The Great Divorce a great work of Lewis that attempts to challenge the assumption that humanity will be saved in the end. Lewis revisits the controversial subject of Hell and Heaven and the humanity’s desire of leading a happy life. The book develops a story that explains the people’s course from Hell to Heaven through which the narrator understands that human beings are presented with the opportunity of staying in the heaven, but fail to explore this chance because they prefer to stay in Hell. Lewis develops this concept by creating a scenario where he allows the cursed spirits to have a “holiday” in Heaven. Through the holiday, the spirits encounter with various experiences that could have transformed their live constructively. However, the spirits remain blind to the presented opportunity as they are entangled in their usual way of life that they eventually retain hell as their preferred place to live. The Great Divorce is an educative piece of work that explores the deceptions with which individuals who have failed to follow the way of God justify their refusal of God. Various aspects of the human nature and relation with the God’s will are identifiable from the book that reflects the contemporary society.
Lewis’ book presents the unrevealed crisis of the will linked to the choices of the damned spirits or the people who have refused to follow the God’s word. The author observes that these individuals are characterized with aspects such as the worry of humbling themselves, possessiveness over others and the desire of wanting to remain in control among others. Initially, an important aspect covered in the Lewis’s book that reflects individuals in the contemporary society is the unchallengeable desire of humanity towards salvation. The Great Divorce portrays that human’s immortal soul can only get to Heaven instead of Hell through adopting acceptable or good moral choices in life (Martin 30). Furthermore, the ideas of forgiving others and asking for forgiveness for one’s own sins are of high relevance according to the scenario created in the book. Lewis explores the idea of Heaven and Hell by acknowledging them as real places, contrast to the semantic interpretation of good and evil. The author presents sentiment that any person who ignores the fact of the real existence of Heaven and Hell puts his or her eternal happiness and future at risk. This reflects the contemporary society since it challenges the modern generation to acknowledge the unchallengeable fact of the existence of Hell and Heaven.
Throughout the novel, Lewis explores various aspects linked to the idea of salvation that reflects various beliefs and perceptions in the contemporary society. Similar to the Christian’s teachings in the modern world that emphasize the idea of seeking salvation to lead a happy ending, the spirits in the book are constantly challenged to embrace this perspective. In the novel, the damned spirits are constantly told the significance of accepting God and shunning their selfish interests to join the kingdom of Heaven. The ghosts are warned to deny and separate themselves from hell things to be at the position of pursuing the Heaven goodness. The book states, “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven (Lewis).” This is similar to religious teaching in the contemporary society that challenges the individuals to separate themselves from the earthly pleasures and focus on pursuing the everlasting happiness that will come when they enter Heaven. The perspective promotes a prominent argument in the modern society that one can hardly serve two masters that means that one must choose whether to serve God or object His will by doing ungodly things (Woo 49).
Aspects of good and bad virtues such as love and jealousy that are emphasized in the modern society are also identifiable in Lewis’ book. The book explores the idea of love from a controversial viewpoint. The ghosts are advised that true love presents as a central aspect for entering heaven (Martin 79). However, the book warns that the act of loving is characterized with various temptations that present as the major challenges to attaining salvation. He presents an argument that love is often a barrier to happiness because of its potential in corrupting humanity’s morals. The author states that, “Oh, as you love your own soul, remember We didn't want the other to be true. We were afraid of crude Salvationism(Lewis).” The book argues that the unwillingness to avoid the biased version of love propagated in earth challenges the humanity’s quest of practicing godly love. It is through avoiding refusing earthly pleasures and being selfless that humanity can enjoy the goods of Heaven eventually.
On the other hand, the idea of jealousy is identified as a significant aspect that challenges the man towards attaining salvation. The novel states that as the selfishness of love is an obvious trait of the damned spirits, the same is similar towards the idea of being unable to avoid jealousy and its fruits. For example, in the novel, jealousy ghosts fail to notice the opportunity presented to them as they concentrated on other things of less importance (Williams 78). In particular, the damned spirits find themselves jealous of the angel’s appearance, status, and clothing. They felt jealous of the many people who seemed to admire the angels that they wishing they were in their position. He states, “a jealous man, drifting and unresisting, reaches a point at which he believes lies about his best friend (Lewis).” The jealous make them fail appreciate the counsel or correction that were proposed by the angels that could have made them change to have a happy life in the Heaven. This highlights Lewis’s arguments that refusal to abandon jealous and the aspects that characterize it present as guarantee of humanity not having a chance entering heaven (Woo 37).
The book relates to my life in various ways, just in a similar manner that it relates to aspects in the contemporary society. In the similar way with the situation presented in the book, I have a desire of entering Heaven eventually; however, personal and earthly challenges such as selfishness, earthy pleasures and jealous and difficulties in following the will of God presents as substantial barriers that obstruct me from my course. I clearly understand the godly undertakings and practices that I am supposed to adopt in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven. However, it is surprising to acknowledge that I often find myself lost in the earthly things that I divert from the way of God.
The Great Divorce provides a critical analysis of the idea ideologies of humanity’s fate and free will. Lewis develops these concepts by showing that the two are mutually exclusive. In the presented scenario, the author argues in support of the idea of humanity’s free will by stating that based on individual’s choice, the earth will present as either Hell or Heaven. Moreover, the scholar finds sense in the concept of the predestination, although he argues that the omnipotent God always assume a divine foreknowledge which means that He assume a vital role in influencing the results of human choices. In this context, the book presents a perception that God eventually assume a central role in defining humanity’s salvation. However, the book does not ignore the fact that humanity is left with the option of influencing his or her fate. In summary, the Great Divorce is an informative book of great relevance since it explores various aspects that inform the contemporary society.
Works Cited
Lewis, “The Great Divorce” Web. Dec. 10 2014. http://cmunki.net/lionsden/articles/great_divorce.htm
Martin, Valerie. The Great Divorce: A Novel. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 2003. Print.
Williams, Edward S. The Great Divorce Controversy. London: Belmont House, 2000. Print.
Woo, Ilyon. The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother's Extraordinary Fight against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times. , 2010. Print.
