Great Divorce

C. S. Lewis is known throughout the world for his ability to tuck theology

into fantasy. He's the author of many books such as the Chronicles of Narnia,

The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity. One of his less popular books,

but one that he considered among his favorites, was The Great Divorce. The

title refers to the separation of Heaven and Hell.

Although a relatively thin book, it is packed with thought provoking questions

concerning ones faith. In this story, the narrator and main character embarks on a bus ride

from the twilight of Hell to the outskirts of Heaven. Here he encounters

many people, called ghosts, who have also been in Hell. The narrator

observes their struggle with whether to stay in Heaven, or hold onto their

petty sins and return to the lonely darkness of Hell. C. S. Lewis'

descriptions and characters are what really make this story incredible.

The main character of the story never receives a name. This was done in

order to make him seem less like another character, and more like a mirror

image of oneself. He is the character that the reader seems to relate with

the most. Not only does the audience relate to him but so do the other

characters in the book. One such example of this occurs while the

narrator is getting on the bus. "I thought you wouldn't mind my tacking

on to you . . . for I've noticed that you feel just as I do about the present

company." This is interesting because the narrator has neither seen nor

spoken to this character before. Another case is on page 29, "What's

the sense of allowing all that riff-raff to float about here all day. Look at

them." Here again, another ghost seems to be drawn to the narrator and

speaks to him as if they had already met.

Those people who were already in Heaven the main character referred to as

"solid people." He called them this because, unlike the ghosts, they

were not transparent. The narrator's solid person, or teacher as he calls him, is

George MacDonald and is introduced at the beginning of chapter 9. George

MacDonald is a famous writer and C. S. Lewis has never tried to hide the fact

that he admires Mr. MacDonald. On page 65 C. S. Lewis mentions MacDonald's

book Phantastes and explains how much this book and his other works influence

him. George's character is the mentor type, put into the story to explain

the divine, and he uses many analogies to help the main character understand

the ways of Heaven. "Ye can call it the Valley of the Shadow of Life. And

yet to those who stay here it will have been Heaven from the first. And ye

can call those sad streets in the town yonder the Valley of the Shadow of

Death: but to those who remain there they will have been Hell even from the

beginning." (67). The narrator asks many questions about the other ghosts

he observes and about what he remembers from earth. "Brass is mistaken for

gold more easily than clay is." George MacDonald says about earthly love on page

97, "It is a stronger angel and therefore, when it falls, a fiercer devil."

C. S. Lewis mentions other well-known people in this story. On page 20 a

ghost mentions seeing Napolean, the French military leader, in Hell. While

talking to George MacDonald about why people return to Hell after visiting

Heaven Macdonald mentioned Sir Archibald who, "In his earthly life."

had been know for writing many books on Survival. He returned to