The Great Divorce Lewis Analysis

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Dr. Cole March 2, 2015 The Great Divorce C.S. Lewis In C.S. Lewis’ allegorical piece The Great Divorce, the relationship between Heaven and Hell is redefined. Lewis attempts to dismiss the belief that afterlife is pre-determined before death. The allegorical piece attempts to demonstrate that afterlife is a choice through a series of interactions between ghosts, spirits, and the narrator. I will attempt to demonstrate that there is no heaven is hell and hell in heaven by outlining the interactions of ghosts and spirits in the novel; Heaven and Hell do not co-exist. The novel opens with the narrator taking a bus ride away from a dismal city towards the countryside. During the bus ride, he learns that the town is haunted by quarrels and disharmony. Constant quarrelling has divided the people of the grey town away from each other; thus, making the town’s boundaries limitless. The town symbolizes Hell despite it not being the clichéd pits of fire or similar images of Hell portrayed throughout history. It is the destructive and chaotic environment that makes the town Hell. The bus flies into air, dropping the people off to the foothills of Heaven; it is seen as breathtaking scenery filled with nature, and an atmosphere of beauty. The narrator and others on…show more content…
The narrator overhears a conversation between a ghost and a spirit; the ghost recounts all her efforts put into her husband for his own sake. The woman’s consistent efforts to better her husband resulted in his nervous breakdown. Of course, she does not find fault in her action, but rather, blames him for his demise. Now, as a ghost, she seems to be upset that her husband is not there with her. The woman’s greed and selfishness disabled her husband to find his own happiness. In this example, it can be seen that the woman’s selfish state of mind created her life on Earth and in the foothills of Heaven,
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