When reading the first three letters from The Screwtape Letters I at first had to take a step back and think about what was the actual objective Screwtape was trying to get his nephew to accomplish. I had known nothing about the book before I started to read, so I was at first confused as to what was being discussed. Once I established what was going on I had different thoughts about the letters. I really liked the third letter because I could relate personal experiences to what was being said. I loved the paragraph on page 13 about what happens when two humans have lived together for a long time. When i read this first sentence I immediately thought of my mother and I. Before reading any further I thought about all the things that drive me nuts which my mother does. I also thought of all the good things that I love about her also. When I was done reminiscing about the positive and negative about my mother I kept on reading and was surprised when the things I had just thought about was what was written in the letter. I feel like the best way to get someone to fall into the temptation of evil is to make someone upset with another person, especially one who they are living with. By trying to get the patient upset with his mother because of little actions she does, which she is probably not even aware of, is the best tactic to tempt the patient to crossing back over to the "evil" side.
I call the side of the demon the "evil" side only because that is the most common distinction between the two sides discussed in the letters. I believe that there is both a good and bad side to both of the different aspects discussed in the letters. I just wanted to clarify that part of my blog.
3 comments:
Good post Ashley. I don't know about you, but I know that once I succumb to noticing the little things that annoy me about a person I begin to make mountains out of mole hills. I fall into the very trap that Screwtape is wanting Wormwood to lay. Often too, the people that I find myself getting the most annoyed with are those that I am around the most. This can put me on an island as I push away those that more times than not can help me the most. Maybe it can be solved if I would take more time to look in the mirror. Sort of like the saying that says if you are pointing one finger at someone else that means the others are pointing back at you.
I completely agree with you with the fact that I found the third letter the most interesting in describing the relationship between a mother and her son. I could also connect with the fact that there are little peculiarities about people that can be completely blown out of proportion and amount to annoyance towards the target person. I feel as if this happens all the time, without our knowledge, and that identifying this in action with the people we are closest to may ultimately help us strengthen our bonds and relationships with family and friends.
I agree that the letters were unclear at first and I had to re - read them as well to get a stronger grasp on the reading. I also agree that through living with someone, little mannerisms can get under your skin without even knowing. The devil knew that by getting the patient upset with someone that is close to them and they love, it is the quickest way for evil to come out.
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