony Imbrosciano whose encouragement, support, and friendship offered me the most significant motivation to begin higher studies and a teaching career in philosophy. 5 ABSTRACT In this study I will defend C.S. Lewis’ claim that people can be morally improved through experiences of pain and suffering and that, as such, attempts to avoid painful experiences are inappropriate. In explaining the context within which Lewis treats pain, a discussion of the nature of pain itself is not necessary since the importance of Lewis’ work lies in its practical application and the role it has in people’s lives; that is, in contributing towards our moral growth. The nature of pain is examined insofar as clarifying the idea it that can only be understood individually due to the distinct uniqueness of the person as a singular entity and the respective individuality of perspective and linguistic interpretation. Because of this individuality, responses to pain differ vastly, and for this reason it is important to emphasise the benefits of endurance and the consequences of avoidance in painful experiences. Furthermore, I have examined the way Lewis deals with the claim in each of his various genres in order to show how his work collectively contributes toward the development of this position. 6 CONTENTS Chapter One – Introductory........................................................................................................................7 1: Introduction...................................................................................................................................7 2: Lewis’ Task as a Writer.............................................................................................................9 3: Putting Pain into Context.......................................................................................................12 Chapter Two – Arguments in The Problem of Pain .........................................................................21 1: Pain is God’s Megaphone to Rouse a Deaf World........................................................21 2: Breaking the Will.......................................................................................................................23 3: Perfection through Suffering at the Hands of Others................................................26 4: Humans are Perfected through ‘Corrective Good’......................................................29 Chapter Three – Theological Arguments............................................................................................32 1: The Human Relationship with God....................................................................................32 2: ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’.....................................................................................................................37 3: The Fall of Man...........................................................................................................................40 Chapter Four – Literary Arguments, part one..................................................................................44 1: Spirits in Bondage – A Cycle of Lyrics .................................................................................44 2: A Grief Observed .........................................................................................................................51 Chapter Five – Literary Arguments, part two...................................................................................57 1: The Screwtape Letters ..............................................................................................................57 2: The Chronicles of Narnia .........................................................................................................62 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................73 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................................75 7 CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTORY 1: Introduction In this study I will defend C.S. Lewis’ claim that human beings are improved through experiences of pain and suffering and I will show that Lewis’ work reflects this claim. Lewis writes that “I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine of being made ‘perfect through suffering’ is not incredible”. 1 Throughout his work, Lewis uses both the terms ‘improvement’ and ‘perfection’ in relation to this concept. ‘Perfection’ through pain and suffering indicates that these experiences improve people for the purposes of progression towards developing a better moral character. In addition, Lewis’ quote that “pain is [God’s] megaphone to rouse a deaf world” is reflected in the title of this dissertation because it reflects this claim. 2 Although it will be dealt with further in Chapter Two, Lewis uses the quote to explain that pain both indicates hindrances to moral development and motivates people to attend to those hindrances. In this way, moral lessons can be acquired through experiences of pain and suffering. The question of whether or not perfection is ever attained through this process, however, is not one that I will seek to answer in this study, which will be limited specifically to showing that Lewis’ work supports the claim that suffering is a necessary contribution toward the development of one’s moral character. I must also acknowledge that suffering is perhaps not the only means of improvement. Due to the individual and personal nature of these experiences (as part three of this chapter will argue) people respond in different ways, sometimes resulting in negative rather than positive reactions. However, this does not mean that positive results are not possible for these people. I will argue that all experiences of suffering have the capacity to advance people’s moral growth, regardless of their response to it. 1 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain , 1940, Signature Classics Edn, (HarperCollins Publishers; London, 2002), p.105. 2 Ibid, p.91. 8 Lewis’ work reflects many different questions and issues regarding pain and suffering and its presence in people’s lives. In addition to themes that support the claim of suffering as a means of improvement, The Problem of Pain acknowledges the logical dilemma of why an apparently all-loving, all-powerful God would allow pain and suffering to exist, in addition to issues that reflect the difficulty involved with arriving at an adequate
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A CS Lewis Related Cumulative Index of <I>Mythlore</I>
    Volume 22 Number 2 Article 10 1998 A C.S. Lewis Related Cumulative Index of Mythlore, Issues 1-84 Glen GoodKnight Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation GoodKnight, Glen (1998) "A C.S. Lewis Related Cumulative Index of Mythlore, Issues 1-84," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 22 : No. 2 , Article 10. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol22/iss2/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Author and subject index to articles, reviews, and letters in Mythlore 1–84. Additional Keywords Lewis, C.S.—Bibliography; Mythlore—Indexes This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol22/iss2/10 MYTHLORE I s s u e 8 4 Sum m er 1998 P a g e 5 9 A C.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Mere Christianity
    Welcome to Dr. Kerry Irish’s study guide of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. This study guide is unique in that it begins with an introduction that explains how Mere Christianity came into being, and also how Lewis became a Christian. I have divided Mere Christianity into six discussions. Each of the discussions is labeled according to the Book and Chapters it includes. I did not use page numbers as there are many editions of Mere Christianity each with its own pagination system. However, my study guide retains the four books and chapter titles that Lewis used. The chapters are all about four to six pages long so finding the answers to the study questions should not be too hard. May the God who pursued C.S. Lewis bless your study. Introduction: C.S. Lewis: Reluctant Convert The unfolding of your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130 It is August, 1941 London, England. Great Britain has been at war against Nazi Germany and the Italian Empire for nearly two years. The British people stand virtually alone against the greatest combined aggressive power the world has ever seen. These stalwart people have survived the fall of France and Germany’s attempted invasion of England itself the previous year. In that autumn of 1940, their young men answered the siren call, ran to their aircraft, and flew into the clouds to face the overwhelming numbers of the German air force. Almost miraculously these few hundred men saved the British Empire, and perhaps the world, as they traded their blood for time, time for Great Britain to arm and respond to Adolf Hitler’s attempt to rule Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis Jenna Grime Abilene Christian University
    Inklings Forever Volume 5 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Fifth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Article 23 Friends 6-2006 Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis Jenna Grime Abilene Christian University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Grime, Jenna (2006) "Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis," Inklings Forever: Vol. 5 , Article 23. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol5/iss1/23 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis Cover Page Footnote Undergraduate Student Essay This essay is available in Inklings Forever: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol5/iss1/23 INKLINGS FOREVER, Volume V A Collection of Essays Presented at the Fifth FRANCES WHITE COLLOQUIUM on C.S. LEWIS & FRIENDS Taylor University 2006 Upland, Indiana Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis Jenna Grime Grime, Jenna. “Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis.” Inklings Forever 5 (2006) www.taylor.edu/cslewis Faith and Reconciliation in the Poetry of C.S. Lewis Jenna Grime Acclaimed as one of the twentieth century’s most different notebooks that were later collected to form the influential writers of Christian apologetics and basis for Spirits.
    [Show full text]
  • David C. Downing Ffirs.Qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page Ii Ffirs.Qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page I Ffirs.Qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page Ii Ffirs.Qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page Iii
    ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page iii David C. Downing ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page ii ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page i ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page ii ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page iii David C. Downing ffirs.qxd 8/16/05 11:44 AM Page iv Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/ permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty:While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
    [Show full text]
  • Select Bibliography of the Works of C.S. Lewis
    C.S. Lewis: A Select Bibliography This is not a comprehensive listing of Lewis’s works. For a more complete list, please see the following: C.S. Lewis: An Annotated Checklist by Joe R. Christopher and Joan K. Ostling (Kent State UP), 1974. Remembering C.S. Lewis: Recollections of Those Who Knew Him. James Como, Ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005. (Includes updated Lewis bibliography by Walter Hooper) FICTION -Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis (1905-1913, not published until 1985) -The Pilgrim's Regress (1933) -Out of the Silent Planet (1938) (Science Fiction, Book I of the Space Trilogy) -The Screwtape Letters (1942) -Perelandra (1943) (Science Fiction, Book II of the Space Trilogy) -That Hideous Strength (1945) (Science Fiction, Book III of the Space Trilogy) -The Great Divorce (1945) -The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -Prince Caspian (1951) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -The Silver Chair (1953) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -The Horse and His Boy (1954) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -The Magician's Nephew (1955) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -The Last Battle (1956) (The Chronicles of Narnia) -Till We Have Faces (1956) -Screwtape Proposes a Toast and Other Pieces (1965) -Mark vs. Tristram (imaginary correspondence by C.S. Lewis and Owen Barfield, 1967) -The Dark Tower and Other Stories, Walter Hooper, ed. (1977) CORRESPONDENCE -Letters of C.S. Lewis, W.H. Lewis, ed. (1966) -Letters to an American Lady, Clyde Kilby, ed. (1967) -The Letters of C.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Surprised by Joy by C.S
    All the value lay in that of which Joy was the desiring. STUDY GUIDE to Surprised by Joy By C.S. Lewis Introduction Lewis wrote Surprised by Joy over a period of seven years (1948 – 1955), intending it to be a particular account of his conversion rather than a general autobiography. The book chronicles Lewis’ early life from 1898 – 1931, and in it we are largely presented with an adult perspective on the younger Lewis. The title is taken from a poem by Wordsworth which begins: Surprised by Joy – Impatient as the Wind I turned to share the transport – Oh! with whom But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb. The Times Literary Supplement, in its review of Surprised by Joy (1995) said: “The tension of these final chapters holds the interest like the close of a thriller. Nor is this lessened by the fact that the spiritual experiences here recorded follow – intellectually, at least – no common pattern. Few other Christians can have been convinced by just such strategy; few ever could be. God moves, indeed, in a mysterious way, and this book gives a brilliant account of one of the oddest and most decisive end-games He has ever played.” adapted from Walter Hooper’s “C.S.Lewis: A Companion and Guide” Chronology of Lewis’ life up until conversion 1898 - Lewis born 29th November. 1905 - The family moves to Little Lea. 1908 - Lewis’ mother dies. Lewis enrolled at Wynyard school. 1911 - Lewis goes to Cherbourg House, Malvern (he here abandoned his childhood faith). 1913 - Lewis enrolled at Malvern College, Malvern.
    [Show full text]
  • The Collected Poems of CS Lewis by CS Lewis
    Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis. Lewis, C.S. The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis. Ed. Walter Hooper. London: Fount Publications [HarperCollins Publishers], 1994. 263 pp. ISBN 0-00-627833-7. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. [This review originally appeared as “Athens, Troy, Jerusalem” in Mythlore 20.4 (#78) (1995): 60.] The latest product of the Editor’s ceaseless industry, this volume includes the entire contents of Lewis’s Poems (1964), Spirits in Bondage (1919), and A Miscelleny of additional poems (copyrighted 1986 and 1994) of which (as was the case with the first edition of the works in the 1964 volume), many have been published before but not collected, and some appear in print for the first time. And will, of course, be welcome to readers of Lewis, whether they have already managed to acquire Poems or Spirits in Bondage or not. In addition to the poems, there are not only Hooper’s original introduction to Poems (1964) but a new Introduction by him, discussing the contents of all three sections including the Miscellany, and—deliciously sharp-tongued—an “Introductory Letter” (1963) by Lewis himself, which was, Hooper says, to have accompanied “a volume to be called Young King Cole, and Other Pieces” (xvi). Readers may recall that Lewis also wrote four long poems, of which only the first was published in his lifetime: Dymer (1926), Launcelot , the Nameless Isle , and The Queen of Drum . The four were published with a Preface by the editor Walter Hooper, as Narrative Poems (1969), and this has been published again as a companion volume without apparent revisions under the same title, in the same format and date as The Collected Poems of C.S, Lewis , that is, in 1994.
    [Show full text]
  • C.S. Lewis's Lost Arthurian Poem: a Conjectural Essay Joe R
    Inklings Forever Volume 8 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Joint Meeting of The Eighth Frances White Ewbank Article 2 Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends and The C.S. Lewis & The Inklings Society Conference 5-31-2012 C.S. Lewis's Lost Arthurian Poem: A Conjectural Essay Joe R. Christopher Tarleton University Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Christopher, Joe R. (2012) "C.S. Lewis's Lost Arthurian Poem: A Conjectural Essay," Inklings Forever: Vol. 8 , Article 2. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol8/iss1/2 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INKLINGS FOREVER, Volume VIII A Collection of Essays Presented at the Joint Meeting of The Eighth FRANCES WHITE EWBANK COLLOQUIUM ON C.S. LEWIS & FRIENDS and THE C.S. LEWIS AND THE INKLINGS SOCIETY CONFERENCE Taylor University 2012 Upland, Indiana C.S. Lewis’s Lost Arthurian Poem: A Conjectural Essay Joe R. Christopher Tarleton University Christopher, Joe R. “C.S. Lewis’s Lost Arthurian Poem: A Conjectural Essay.” Inklings Forever 8 (2012) www.taylor.edu/cslewis 1 C. S. Lewis’s Lost Arthurian Poem: A Conjectural Essay Joe R. Christopher Tarlton University When C.
    [Show full text]
  • Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith by Gary S
    ivpress.com Taken from Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith by Gary S. Selby. Copyright © 2019 by Gary S. Selby. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com CHAPTER ONE AN INCONSOLABLE SECRET OUR LONGING FOR JOY Early in his spiritual memoir, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis recounted a moment from childhood when he stood beside a fl owering red currant bush on a summer day and was suddenly overcome by a feeling of over- whelming desire, a sensation of wistfulness and longing, “without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries.” He struggled to fi nd words to describe what he felt, although later he would say that Milton’s phrase, “the enormous bliss of Eden,” came close. And then, just as quickly, the experience was gone. “Th e world turned commonplace again.” Th e sensation had lasted for just a brief instant and yet, he re- alized all other pleasures were nothing compared to this.1 Most of us have known that experience, that fl eeting glimpse of par- adise that steals over us unbidden, oft en when we are not looking. I re- member sitting on a bus crowded with commuters one fall morning, quite early. I was looking over my notes for the class I would teach later that day when the bus passed a small lake at the base of a sloping hillside blanketed by oaks and maples ablaze in the full color of autumn. I looked up and instantly felt the sensation of sweet desire, the ache of beauty, the 1 SJ, 16.
    [Show full text]
  • C. S. Lewis and Intelligent Design
    7 C. S. Lewis and Intelligent Design John G. West FEW MONTHS AFTER BEING DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY AT THE A end of World War I, a twenty-year-old C. S. Lewis published his first book, a cycle of poems titled Spirits in Bondage (1919).1 Te opening poem, “Satan Speaks,” provided a grim view of nature that might startle many of Lewis’s later readers: I am Nature, the Mighty Mother, I am the law: ye have none other. I am the flower and the dewdrop fresh, I am the lust in your itching flesh. I am the battle’s filth and strain, I am the widow’s empty pain. I am the sea to smother your breath, I am the bomb, the falling death… I am the spider making her net, I am the beast with jaws blood-wet2 Many of the poems in Spirits in Bondage displayed Lewis’s passion- ate, even angry, atheism during this period of his life, inspired by what he referred to as the “Argument from Undesign”: the idea that the pain, cruelty, and wastefulness of nature supplies the best evidence against the view that a benevolent deity created the world.3 Lewis’s captivation by the argument from undesign reflected not only the personal tragedies of his life (such as the death of his mother from cancer during his childhood), but also his reading of scientific ma- 154 / The Magician’s Twin terialists like H. G. Wells who nourished the young Lewis’s imagina- tion with depictions of the universe as vast, cold, and impersonal.4 Even after Lewis became a Christian, he remained skeptical of the traditional “argument from design,” which purported to show that from various fea- tures of nature one can prove the existence of the Christian God.
    [Show full text]
  • Myth and War in CS Lewis's Ransom Trilogy
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 The Sacrament Of Violence: Myth And War In C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy Tanya Engelhardt University of Central Florida Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Engelhardt, Tanya, "The Sacrament Of Violence: Myth And War In C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2123. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2123 THE SACRAMENT OF VIOLENCE: MYTH AND THE GREAT WAR IN C.S. LEWIS’S RANSOM TRILOGY by TANYA ENGELHARDT B.S. Grove City College, 2008 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2012 i © 2012 Tanya L. Engelhardt ii ABSTRACT My primary aim for this study is to illuminate the Ransom trilogy’s inherent psychological and spiritual themes, as well as demonstrate how these themes clarify Lewis’s philosophical and political goals for the text. Specifically, by investigating Lewis’s mythic imagery and suffering motifs in light of psychoanalytic and theological literary criticisms, I elucidate the reasoning behind Lewis’s unique—and at times, horrific—portrayal of fear, violence, and death.
    [Show full text]
  • C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy: a Study in Allegory
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Cardinal Scholar I ~ c. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy: A Study in Allegory An Honors Tbesis (HONRS 499) by Karen Mounts Dr. Mathew Fisber, advisor Ball State University MUncie, Indiana July 1997 Graduation date: December 21, 1997 , :.,-..> . r (1 ! I -::'r'" Cl I~€' ,v I- [) ~('! • / Ij 19(17 .I1C:>'Z Abstract This discussion of C. S. Lewis's use of allegory focuses on his Space Trilogy, which includes Out ofthe Silent Planet. Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength The paper begins with a literary biography of Lewis up to and including the Space Trilogy, and then examines the allegory Lewis employs in these three novels. Special consideration is given to the purpose and the effects of the allegory, as well as how, as the trilogy progresses, Lewis changes his techniques in using allegory. - Ackno ledgments I would like to thank my family and ends who have supported me throughout this endeavor, even though ost of the time they had no idea what I was talking about. 0- Special thanks go to Jenn Parker, for sh truly understands the grueling process of preparing a thesis. Her pathy helped me infinitely. Very special thanks to Mat Fisher w 0 served as my mentor, encouraged me, challenged me, stretched me, and most ·mportantly, put up with me on my Stupid Days. Without ~ this thesis - and y college career - would have lacked that 3 - Table of Contents Introduction (4) C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy: A Study in Allegory (6) Appendices Appendix A: A Study of Allegory (31) An Original Allegory (32) Comment on the Original Allegory (39) Appendix B: A Study of AJlusion (41) A Piece of Allusive Fiction (42) Comment on the Allusive Fiction (44) Reader Response to the Allusive Fiction (45) Appendix C: Angels and Eldila (48) Works Cited (50) Selected Bibliography (52) 4 - Introduction My love for literature is as old as I am.
    [Show full text]