History Literature / TheScrewtapeLetters

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Part of the reason for the book was to show just how sinister the devil is and strip out any semblance of EvilIsCool. Screwtape's brain has been so twisted by vice and sin that it's very alien to how anyone on Earth might think.

* SexIsEvil: {{Subverted}}. It is only evil when done the devils' way. The fact that the Patient's fiancee is [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex looking forward to it]] rather pleases The Enemy.

* AuthorTract: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools But a damn fun read nonetheless]], and even then Mr. Lewis is just really good at winning you over to his side in general.

* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: Kind of. [[spoiler: The Patient is killed in a bomb blast, leaving behind his mother and fiancee, but he does go to heaven]]. If you have come to sympathize with [[spoiler: stupid little Wormwood]] though, this ending is not at all a happy one for him.

* ButtMonkey: Downplayed with Wormwood. On the one hand, he gets zero respect from Screwtape, bumbles just about everything he attempts, can't even make a good [[TheStarscream Starscream]] and fails in the end to make use of his senior's advice. On the other hand, he's not ''entirely'' incompetent and comes very close to successfully luring away the Patient more than once. His preoccupation with World War II didn't help.

** Screwtape commits any number of examples, most notably with love, which he seems to think is defined as "one person's good being another person's good", and which he is convinced (though he contradicts himself on the matter) does not really exist and instead is only a cover beings have for selfish motives. At one point he alludes to the other side admitting that if the demons ever came to understand what love is then the war would be over and the demons would re-enter heaven, and says that this confirms that God's throne rests upon the secret, which Hell [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove spends lots of time and resources trying to unravel]] (that department has been 'on the cusp of a big breakthrough' for millennia)..

* DeadpanSnarker: Screwtape doesn't usually crack jokes but he does occasionally engage in sarcasm.

** That being said ''Literature/TheGreatDivorce'', written about three years later, went a long way towards filling that void

** Wormwood is bungling and incompetent at his job, makes mistake after mistake, fails at his plan to get Screwtape in trouble, and eventually [[spoiler: loses his patient completely]].

** [[{{God}} The Enemy]] has apparently made it clear to them that if the populace of Hell could begin to understand the concept of "love", then the war against Heaven would be ended. Screwtape misinterprets this as the key to outmaneuvering The Enemy--and thus retaking Heaven ''by force''. Which is why they've got the aforementioned department that isn't succeeding.

* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: {{Averted}}. Hell runs on fear and hatred, after all. Screwtape's last letter is full of EvilGloating about how he and Wormwood truly loved each other--the way a hungry man loves food. In his introduction, Lewis discusses how Hell manages to hold together at about the level of office politics -- most of the time.

** In "Screwtapes Proposes A Toast", Screwtape mentions that one of the reasons to continue leading weak souls into Hell, even if they don't provide much substance, is that it's food, yes; but most importantly, [[{{God}} the Enemy]] placed value in those souls and wanted them ([[EvilCannotComprehendGood for some]] [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove reason]]), and by turning them away from Him they spite Him that.

* {{God}}: The narrator, of course, thinks God is the BigBad due to the prespective flip and calls him The Enemy. He also throws out the possibility that God may not even love humans, and has other, probably less holy reasons why He created humans in the first place. Of course, Screwtape's problem is that he's a devil--[[EvilCannotComprehendGood he can only understand things that are done for less-than-holy reasons]]. Sheer altruism like The Enemy's is not only absurd but ''impossible'', as far as he can tell--God ''must'' have some ultimately selfish reason for creating human beings.

* ImAHumanitarian: Damned souls and failed Tempters are devoured by the devils. It's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Screwtape eats Wormwood at the end, as punishment for his failure.]]

** Screwtape mentions that a good way to tempt a person to be a {{jerkass}} is the realization that people often think cruel behavior is funny [[RefugeInAudacity if you present it cleverly enough.]]
** At another point Screwtape does it himself, saying that when he spoke against Slubgob in one of his previous letters, it was meant purely as a joke.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Screwtape's concept of the "terrestrial" and "infernal Venus" which haunt the male imagination, the one "for which his desire is such as to be naturally amenable to the Enemy—readily mixed with charity, readily obedient to marriage, coloured all through with that golden light of reverence and naturalness which we detest," and the other "which he desires brutally, and desires to desire brutally."

* NoNameGiven: Several human characters--most notably The Patient--are referred to by titles rather than by their names, which implies that devils don't bother seeing humanity as individuals and instead see them as ''what'' they are (as opposed to ''who''). The audio drama however averts this as we sometimes hear from the human characters themselves.

* OuthumblingEachOther: Screwtape calls this "the Generous Conflict Illusion", and notes how arguments grow much more heated when both sides argue in favor of what the other person wants, rather than what they want themselves. People are never so selfish as [[{{Hypocrite}} when they're trying to show off how unselfish they are.]]

* SceneryGorn: One of the desperate tactics recommended to Wormwood towards the end - use the horrible image of "human remains plastered on a wall" to make the Patient believe that "this is the real world, and religion is just a fantasy".

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Follows from the above. Screwtape explains at one point that "when the present pleasure arrives, the sin [of lust] is already over". The Patient and his girl also rather enjoy this part of their relationship.

* LooseLips: Eventually, Screwtape is punished by his superiors for trying to help Wormwood by telling him a secret that they did ''not'' want getting out: that God has genuine love for humanity. Unfortunately, despite the painful punishment, it fails to work. After weeks of trying to help Wormwold find a licentious woman for the Patient, the Patient instead finds true love with a Christian woman, resulting in Screwtape flying into rage and accidentally turning himself into a giant centipede.

* ButtMonkey: Downplayed with Wormwood. On the one hand, he gets zero respect from Screwtape, bumbles just about everything he attempts, can't even make a good [[TheStarscream Starscream]] and fails in the end to make use of his senior's advice. On the other hand, he's not ''entirely'' incompetent and comes very close to successfully luring away the Patient more than once. [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny His preoccupation with World War II didn't help.]]

--> An ever increasing craving for ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain; and it's better ''style''. To get the man's soul and give him ''nothing'' in return - that is what really gladdens our Father's heart.

* EvilVirtues: In general, the devils hate that this is a thing. Since the devils run on BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad, the fact that they have to rely on "good" qualities for evil to work effectively is only grudgingly tolerable for them, as virtues inherently belong to The Enemy and must be corrupted before they can be used for evil.

* EvilVirtues

** In the letters proper, he laments that they are unable to create any virtues, and that Hell has not found a way for a person to be effectively evil without some strengths of character.

A EpistolaryNovel by Creator/CSLewis in which a more experienced devil named Screwtape writes a series of letters to a younger devil named Wormwood on how to successfully tempt a man, referred to only as "The Patient". Intending the book as a fairly humorous work, Lewis's goals included both reflections on the nature of evil and an effort to create a different portrayal of the Devil than the sort normally seen in pop culture. Screwtape has practically NoSenseOfHumor himself, and comes across as a sort of cranky cosmic [[GrumpyOldMan killjoy]]. At one point, this devil even goes so far as to complain that the music in Heaven is getting on his nerves -- even though he can't hear it, the very ''thought'' that they're making music at all hours bothers him (he'd prefer some nice ugly '''[[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad noise]]''' instead). Heaven is a nonstop hootenanny "where all that is not silence is music". Screwy's not the sort of devil who would be very much fun at a party, which is pretty much the point of the book.

* LoadedWords: Screwtape recommends loaded language over argument to win souls for Hell,since a logical argument risks the patient or the Enemy [[HoistByHisOwnPetard producing a logical counterargument]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The stage adaptation by Max [=Mclean=], understandably, had to leave out the part where Screwtape accidentally transforms himself into a large centipede, and his secretary Toadpipe is forced to finish the letter. On the other hand...
* AdaptationExpansion: Toadpipe [[IncrediblyLamePun plays a far larger role]] in the abovementioned Max [=Mclean=] stage adaptation, portrayed here as Screwtape's scale/rag bodysuit clad pseudo-gymnast/dancer of a SexySecretary.
** In the radio adaption by Focus on the Family, Screwtape is considerably more charismatic than his book counterpart, as he actually has a sense of humor and all of his InsaneTrollLogic rationalizations for God's behavior are downplayed.

* AscendedExtra: Wormwood in the ''Focus On The Family'' radio adaptation. Because he interacts with his uncle in person rather than by letters, we actually hear his side of the conversation (because of this, the adaptation was originally just called ''Screwtape'').

* LargeHam:
** Screwtape, as awesomely voiced by Creator/AndySerkis in the Focus on the Family radio adaptation.
** Also John Cleese's audiobook portrayal.
** Peter Noble, though he only worked on Screwtape Proposes a Toast, gives a more restrained but still hammy performance.
** Joss Ackland, who interestingly portrayed C.S. Lewis himself in the 1985 television movie version of Film/{{Shadowlands}}, made him this as well as EvilSoundsDeep.
** The late Ralph Cosham, who also lent his voice to numerous audiobooks of Lewis’ works, due to his style of narration interestingly portrays Screwtape as a ColdHam.

* NamedByTheAdaptation: In the audio drama, The Patient is named John Hamilton. John probably comes from the main character of ''Literature/ThePilgrimsRegress'', Lewis’ first book after his conversion; Hamilton probably comes from “Clive Hamilton”, a PenName that Lewis once used.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The Andy Serkis version adds conversation with Wormwood, and Serkis's depiction of Screwtape is probably far more LargeHam than Lewis intended, but can be excused for holding the interest of the listening audience.

** In the play, Screwtape points out how famous people are a "good" influence, since they're always changing their minds... then tilts the book he's reading to reveal that it's a biography of Music/{{Madonna}}. Cue "Material Girl" playing during the next set change.

* BeingEvilSucks: Good demonic style means luring a soul into corruption without actually giving anything in return. None of the demons seem particularly happy either. Screwtape in particular seems to be a completely miserable old grump who's totally committed to his crappy job.

* EvilIsPetty: Screwtape's preferred method of damning souls is to encourage consistent patterns of petty vice rather than great sins that are easily repented. It doesn't make for exceptionally fine meals, but it leads to a steady flow of souls Hellward.

* GaveUpTooSoon: It gives devils no end of amusement to persuade their patients to give up on some long, miserable, and[=/=]or difficult duty just when (unbeknownst to TheMark) an end to the trial was almost in sight.

A EpistolaryNovel by Creator/CSLewis in which a more experienced devil named Screwtape writes a series of letters to a younger devil named Wormwood on how to successfully tempt a man, referred to only as "The Patient". Intending the book as a fairly humorous work, Lewis's goals included both reflections on the nature of evil and an effort to create a different portrayal of the Devil than the sort normally seen in pop culture. Screwtape has practically NoSenseOfHumor himself, and comes across as a sort of cranky cosmic [[GrumpyOldMan killjoy]]. At one point, this devil even goes so far as to complain that the music in Heaven is getting on his nerves -- even though he can't hear it, the very ''thought'' that they're making music at all hours bothers him (he'd prefer some nice ugly '''noise''' instead). Heaven is a nonstop hootenanny "where all that is not silence is music". Screwy's not the sort of devil who would be very much fun at a party, which is pretty much the point of the book.

* ScienceIsBad: A pointed subversion in the first letter. Humans are best kept away from science entirely, especially the natural sciences, because those instill wonder and perspective. The best sort of human never goes beyond the immediate sense experience. Reason as a whole is an awful way of causing humans to sin, because rational arguments are open to rational counterarguments. InsaneTrollLogic works much better. However, using rationalism to ''promote atheism'' is encouraged, since souls that simply convince themselves there is no God by way of rational deduction ''do'' end up in Hell. They're not especially tasty, but it ensures the devils will never starve.