Till We Have Faces Character Analysis

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C.S. Lewis is an imaginative writer; he brings to life the most amazing of tales and brings the reader into them. In “Till We Have Faces” Lewis brings to life the ancient myth of Psyche and Eros but in a rather unexpected way. For the first time the reader gets to know one of Psyche’s sisters and her version of how the story took place. In this rather simple story, we meet Orual and the complex feelings she has towards her sister, herself, and the divine gods. Orual feels trapped between the gods and wishes to have nothing to do with them. However, what Orual fails to realize is that both Aphrodite and Ungit are merely versions of her own self. This is apparent when Orual’s character shows the traits of the Ungit she believes in; selfishness, envy, and darkness. Orual’s character is then transformed into Aphrodite when she receives divine help and shows traits of love, wisdom, and light. Orual is simply the vessel that is one side Ungit, and another side of Aphrodite. Orual begins the book as a guileless…show more content…
When Psyche was to be sacrificed to the Shadow Brute, Orual felt that Ungit was being selfish in demanding such an offer but this vision of sacrifice was reflected in her own self. She acted out selfishly wanting her sister to stay and not to proceed with the ritual. However Psyche showed bravery and understood that the sacrifice needed to take place for the greater good. Orual could not comprehend this willingness to be sacrificed, at least not at first. Throughout the book as Orual becomes more and more like Aphrodite, she comes to realize the concept of willing sacrifice and its importance in her salvation. Aphrodite is connected with a transformed perspective of sacrifice. She represents a form of unselfish sacrifice, and therefore the only way Orual can be transformed into Aphrodite is for her to have a desire to sacrifice herself for the greater

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