Dark Like Blood

"'Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water,
but thick and dark like blood'" (50).
C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces (1956)

Points for Reflection

C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces (1956), chps 1-14

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?
16. what category of love best defines the type of affection shown Psyche by Orual in today’s reading?
17. does Orual’s concern for Psyche's wellbeing outweigh her concern for everything else?
18. can you locate any Christological elements in Psyche’s experience? Does she appear at any point to symbolize Christ, his disciples, or the Church?
19. is Psyche suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? Do her words, actions, and perceptions mark her as insane?
20. 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?
21. how consistently do the human eyes reveal truth to Orual and Psyche?
22. how important are eyes in perceiving the Divine?
23. does the phrase “holy darkness” (124) sound like an oxymoron or a truism?
24. in this novel, which proves to be the most powerful yet indirect, non-empirical mode of revealing spiritual truth: nature, dreams, or waking visions?
25. does the Fox’s rational approach to life gain or lose credence in today’s reading?

Mannequin (Barcelona Mannequin) (1926-27)
oil on canvas
Salvador Dali