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ornamental line

Dark Like Blood

"'Holy wisdom is not clear and think like water,
but thick and dark like blood" (50).

 

Points for Reflection

C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces (1956), chps. 1-9

  1. the older and experienced Orual who is narrating this tale about her younger self finds little to praise and much to scorn in the gods of Glome. What array of accusations does she level at Ungit and her son, the god of the Grey Mountain?
  2. what does the Fox mean by his favorite phrase “in accordance with nature”?
  3. at what points in the plot does the Fox’s own commitment to empiricism and reason falter?
  4. does the house of Ungit’s ritualistic spilling of blood echo the Israelites’ sacrifices to God as portrayed in the Old Testament?
  5. what characteristics of young Psyche (Istra) prompt Orual’s intense affection?
  6. as Psyche (Istra) matures, the nature of Orual’s affection for her steadily grows clearer. What exactly does Orual want/need from her youngest sister?
  7. though the parallel is intentionally, necessarily imperfect, Psyche/Istra is repeatedly (both overtly and subtly) linked with Christ by C. S. Lewis. Trace these moments in the text.
  8. is fear a sign of wisdom or weakness in this novel?
  9. death is, in many ways, the starting point for both religion and philosophy. Those willing to look their mortality squarely in the face are more likely to ask questions about the soul and the afterlife. What various postures towards death do Lewis's characters adopt?
  10. King Trom’s treatment of women (family members included) typifies the harsh patriarchal order of his culture. Does Lewis present any exceptions to this practice, or do all the males of Glome consistently treat women as subhuman?
  11. does physical beauty signify moral virtue in this novel?
  12. is the Priest of Ungit a liar? Does he believe his own declarations?
  13. does King Trom evince any easily identifiable virtues or sympathetic qualities?
  14. does disability either enervate or enable those characters dealing with it?
  15. does this novel treat the body, mind, and soul as discrete constructs/entities, or does Lewis configure them as inextricably intertwined?


an abstract painting of many lines and shapes with bright colors of reds, oranges, and yellows in the middle and shifting to darker colors of blues and greens around the edges
Mannequin (Barcelona Mannequin) (1926-27)
oil on canvas
Salvador Dalí


Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu