C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce – chapters 8 – 11

Lewis’ tale of fantasy continues with more characters and many, many more questions for us to consider. Throughout these chapters Lewis takes up the important questions of free will (can the ghostly people actually stay in the land of Bright Spirits or must they return to the bus); is God full of love for everyone (or are the ghostly people condemned to return to the bus and their brief trip is a vehicle of torment); and how can one gather courage to walk in to the land of brightness (the journey appears to be impossible). And many more questions that continue to bubble up through and between the lines of Lewis’ wonderful story.

Chapter 8 takes up the question of possible torment and mockery. Would God actually bring the ghostly characters up from the dingy town only to give them a glimpse of all the wonderful things they would never taste? If so, no wonder so many ghostly characters choose to never take the bus ride. We can hope that this possibility is not part of the plan of a God who is full of abundant love. The barrier is not God; the vehicle that repels the ghostly characters from the land of Bright Spirits is not torment, but Shame. Shame and Selfishness so powerful that Courage must have a great day in order to win the battle. Of shame Lewis writes, “Don’t you remember on earth – there were things too hot to touch with your finger but you could drink them all right? Shame is like that. If you will accept it – if you will drink the cup to the bottom – you will find it very nourishing; but try to do anything else with it and it scalds.” (pg. 61) Shame is a difficult drink, but the nourishment that Lewis speaks of is called Humility; and humility is the nourishment of Christ himself.

Chapter 9 is one of Lewis’ longest chapters and probably holds the central meaning of The Great Divorce – the sometimes seemingly subtle difference between Heaven and Hell, yet the total and contrasting journeys of paradise and the everlasting abyss. Lewis brings in George MacDonald (a 19th century author of great importance and a man very influential to Lewis’ life) to help explain the nuances of Heaven and Hell. As outlined in Ch. 8, the rewards of Heaven are granted to those who can empty themselves of pride and see, and more importantly accept, the wonderful things God provides. Pride prevents the lost soul from letting go of that which would allow them to be open to the joy of God – as Milton wrote, they “would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” Lewis compares the stubborn lost soul to a spoiled child, unable to open themselves up to another reality and accept their faults.

Chapters 10 and 11 concern themselves with two women who have spent a great deal of their lives seemingly focused on others, but in reality their agendas are quite personal. The first woman is so concerned with providing her husband guidance toward obtaining his perfection she is unaware that her behavior is quite self-centered and not selfish. Her obsession of perfecting her late-husband (who, himself has obtained a spot in Heaven) cannot rest beyond the grave and although in Heaven she is quite sure he has many things left for her to work on…she merely vanishes in the midst of her obsessive ranting. The second woman is similarly obsessed, but with her son. Her complete love for him has sadly closed her world to anything else, including love for God. She cannot see how her obsessive love for her son is anything but a wonderful and complementary love to her love for everything else, but sadly there is really nothing else in her world. Finally, Lewis provides us a brief meeting a ghostly man struggling to overcome his love for food…an appetite that has and continued to consume his passions. The ugly beast of his desire is represented as a lizard on his shoulder. The man is able to muster the courage to direct one of the Bright Spirits to kill the lizard and, man and lizardly appetite separated, the ghostly man and his passion both die only to be resurrected as a Bright Spirit and a glorious horse. The man upon his magnificant horse, they ride away toward the glowing mountains beyond. There is much to discuss about all we have read…and is this man’s experience our Hope for everything that follows…in the book and beyond!