Other Devil-ish Works

More than once in our discussions about Paradise Lost I was reminded of a book I've read by C.S. Lewis called The Screwtape Letters.

There's a website explaining and analyzing the text, which is interesting: Look Here

Basically, the novel is a collection of letters written by a demon named Screwtape to his young novice, Woodworm, on how to win a soul for Satan. In this complex, mind-messing novel, Lewis creates an intricate hierarchial web in the underworld, which reminded me a lot of Pandemonium.

The thing that mostly reminded me of Paradise Lost, I think, is how real the demon seemed. Conniving and clever, Screwtape is completely committed to his evil cause. However, his arguments make sense and his summation of human nature (though, of course, cynical) is pretty dead on. I think the epistle format of the books also add an element of relatability. Milton also is able to portray Satan (the Arch-Enemy, the Fallen Angel, Lucifer) as a captivating and dynamic figure. There's just something about the fact that Milton chose Satan to be the epic hero in his poem that challenges norms.

In both The Screwtape Letters and Paradise Lost the demons are eerily believable. They also both chose to use the hell to make comparisons to humans, rather than setting a scene in heaven. Milton, a notorious anti-Royalist, portrays heaven as a sort of monarch and hell as having a council as its form of government. Perhaps he did this as a way of saying that only God could be a completely righteous and just monarch, so all of those who are fallen should be ruled by councils. In the same way, I feel like C.S. Lewis believed that it was easier, and more believable, to depict a demon than an angel. How much easier is it to portray human's evil tendencies, after all?

Again, I have to appreciate the guts it takes for any author to take on the challenge of getting into the mind of and personify demons. How do you even begin to get in the mind of a demon? What makes a believeable devil?