The Patient’s Courage

The Screwtape Letters

This flow distinguishes the patient’s fear from his conduct and follows how danger tests his developing virtue.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Anticipated Danger Anticipated Danger from "The Screwtape Letters". Fear Before the Trial Projection The patient imagines possible dangers before knowing which will occur.

Anticipated Danger from "The Screwtape Letters". Fear Before the Trial Projection The patient imagines possible dangers before knowing which will occur.

Fear Before the Trial Projection The patient imagines possible dangers before knowing which will occur. This uncertainty can absorb attention and make hypothetical suffering seem more important than present duties. Preparation Screwtape aims to turn precaution into hidden reservation. The patient’s challenge is not to feel no fear but to avoid making self-protection his governing purpose.

The Fear of Cowardice The Fear of Cowardice from "The Screwtape Letters". A Moral Test Approaches Shame The patient may dread discovering himself cowardly.

The Fear of Cowardice from "The Screwtape Letters". A Moral Test Approaches Shame The patient may dread discovering himself cowardly.

A Moral Test Approaches Shame The patient may dread discovering himself cowardly. Screwtape sees that such self-knowledge could lead either to despair or to honest humility. Strategy The demons try to fill the patient’s mind with escape plans and imagined lifelines. They want a total commitment to duty quietly undermined before the moment of decision.

First Raid Conduct First Raid Conduct from "The Screwtape Letters". Courage in Action Fear Remains The patient is frightened and considers himself a coward. His feelings are painful, but they do not determine his conduct.

First Raid Conduct from "The Screwtape Letters". Courage in Action Fear Remains The patient is frightened and considers himself a coward. His feelings are painful, but they do not determine his conduct.

Courage in Action Fear Remains The patient is frightened and considers himself a coward. His feelings are painful, but they do not determine his conduct. Duty Fulfilled He does what his responsibility requires and perhaps more. The contrast between his self-assessment and his actions shows why courage cannot be measured by emotional ease.

A Failed Temptation A Failed Temptation from "The Screwtape Letters". The Demon’s Poor Return Minor Faults Wormwood can report irritability toward a dog, excessive smoking, and a forgotten prayer.

A Failed Temptation from "The Screwtape Letters". The Demon’s Poor Return Minor Faults Wormwood can report irritability toward a dog, excessive smoking, and a forgotten prayer.

The Demon’s Poor Return Minor Faults Wormwood can report irritability toward a dog, excessive smoking, and a forgotten prayer. These fail to outweigh the patient’s conduct under danger. Judgment Screwtape rejects the attempt to plead intentions or difficulty. In the infernal accounting, the patient’s actual choices have defeated the intended moral collapse.

Courage Meets Eternity Courage Meets Eternity from "The Screwtape Letters". The Trial Ends Passage The patient dies in the violence of war after acting faithfully under threat.

Courage Meets Eternity from "The Screwtape Letters". The Trial Ends Passage The patient dies in the violence of war after acting faithfully under threat.

The Trial Ends Passage The patient dies in the violence of war after acting faithfully under threat. His life is not extended into the long attrition Screwtape hoped to exploit. Resolution The story gives courage a place within a larger passage toward Heaven. The patient’s fear neither defines him nor prevents his final arrival.

When the patient first faces uncertainty about wartime service

As the danger of bombing becomes more immediate

During the patient’s first air raid

Immediately after the first air raid

At the patient’s death in the bombing