TSL Chapter 30 -- Fatigue & Reality

Summary

The bombs are falling. The Patient is doing well -- doubly so because he considers himself a coward and feels no pride in his (objectively) heroic stand to duty.

Screwtape threatens Wormwood -- bring us food, or become food yourself -- and then keys on the one aspect in Wormwood's letter that has some promise: the Patient's fatigue. He's super-tired and Wormwood thinks that might be an opening.

Screwtape agrees that fatigue can be useful, but notes that a moderate fatigue is more fertile ground for sin than absolute exhaustion (which can make a man peaceful and reflective). He points out that when very tired, women talk more and men less, and that might be a good place to create some relationship drama.

He moves on to discuss attacks on the man's faith: he's seeing horrible things ("remains plastered on a wall") and maybe that can work emotionally on him to suggest a renunciation of a religious worldview. He points out that religious experiences can be dismissed as subjective, while humans tend to fixate on negative things -- even emotions, like hatred -- as real.

Screwtape concludes that, properly handled, the Patient will dismiss happy things as 'mere sentiment' and conclude grizzly details are objective reality.

My Thoughts

I connected with this: there's an tendency to treat depressing things as 'hard truths' and discount anything hopeful or positive as silly optimism. That said, there didn't seem to be a lot here beyond a look at a few human tendencies. Certainly not a whole lot theological or otherwise.

It did raise a question in my mind: every pessimist I've ever met has described himself as a "realist." Lewis isn't focusing on Optimism v. Pessimism, of course, but on the nature of reality itself.

Apparently -- according to Google -- Pessimists lead longer, healthier lives and are more accurate in their predictions for what's to come. Does this mean that the darker one's view of reality, the more accurate someone is?

It's not clear, but makes me wonder if I should be lowering my expectations...