After getting settled with the introductions to the novel, I decided to take a closer look into one of the characters in The Screwtape Letter, by C.S. Lewis, named Wormwood. Wormwood is a recent graduate of the devil’s training college who is assigned to his first human whom he must tempt into Hell. As a full-fledged demon, Wormwood has the responsibility to convert his assigned human, however, he must rely heavily on his “uncle” Screwtape for help. Screwtape claims that demons live in the external world where time does not affect them, however, Wormwood seems to be a younger, and less experienced demon.
I was a little confused on how did C.S Lewis come with these ridiculous names, so I did some digging to see if Wormwood has any meaning. There is woody shrub named Wormwood that has a bitter aromatic taste but there’s a second meaning as well. Wormwood is a state or source of bitterness or grief. Perhaps this could be foreshadow to Wormwood’s character or just the overall personality of Wormwood? Since this book is biblical, I searched “Wormwood definition biblical” and Wikipedia says that wormwood was a star that fall from the sky and fell into water bodies, making them bitter and killing many. I kind of got some goosebumps from that. I think this could be some useful information to think as I continue to read this book.
As his patient lives in the human world, Wormwood would get distracted with all the destruction and mayhem Europeans have created from the war. In one of Screwtape’s letters to Wormwood, he writes, “ the amateurish suggestion in your last letter warns me… that is not the sort of thing that a nephew should write to his uncle… it reveals an unpleasant desire to shift responsibility” (Lewis 15). Screwtape’s choice of words helps paint a picture of Wormwood’s character and makes him more relatable to the reader. All the major characters in the novel, except the patient, are demons or entities that are hard to vision. However, I like how Lewis creates a bridge for the readers to understand each character. Wormwood is the classical adolescent of today’s world. Wormwood’s desire to shift responsibility reminds me a lot of adolescents because we also do not like taking on the full responsibilities of things. Wormwood getting distracted easily is equivalent to today’s world and procrastination.
Based on Wormwood being less experienced and inattentive to his job, there is some reason to conclude that he possible could jeopardy his assignment or perhaps he could change as a character and become more attentive to his job and become more like his affectionate uncle.
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