The Screwtape Letters

S. Lewis, first published in 1942. Written as 31 letters from Screwtape, a senior devil in Hell's bureaucracy, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter on earth, the book examines Christian life from a deliberately inverted perspective.

Screwtape's letters reveal the subtle mechanics of temptation — vanity, distraction, selfish love, and spiritual complacency — as he tries to guide Wormwood in securing the damnation of a recently converted young Englishman. Lewis treats the infernal voice as a vehicle for exploring how easily human beings drift from faith and virtue without any dramatic turning point.

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

Letter XII

First lines

My dear Wormwood, I note what you say about guiding your patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïve? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier.

Contents

Reception

The Screwtape Letters was widely praised on publication and became one of Lewis's most commercially successful works. By 1999 it had appeared in 26 English editions and 15 German editions, with approximately half a million copies sold. Lewis found the book psychologically taxing to write, noting that inhabiting a diabolical voice for an extended period was unpleasant, and he resolved never to write another 'Screwtape' letter. Ronald Reagan quoted from it in his 1983 address to the National Association of Evangelicals; Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia publicly called it 'a great book … just as a study of human nature.' The Fellowship for the Performing Arts stage adaptation ran for 309 performances at New York's Westside Theatre in 2010 and continues to tour internationally. Critical attention has generally focused on Lewis's skill as a satirist rather than his theology, with the book frequently cited as an accessible introduction to his wider thought.

Frequently asked

What is The Screwtape Letters about?

The book is a series of 31 letters from Screwtape, a senior devil in Hell's administrative hierarchy, to his nephew Wormwood, who is tasked with corrupting a recently converted young British man. Screwtape advises on how to exploit the man's vanity, relationships, wartime anxieties, and spiritual doubts — examining temptation and Christian perseverance from the infernal side. The Patient eventually dies during the wartime Blitz and goes to Heaven; Wormwood is punished for his failure.

Why did C.S. Lewis write from a devil's perspective?

Lewis described the technique as "diabolical ventriloquism." Writing from Screwtape's viewpoint let him examine human weaknesses and spiritual failures more directly than a straightforward moral essay would allow. The satirical frame forces the reader to re-examine ordinary habits and assumptions. Lewis found the method effective but personally unpleasant — he said inhabiting a diabolical point of view for an extended period was repugnant, and he resolved not to revisit the character in another full book.

When was The Screwtape Letters first published?

Versions of the letters were first published weekly in The Guardian, an Anglican periodical, from May to November 1941. The book edition, with a preface by Lewis, was published by Geoffrey Bles in February 1942. Lewis later wrote a short sequel, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," in 1959, which is included in many modern editions.