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C. S. LewisA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
C.S. Lewis is unprepared for the initial emotional onslaught of grief he experiences after Helen dies. He is stunned by the experience, feeling as if he is “mildly drunk or concussed” (3). The enormity of his loss permeates his existence, becoming “a sort of invisible blanket between the world and [Lewis]” (3). People treat him differently, he observes, noting the discomfort of friends and acquaintances he encounters. Although he is able to focus on his work, Lewis finds it difficult to muster the energy for ordinary tasks.
Lewis is trapped in the throes of all consuming grief: “I not only live each day in endless grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief” (10). He experiences a roller coaster of complex emotions, is seemingly almost fine and reasonable one minute, then comes crashing down the next, feeling guilty for feeling better. Although concerned that keeping a journal may, in fact, exacerbate his grief, Lewis decides that writing helps him “get a little outside it,” while noting that Helen would dispute that assertion (10).
Lewis discovers that he is no long able to believe in an afterlife for Helen, as he did following the death of a friend; he desperately wants to, but can no longer be sure it exists.
By C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity
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Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet
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Perelandra
Perelandra
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Prince Caspian
Prince Caspian
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Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
C. S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man
The Abolition of Man
C. S. Lewis
The Discarded Image
The Discarded Image
C. S. Lewis
The Four Loves
The Four Loves
C. S. Lewis
The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
C. S. Lewis
The Horse And His Boy
The Horse And His Boy
C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle
The Last Battle
C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
C. S. Lewis
The Pilgrim's Regress
The Pilgrim's Regress
C. S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain
The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters
C. S. Lewis
The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C. S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces
Till We Have Faces
C. S. Lewis