The Screwtape Letters Session Notes #8 | Navigating the Ups & Downs and Screwtape’s Insatiable Hunger
Letter #8
These sessions continue to be immensely fun. Back by popular demand, Kristov returns and gives us some insight into the demon, Slubgob.
And here is our favorite quote from Letter #8:
“Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why us has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
Key Topics We Explored
Screwtape is Hungry
Screwtape continues to focus on devouring, consuming, and eating. We had a good conversation about devouring from Screwtape’s perspective vs God’s perspective. Screwtape wants to consume humans to the point where they are an unrecognizable pile of mangled flesh and gore. No individual recognition; just a mass pile of decaying flesh. Screwtape points out that God wants something different for humans: He wants all of us as unique individual creations to become images of Him (Screwtape used the word ‘replicas’). In short, Screwtape wants our wills to be absorbed into Satan whereas God wants our wills to conform to His. He wants to draw us into Himself; to unite ourselves to Him and yet remain in His image in which he created us.
We noted another moment of honesty and clarity from Screwtape when he said, “we want to suck in, He wants to give out.” In short, demons are only capable of consuming and devouring, we think, because of their inward focus on what benefits them. We again saw Screwtape’s insistence that humans are part animal when he describes us as cattle. And goes without saying he’s got food on the brain.
As we wrapped up this section, our conversation came back to the Eucharist. While Screwtape seeks to fill himself on human misery (as noted in a previous letter), he notes that demons are empty; perhaps tacitly admitting they can never be truly fulfilled. Interestingly, we can only be truly fulfilled and satisfied through consuming Christ’s body and blood (quite the other way around from Screwtape’s idea of consuming). Christ, in no uncertain terms, commands that we eat His flesh and drink His blood to inherit eternal life. See John chapter 6 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Christ’s teaching of the Eucharist.
Stumbling in the Troughs But Willing Ourselves To Drive On
I don’t think there is a man among us who needs further explanations about what it means to be in a trough period. While one certainly expects Screwtape and demons in general to exploit the trough periods, we were amazed at Screwtape’s acknowledgment that trough periods are incredibly dangerous for demons. Screwtape explains that a human who is committed to doing God’s will may certainly fall, but he may not stay down for long. Even when our bodies and minds do not want to pick up our crosses, there is still the will which drives our decision to keep moving. And that is the danger to the demons. KV in our group shared Thomas Merton’s Trust Prayer on this point.
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Perelandra Connections
Some of us (BS) in the reading group are particularly annoying about trying to find Perelandra connections everywhere in Screwtape…but this connection was hard to brush aside. Screwtape points out to Wormwood that God wants humans to let go of His hand and walk on their own even if that means they stumble and fall. Both Ransom and Weston discuss this topic with Tinidril (the Green Lady) in Perelandra. Also, here in Screwtape we hear about the law of undulation; the ups and downs of life which we must navigate. In Perelandra, Ransom must quickly adapt to the physical up and down nature of the tossing sea and floating islands. Throughout the novel, Ransom must also deal with the wins and losses in his conflict with The Un-Man. In my defense, another member of the group (KV) pointed out the floating islands connection.
Slubgob: What’s In a Demon’s Name?
We finally meet another demon so our good friend Kristov gave us a rundown of Slubgob. It turns out that a slub is a knotted mangled heap of course lumpy yarn. Gob can of course mean a pile or heap of something (like gobs and gobs of nasty school cafeteria food). It can also be something thick and sticky. Colloquially, it’s often used a synonym for mouth.
Kristov thus painted a grotesque image of a knotted ball of rope held together by thick sludge. Looking at Slubgob in the literal meaning of his name, we see clearly what the demons want to do to us: get us all twisted and knotted up, to despair of being stuck in an inescapable quagmire; incapable of acting or making decisions; to surrender to apathy and helplessness.
Our collective response to this was to build up a devotion to the Blessed Mother and in particular her title of Our Lady Undoer of Knots. You can find the novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots online.
Kristov has a few other demons to cover so stay tuned!
Letter # 8 Summary
Screwtape starts with a passive aggressive admonishment of Wormwood’s foolish hope that the Patient’s religious phase is ebbing. Never one to point out his own faults, Screwtape takes a jab at Slubgob, the current head of the Training College; saying that it’s gone to pieces since Slubgob was put in charge. Screwtape explains the Law of Undulation; a natural cycle of ebbs and flows in a human’s life. He says this cycle has nothing to do with the work of demons however, it is their job to exploit the troughs. The Enemy also relies on the peaks and troughs, and Screwtape alludes that many humans have become saints due to their experiences in the trough periods. Screwtape then turns to eating; explaining how humans are food for demons and how demons want to consume and can only suck in and ravish. In closing, Screwtape explains the Enemy may take away His hand so that humans learn to walk on their own. Screwtape laments it is devastating to their cause when humans stumble and feel forsaken by God but still get up and obey.
Themes and Advice from Screwtape
Law of Undulation / Peaks & Troughs
Demonic Desire to Devour
Spirit vs Animal
Food and Eating
God allows us to walk on our own