Book Review: The Great Divorce

There have been some who were so preoccupied with spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ

Today, we explore the realm of allegory, which is not a place where I oftentimes find myself. C.S Lewis, known for wielding tales of the strange and magical impossibilities, takes us not into Narnia but on a bus ride from the depths of hell to the shimmering glades of heaven.

I would not say that I am particularly religious. Do I have great respect for faith, yes, I do. I think faith, in the right circumstances, can be beautiful. Obviously, when faith is used to cause harm, we have a problem. But this book does not necessarily deal with faith in its purest form but rather in its Christian form. What I mean by this is that this book explores the realm of Christian faith without regard for the people who root their faith in any of the other world religions. C.S Lewis famously became an atheist when he was 15 years old, only returning to Christianity after meeting J.R.R Tolkien at Cambridge.

But if we return our eyes back to the book, we start at a bus stop where several people in a dark, dank, grey town are waiting for a fabled bus to arrive. The bus arrives after several people have left, believing that they are better off at home. I believe that- redemption is a conscious choice; we are in the misery of our own making, and we can choose to extract ourselves from it. The bus to heaven turns all the people into vaporous ghosts who are confronted by their past sins to gain entry into paradise on arrival into heaven. But before then, the paradise they are surrounded by does not welcome the ghosts but causes them immeasurable pain. The blade of grass, for example, literally feels like blades cutting into their feet. What is most interesting is that when confronted with their pasts, a lot of the ghosts refuse to see reason, justice, hope, love and, indeed, forgiveness. The ghosts cannot see past their selfish pride to gain paradise and see the only truth is Him.

To summarise, everything leads back to Him - our beliefs, faith, hopes and love are from Him and are because of Him. If we acknowledge that everything is Him - then we are to be welcomed into paradise. But what intrigues me is that in this allegorical dream, our understanding of heaven and hell is very different to what is traditionally understood. Hell is not fire and brimstone as seen in Milton or a world of never-ending pain, suffering and torture as in Dante’s Inferno. But then we have to remember our interpretation of hell in popular culture is based on Catholic doctrine whereas Lewis was notable Anglican, and therefore changed the rhetoric.

I’m surprised Lewis’s version of hell is not more appealing to the masses, and this offers any a chance of Paradise but also doesn't condemn us to fire and brimstone - only a world of our own making. But I think what makes the Catholic version of heaven and hell more appealing - theology aside - is the notion of punishment to those we believe deserve it. Lewi’s version is somewhat lacking in that respect. It is what makes Dante’s version of hell so striking and his ‘Inferno’ so engaging and I know what I prefer.