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ornamental line

Not Shaken

"I came almost to a full belief" (119).
C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces (1956)


Points for Reflection

The Bible: Judges 4:1 - 5:31

  1. What various responsibilities does Deborah's position as judge of Israel entail?
  2. Apparently, Barak's being somehow told by God to gather his men and meet the Canaanite commander, Sisera, in battle is not enough for the man. What must happen before Barak will take action?
  3. Deborah foretells that Barak will not take Sisera himself in battle, possibly as a consequence for his former passivity. Who defeats Sisera instead?
  4. The Canaanites have superior battle gera but smaller numbers than the Israelites. Which force wins, and why?
  5. Do you consider Jael's actions righteous?
  6. Compare the poetic ode woven by both Deborah and Barak in chapter five with the prose account in chapter four. Where do the accounts overlap, and where do they differ? What does the two accounts close proximity implicitly suggest the nature of narrative truth and historicity?
  7. How many different voices contribute to singing within the poem?
  8. According to the poem, what forces besides humans fight on the Israelites behalf?
  9. What female perspective helps close the poem?
  10. What types of spoils do the Canaanites routinely take from defeated enemies, according to v.30?


C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces (1956), chps 10-16

  1. What category of love best defines the type of affection shown Psyche by Orual in today’s reading?
  2. Does Orual’s concern for Psyche's wellbeing outweigh her concern for everything else?
  3. Can you locate any Christological elements in Psyche’s experience? Does she appear at any point to symbolize Christ, his disciples, or the Church?
  4. Is Psyche suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? Do her words, actions, and perceptions mark her as insane?
  5. Orual both calls herself honest and admits to an imperfect memory (117). How reliable is Orual’s narrative, and does her tale betray any moments of self-deception?
  6. How consistently do the human eyes reveal truth to Orual and Psyche?
  7. How important are eyes in perceiving the Divine?
  8. Does the phrase “holy darkness” (124) sound like an oxymoron or a truism?
  9. In this novel, which proves to be the most powerful yet indirect, non-empirical mode of revealing spiritual truth: nature, dreams, or waking visions?
  10. Does the Fox’s rational approach to life gain or lose credence in today’s reading?
  11. Twentieth-century novelists sometimes create an unreliable narrator, a storyteller whose account of the events in her own life grows less authoritative as fault lines gradually appear in her narrative.  At what moments in this particular tale is the reader prompted to question the validity and reliability of Orual’s perspective?
  12. What is Orual’s emotional state following her heated dialogue with Psyche?  Why?
  13. What lies of omission does Orual commit with the Fox?
  14. Does Orual have a reliable memory of past events?
  15. Does Orual’s confrontation with divinity (172-73 / 195-97) reveal more about herself or the god facing her?
  16. Does Orual fit the traditional mold shaped for women by her culture, or transform it?
  17. Into what two halves does Orual split herself, and which half dominates the other?
  18. How do Orual’s relationships with the Fox and with Bardia change once she is leading her people?


The very top of a woman's bust on a square stand sitting on some type of striped gray flooring. The head is see through and distorted
The Annunciation (1947)
watercolor
Salvador Dalí



Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu