B. Read the narrative of Part I all the way through, taking note of the relationships among the sisters, and the court personnel, then decide for yourself where you think Orual (pronounced, OR-RULE) stands in relationship to her sisters, the "gods," and herself. Pause and ask yourself what "Part II" might be about. Where can the story go from here? What are your expectations?
C. Read Part II carefully--how does it meet or undermine your expectations set up by your reading of Part I? Reflect now upon the title of the novel, and its relationship to Orual's "progression" in understanding of what has happened to her, and especially of her own nature and destiny?
D. In what ways has Lewis changed the original myth? To what purpose?
B. How has Lewis's narrative style changed or evolved in TWHF (what's different? more satisfying? less satisfying?)
C. How does TWHF compare in style with the other Lewis fiction and nonfiction we have read thus far? What does it have in common? How does it depart? What echoes of previous works does it reveal?
B. What do Psyche and Orual both learn about the nature of love? In what way, in the end, does "Orual also become Psyche"?
C. What does it mean to "have a face" in this novel? What is the meaning of the novel's last paragraph (p. 308)?
D What is the role of some of the subsidiary characters in the novel--Bardia, the Fox, Redival, the King, etc.?
E. Which previous work of Lewis's do you think would best prepare a reader for understanding TWHF? Why? What characters in TWHF remind you of other Lewis's characters or attributes?
F. In what way, if at all, has Lewis's handling of female characters changed?
G. How, if at all, do reason and imagination (or, looking at and looking along) fit into this novel differently than before?
H. Does TWHF in any particular way reveal anything about its author's own religious posture, i.e., if you didn't already know about Lewis's commitments, would they be evident or even latent here? What does it suggest about the relationship between myth, religion, and truth in Lewis's own conception?
I. Apart from narrative/stylistic or thematic concerns, what strikes you as unusual or challenging in this work when compared with your previous exposure to Lewisian thought? Is this a step back or a step forward? Speculate on "why" Lewis would write such a work as this--and why it may have come later rather than earlier in his career.
Return
to Course Page
Go to Inklings
Homepage