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Comparing Heaven And Hell In C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce

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At some point in their lives, almost everyone has pondered the idea of what happens to someone after death, regardless of what religion they were. For me and in my life, I have always wondered if I were to die tomorrow, would I in the eyes of Jesus be willingly brought into Heaven. Nobody can say for sure what either Heaven or Hell looks like. Granted all of this, I will describe Heaven and Hell in depth based on the writings of C.S. Lewis in his book The Great Divorce. Along with this, I will add my own perspective on why I believe Lewis portraits these places in the particular ways that he does. Most of our time reading, The Great Divorce, takes place in Heaven. In my eyes, as somewhat of a teaser, Lewis does not bring us directly into …show more content…

It is in particular that my differences of interpretation take place when talking about Hell. Lewis envisions Hell to be a small place where people suffer pain through rain, which will, “Make a hole in you like a machine gun bullet” (Lewis 56). Along with this he also envisions that it is gloomy and broken down. We can see this when he describes the Grey Town and the unstable buildings that make it up. To me, Hell is a much different place. Hell is a place of great pain and suffering. A place where you are constantly working and the temperatures are hot enough to melt your skin. The only thing stopping it is the fact that you are working, but when you stop, it is a pain that stays with you forever. Due to this, it is seemingly ironic when Lewis talks about Hell as being a place where you can just imagine something and it appears to you, or rainfall that pierces you like bullets. It just doesn’t match my idea of what Hell is going to be like. In the back of my mind throughout reading this book I have always been curious to wonder whether or not Lewis toned down his ideas to seem more applicable to the public, or to possibly shy away from his true spiritual

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