A Summary of Screwtape’s letter

Wormwood is a demon who’s uncle is Screwtape. Man is the patient; the woman is their enemy. Demons understands that the strength of the will of man matters in the decisions he makes. He uses techniques that will gradually weaken the will of man until Man falls into depression and a state of confusion and immorality.

Screwtape is the author of the letters. He is the most complex character offered by the book. He is at once affectionate toward, and overly critical of, his nephew Wormwood. Sometimes, it seems Screwtape genuinely wants Wormwood to succeed in corrupting the Patient and bringing his soul to Hell, but, after Wormwood fails to do so, Screwtape delights in the prospect of eating Wormwood in the Patient. Though more powerful than Wormwood, Screwtape does not hesitate to grovel when he fears Wormwood has reported him to Hell’s authorities. Screwtape seems to acknowledge the grace of the Enemy (God)despite this acknowledgement, the Enemy and celebrate Hell. Screwtape is fundamentally amoral. He is inconsistent, even the shape that he takes is subject to sudden change. He transforms, at one point in the story, into a giant centipede. Even in this hideous form, Screwtape is self-assured, or self-deceived, enough to say that he likes his transformation. He claims that becoming a giant centipede is a good thing.

Wormwood is a recent graduate of the devil’s training college and the Patient is the first human he has been assigned to tempt into Hell. Screwtape claims that devils are eternal beings, but, at the same time, Wormwood seems to be a younger, less-experienced devil. This contradiction is never resolved. Screwtape usually signs himself as Wormwood’s “uncle,” but this human term of relation may only be an analogy for his and Wormwood’s own Hellish interrelation. Wormwood, according to Screwtape, is incompetent, but the reader only encounters Wormwood’s ideas second-hand, within Screwtape’s letters. Wormwood is excitable, and becomes easily distracted by the blood and gore of World War II. Screwtape’s help, Wormwood is a backstabber. He reports Screwtape to Hell’s authorities because of some of the things Screwtape writes. When Wormwood fails to win the Patient’s soul, he grovels and begs for mercy. It remains a question, however, whether Wormwood is truly incompetent, or whether devils simply have limited power over human lives. In the end, does it make much difference to Screwtape whether he eats Wormwood the Patient? In this light, it may be better to think of Wormwood as Screwtape’s dupe, rather than the recipient of real or valuable advice.

The Patient’s mother is a difficult woman. She makes many demands on the Patient’s time and energy. In the early letters, Screwtape advises Wormwood to make the Patient think that being Christian is an internal, spiritual thing rather than an external way of being in the world. After the Patient prays, Wormwood should make him fight with his mother about insignificant details about the house and chores. Over the course of these early letters, the dynamic between Screwtape and Wormwood begins to take shape. Wormwood keeps himself invisible as he follows the Patient around on Earth. He essentially whispers in the Patient’s ear, encouraging the Patient to experience negative emotions and to pursue unhealthy distractions. Unlike Wormwood, Screwtape is an experienced tempter. He has already won souls for Hell. This has earned him, it seems, a mid-management position in Hell’s vast “Lowerarchy”—a devilish corporation that determines how best to organize Hell’s temptation strategies on Earth.

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