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Impactful Themes In C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce

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Impactful Themes Themes are fundamental and often outline the plot and give meaning to a novel. In The Great Divorce, the majority of the novel is represented by themes that allow the reader to interpret the deeper meaning of the story. C.S. Lewis is a symbolic author who uses many themes in The Great Divorce such as love, free will, and Christianity. There are two types of love that C.S. Lewis illustrates in this novel, and they are earthly love and eternal love. An example of earthly love is the argument between Pam and her brother Reginald about her dead child Michael. Pam states that she has so much love and emotion for her child that she cannot love anything else in the world. Reginald counters her statement by telling her that she …show more content…

Lewis uses the theme of free will to mainly project the decision of going to Heaven or Hell. One example of this is the conversation between Dick and the fat ghost. Dick tries to convince the fat ghost that Hell is not a great place to be, but he refuses to listen. The fat ghost believes in logical science, rejecting the doctrine of the resurrection, and even mentions that “Grey Town” is similar to Heaven. Dick uses more examples to try to convince the fat ghost to choose Heaven, by saying things like, “Christ was a very young man when he died,” or telling him that he is being provocative. Another example of free will in action is the conversation between MacDonald and the Narrator. The Narrator questions MacDonald and asks him if there is really a way out of Heaven. MacDonald replies by mentioning that the people who live in Hell occasionally have the option to visit the river or visit Earth. He states that the people who get to leave hell behind will be in Purgatory, also known as the Valley of the Shadow of Life. “But I don’t understand. Is judgment not final? Is there really a way out of Hell into Heaven?” (68) Sarah Smith and Frank are another example of free will …show more content…

Once again, the fat ghost and Dick provide a great example of Christianity. The fat ghost portrays the character of an intelligent and reasonable person who does not believe in Christ’s resurrection. A ghost named Dick tries to convince the fat ghost that he is being provocative and not really understanding his own words that are coming out of his mouth. He responds by firmly believing in his own beliefs and denying Christ's divinity for the sake of denial. “No atmosphere of inquiry, for I will bring you to the land not of questions but of answers, and you shall see the face of God.’” (40) A conversation between MacDonald and the Narrator represents Christianity. MacDonald tells the story of a man named Sir Archibald who researched the topic of survival his whole life. When this man died, he came to the Valley of the Shadow of Life and realized that there was not any research to be done about “survival” anymore, so he chose to go to Hell. The point of this story was to tell the Narrator that some people try to prove the existence of God or spread His word for their whole lives, that they forget about truly loving Him. “There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.” (74) The story of the female ghost and a spirit named Hilda represents Christianity. The female ghost and female spirit (Hilda) are arguing about a man named Robert. The

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