<p>The purpose of this essay is to identify the various sender/receiver pairs from C.S. Lewis’s novel <em>The Screwtape Letters </em>and, once identified, to examine these pairs within the context of the concept of a doctrine of universal values which is expressed in Lewis’s <em>The Abolition of Man. </em>For the sake of clarity and simplicity<em> </em>the essay begins with a definition of terms and concepts that will be used throughout, including basic terms used when discussing a communicative act: <em>sender, receiver and message</em>. I then explain the essays central concept which is taken from another one of Lewis’s works <em>The Abolition of Man </em>regarding a doctrine of objective value.<em> </em>The idea that a set of universal values exists is often central to secular writing and C.S Lewis, a Christian apologist, makes it clear that he believes that there exists an ethical way of living that is common to all men, Christian and non-Christian alike. He dubs this set of basic morals the <em>Tao. </em></p><p>The various senders from <em>The Screwtape Letters</em> are then identified, beginning with the central character of Screwtape and moving in concentric circles outwards through Wormwood, the Enemy and his angels and ending with the reader/writer allegory wherein the sender is identified as the writer, Lewis. Textual evidence is given in each scenario to reveal whether these senders are aware of a doctrine of moral values and whether, in accordance to Lewis’s explanation of what he calls <em>speaking from within the Tao</em>, the various senders speak and act in order to teach that set of values to others.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:kau-5430 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Wallace, Robert |
| Publisher | Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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