The Screwtape Letters

This is an epistolary novel, written in the form of a series of letters. The letters are from a senior devil named Screwtape to Wormwood, a novice devil assigned for the first time to tempt a human soul.

The letters cover in great detail how a human may be guided to forsake virtue and genuine spirituality and take up corruption, vice, and the deadly sins. 

The narrative follows the young man and the devil through a series of events and situations. The young man becomes a Christian. He takes up with a popular group of trendy intellectuals. He falls in love with a good girl from a true Christian family.

Throughout the storyline, Screwtape spends a great deal of his writing focusing on the nature of human thoughts and feelings and how they can be manipulated by devils. God, called by Screwtape the “Enemy,” encourages free will, love of neighbors, and genuine faith. The devils, on the other hand, promote malice and hatred towards others, pride in one’s self, and distracted, insincere religious observances. 

A parallel story is the beginning of World War II and the consequences for the young man and all his friends and neighbors in England. 

Towards the end of the plot the young man has a conversion experience brought on by simple pleasures. Thus, when he is ultimately killed in an air raid his soul goes to Heaven, leaving the devils frustrated and angry that they have lost him.