religious fantasy1. This work is partly an examination of the nature of good and evil, and the
insistence that finally the two may not exist together, that it must be "either-or" (see the Preface). What particularly is the nature of evil as it is portrayed by Lewis?
2. Discuss the issue of "free-will" (see page 72) as being a major theme of this work.
3. Discuss some of the sins that are keeping the souls out of Heaven (for example: false pride, possessive love,
lustfulness, cynicism & doubt, self-pity, grumbling, materialism, etc.).
4. The man who committed murder said that murder was not his worst sin, but that hatred was. Discuss this (pages 33-36). Could we be
mistaken when we put into a hierarchy the sins we believe to be the greatest, or the least likely to be forgiven or recovered from? How might we be fooling ourselves?
5. Our existence on this earth is what we have
philosophically been taught to believe to be Reality. Discuss Lewis' idea that compared to heaven we are merely shadows, or ghosts. This is also the concept that Plato expressed in his Republic
with the story of the cave. Do you find this idea appealing and hopeful, or do you find it appalling and negative?
6. How did the work challenge your imagination as to what heaven or hell might be like? Compare
Lewis' depictions to those in the Book of Revelations.
7. Discuss the idea that heaven and hell will both reach all the way back into eternity (page 11).
8. Lewis discusses the idea with Macdonald of the action of
pity versus the passion of pity. Discuss the difference. (pages 117-120) Why does the passion of pity belong in Hell?
9. Discuss the paragraph on page 96 when Macdonald is explaining to Lewis that the false religion
of lust is baser than the false religion of mother-love or patriotism or art, but that lust is less likely to be made into a religion. What did he mean? Do you agree? (See question #6)
10. What effect does it have on the story to find out in the end that the whole thing was a dream?
