Saturday, December 6, 2008
a mild sort of hell
I am a little confused by Lewis' descritpion of "Hell" in The Great Divorce. To Lewis, Hell is nothing like the "lake of fire" or the place of torture mentioned in Revelation. I accept the idea that "the lake of fire" may just be a metaphor and not an actual place, but it seems to me that hell should be more...well... negative (for lack of a better word). The dreary city in The Great divorce, although it is not a happy place by any means, doesnt seem to be terrible enough to be hell. The people in Hell don't even know that they are there. Wouldn't one be able to detect that they are in the place of ultimate evil? Why would the bible use words like "torture, torment, punishment, gnashing of teeth" if hell is just a mild feeling of dissatisfaction or isolation? The people in hell carry on their lives trying to make themselves happy by moving to different house, even going to cinemas and eating fish and chips. I wonder how they even have the hope or the idea of becoming happy in a place completely isolated from the source of true happiness and joy. I can see where Lewis is coming from with his portrayal of hell, but I still can't help but wonder if it won't be more terrible.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I read something about Charles Williams' book Descent Into Hell yesterday (I haven't read it) and it sounds like they had something like the same conception of Hell.
Might provide further insight
I agree with you, friend Laura. Even though the Lewisian Hell is a sort of frustrating torture, I seem to remember a biblical depiction of Hell being, if nothing else, more intense.
However, we must remember that Lewis does not want us speculating as to the exactness of his depiction, so the fact that "Hell" is not as hardcore as biblically suggested could very well be more figurative and illustrative than factually predictive.
Post a Comment