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The Great Divorce

 

            This book is delightfully insightful in it is content. Lewis is the narrator of his story, which begins in Hell, a dreary town full of empty streets. Lewis uses a dream as the vehicle to carry his ideas. Lewis boards a bus for Heaven with other ghosts from the town. It is not until the last chapter of the book that the reader finds out that Lewis is actually having a dream. Lewis finds himself in a dark and dreary place, where the houses are gray and empty, a dismal rain never stops, and time is eternally stuck in the bleak period just before sunset. Walking through this abominable town, he happens to find a bus stop, which takes inhabitants out of this gloomy place and into a much brighter happier world. Slightly bewildered, Lewis boards the bus and begins a journey out of a city named Hell and into another city called Heaven. When he arrives at his destination, Lewis discovers that Hell's inhabitants do not enjoy the beauty of this new land. In heaven, these people become ghosts because they are not strong enough to endure the substantive things of this world. The grass and water cut through their feet and even the tiniest object is to heavy for the ghosts to pick up. The rain would penetrate them like bullets would from a machine gun. The concept of Heaven being incredibly large and Hell being considerably small, smaller than a grain of sand is quite a comparison. The ghosts refused any help from the residents of heaven. One of the major mistakes the ghosts made was trying to conquer their struggles with their own powers. Time and again, Lewis sees the ghosts fail, but they still will not let go of what is holding them back. While Lewis is walking he meets George MacDonald who aids him in his journey through heaven. MacDonald tells Lewis that this journey is a dream, which will make clear to him that souls have a choice between Heaven and Hell and what that choice is. Lewis, at first, is unable to understand why the lost souls must be damned.


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