Screwtape's Letter on Self-Consciousness

This is inspired by C.S Lewis' story The Screwtape Letters for a school assignment. For some context if you haven't read the book, The Screwtape Letters is about a demon named Screwtape, who is teaching his nephew Wormwood how to turn his "patient" away from God, and seal his fate in hell. This is meant to be taken in the context of the book entirely. The assignment was to write a letter including a weakness and distraction, with the patient being myself. 

1

My dear Wormwood,

From your last letter you wrote, you told me about a possible weakness the patient has, yet you are not sure how you could be able to turn the weakness into a sin. Well, my dear nephew, you appear to be thinking about this incorrectly, as per usual—the sin itself, as it were, is rooted in the essence of the weakness!

So you say that the patient is afraid of how she is perceived by society, both in the real world, and online? This is rather a funny fear for the mortals, considering how they are all weak, pathetic, and broken beneath the translucent layers they build. It takes the divine hand of the Enemy to make them anything, though they are too entirely blind to see it. But before He is able to, they must deny themselves, a deed that is not easily done by their kind. Even those bread-breaking-prayers-all-hours-of-the-day Christians are self-involved one way or another. The sin is not, as it happens, something to be shed like the skin of a snake.

But I digress. The answer is simple. Press upon those fears when she must emerge from her hole into society. Tap into the anxiety whenever a stranger gives her a glance that seems to rest on her for just a few seconds too long. Or other times when she must perform simple tasks, and somehow messes them up. Let her blush with embarrassment. Allow a self-loathing to enter her heart, yet do not allow it to be fully known. This is something which even you could manage to perform, dear nephew.

There is only half a need to hide the contempt, mind you, for the belief that she must love herself, in consequence of being crafted in the Enemies image, is feeble. Conceal the half in the furthest corners of her mind, and only allow the faintest of whispers to be known—the ones that croon of her mistakes and errors, and exaggerate the circumstances. If you keep to this, before she knows it, she will hold a hate for the being that stares back at her from the mirror. Her eyes will dilate and her jaw will tighten; before long, her gaze will be averted from her own image with disgust.

While you press on this weakness like a sore wound, obscure the plain reality from her sight. Because truthfully, each being is consumed with their own selfish unease, and they do not care much about others. Their thoughts are so bent upon the fear of being spurned by their peers, classmates, and co-workers, that they have no room for examining the bitter truths which they conceal. Such has been their nature since the First Sin, otherwise their eternal Deaths would be far beyond our grasps. As such, this truth is best kept out of sight.

The minds of these creatures are small and narrow, my nephew, you must remember this—all the while covering it up with the anxieties of your patient. This should not be too difficult to do, for even if she has an inkling of such a notion, she will not be able to fully grasp the concept—being as she is. Eventually this weakness shall become a self-obsessed sin. Though, just as the creatures must tend to the dry earth, this weakness must be looked after and managed, or else by the sickening grace of the Enemy, it will wilt and, in the end, perish completely.

If your patient needs some more…encouraging before she is ripe for the bleeding, you can certainly turn to the little gods of the mortal world, the eyes of the multitude, and the mouth of the masses. Social media is the ultimate device and tool aiding in Our Father Below’s final design, so use it like an intravenous line, pumping overwhelming amounts of beliefs and opinions into the patient through the arm. You say she has an alias, an alter ego, or putting it simply, a presence online? This is most sufficient.

It does not matter what she posts or who she wants to appear on the internet, all you must worry about is guiding her fingers to the places where opinions clash with her own. This will cause her heart to pound and Hate to tighten her heart, as she skims over comments, posts, etc. that either criticize what she agrees with, or scorns others who have done what she is scared to do. This particularly being outspoken about the very things she believes herself. She is young, though believes that she is grounded in her faith and personal opinions, but in reality, her faith is lined with fissures. There is only so much she can handle until it splinters completely. As long as you keep squeezing the beads of unease from her heart, you will in due course, succeed in the standard destruction. Her soul, after all, is only a small part in the workings of Hell.

Your affectionate uncle

SCREWTAPE.