This blog is in conjunction with the C.S. Lewis DeCal. We will deconstruct the works of one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the 20thcentury. The course objective is to discuss the following three questions:
1. What structures, images, themes, and plots does C.S. Lewis use? What purpose and effects are created?
2. How are the life and thoughts of C.S. Lewis reflected in these works? (to better answer this question, we will explore Lewis’ diary and literary criticism in addition to Surprised by Joy)
3. How do the books connect to each other; what overarching themes and messages do you draw from the works?
Students should come out of this course with well-formulated answers to the above questions, and an overall deeper appreciation and understanding of CS Lewis and his works.
Responses must be at least: 200 words.
Tips for responses:
1. Ask the above three questions during your reading.
2. Comment/discuss issues discussed by other classmates.
3. Pick and image or passage that stands out to you, and discuss. Keep in mind: passages from outside sources (books, diaries, journals, etc.) do not count as part of the word limit.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Week 1 Reflections Surprised by Joy Preface and Chp. 1-5
Please post your reflections on the Preface and Chapters 1-5 of Surprised by Joy, by commenting here:
Post by Eric Tsiliacos “I suspect that this patter, occurring twice and so early in my life, has unduly biased my whole outlook. To this day the vision of the world which comes most naturally to me is one in which ‘we two’ or ‘we few’ (and in a sense “we happy few”) stand together against something stronger and larger.” (Pg. 32) C. S. Lewis’ Surprise by Joy is not structured like the typical autobiography. It is not the typical autobiography in the sense that he is not describing his entire life for the sake of being remembered but rather tracing a series of events surrounding a key term he calls joy. He describes his early childhood and adolescence to set the stage of the man who would later convert to Christianity. For the first several chapters he describes those key events and patterns that shaped who he would later become in his adult life. While the second half refrains from describing anything too mundane. The quote provided above is an example of such a pattern observed by Lewis. The two events being: his strong relationship with his brother as they faced their father’s uncontrollable emotions at the death of their mother and his time at boarding school with a terrible headmaster. It is interesting to note that it is not until after he describes the two events that he “suspect[s]… this pattern.” Another phrase C. S. Lewis could use to describe such realizations is the observation of God’s providential hand in his life. It will be interesting to look for this pattern of “standing together against something stronger and larger” in his other works.
I must restrain myself. I could continue to describe Oldie for many pages; some of the worst is unsaid. But perhaps it would be wicked, and it is certainly not obligatory, to do so. One good thing I can tell of him. Impelled by conscience, a boy once confessed to him an otherwise undetectable lie. The ogre was touched; he only patted the terrified boy's back and said, “Always stick to the truth.” -Page 27
C.S. Lewis can be quite an ironic writer. Here, he says that he “could continue to describe Oldie for many pages,” indicating that he plans to cease further description about his geometry teacher, but he goes on for another page or two describing speculation of how Oldie may be insane and how effective he is at teaching geometry. Also, Lewis also includes the phrase “some of the worst is unsaid,” about Oldie. Already, Lewis has mentioned that Oldie abuses the children, treats them cruelly, and insinuates that perhaps Oldie did this due to erotic desire. This slight mention that “the worst is unsaid” tantalizes the reader's mind about what Oldie could have done worse than what has already been mentioned. Also, Lewis writes to absolve himself from blame, by saying that “perhaps it would be wicked” to mention what the “worst” of Oldie's actions were. However, this is quite contradictory because simply by mentioning that Oldie has done worse than the already horrific actions he has committed is “wicked” enough because the reader has jumped to terrible conclusions and expect that Oldie is most definitely a terrible man. Lewis has already defamed Oldie as much as possible, and by not defining what the “worst” is, the conclusion is open ended for actions that might even be worse than what Oldie actually did, so Lewis already has done the “wicked” deed. (Hopefully that made sense.) It seems like Lewis wants to reveal the horrors of his childhood and the hardships that Oldie caused for him while still having an easy conscience about speaking badly about Oldie. But even by trying to absolve himself and listing a “good thing” of Oldie, he still manages to insult him further and call him an “Ogre.” I find this highly comical, and intriguing that the text is so ironic. -Ginger Wu
In the first 5 chapters of Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis takes us to a travel to his childhood years. He does so without trying to hide his silliest childish thoughts, and without dramatizing the difficulties of his times. He disclaims from the beginning of the book that he is willing to do so as he often finds others to identify with him in matters that they thought they were the only ones to experience. He therefore engages the readers with his honesty and his unpretentiousness in giving a plain but interesting biography that the readers as well can, at least in some parts, identify with. One such moment of honest description of his thoughts is the one that he explains how he lost his Christian faith, and gained his passion of digging deeper into spirituality: “ It is a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lusts.” (p.60) Lewis account of his childhood thinking process reflects his thoughtfulness as a little child. He is able from a young age to go into elaborate thinking and challenge the accepted norms of the grown ups (which also shows in other ways such as the creation of Boxen). But also, from the reader’s point of view, this thinking process that Lewis unravels in front of us shows his ability as an author to go back to the basics, and explain with simplicity what goes on in the questioning mind of a child that wants to know more than what is offered. -Efrosini Proios
I find it very interesting in C.S Lewis account from his childhood he speaks of his love for reading the old library upstairs in their house. He describes himself being raised in “long corridors,empty sunlit rooms,upstairs indoor silences,attics explored in solitude...also, of endless books” (pg 10). I found this interesting because I'm sure this affinity for reading at a early age prepared, trained, encouraged him to become the phenomenal writer that he is now remembered by. Then after he would read he began to write stories of his own, writing of other worlds and presenting his stories with illustrations. He would “dress” these animals in his stories. This was what he called animal-land where chivalrous mice and rabbits how rode out not kill giants but rather cats. Reading this part of his life in chapter one was very enjoyable to me because he had such a creative imagination for a six,seven,eight year old. I value having an imagination where your dreams can come alive and a world that you can create. This is essential for successful individuals I believe. Him being able to tap into his imagination at a early age definitely prepared him for when he would later write more children stories and stories involving a made up world of his.
Reading the first five chapters of C.S. Lewis’s Surprise by Joy had quite a different effect on me than his other works, such as the Chronicles of Narnia. In The Chronicles of Narnia, I felt that I connected to him through his use of imagination in regards to a mixture of animals, humans, imaginary worlds, etc. I never felt that I personally connected to this, considering it was not real, but I did feel as though I connected to his use of imagery and description behind his message. In Surprise by Joy, I ironically have been very surprised by my somewhat deep and sincere connection to certain passages he describes. For example, before going into detail about the religious impacts of his mother’s death, he describes the toll that he felt his mother’s death took on his dad’s relationship with himself and his brother. Lewis states that “my father never fully recovered from this loss…his nerves had never been of the steadiest and his emotions had always been uncontrolled. Under the pressure of anxiety his temper became incalculable; he spoke wildly and acted unjustly. This by a peculiar cruelty of fate, during those months the unfortunate man, had he but known it, was really losing his sons as well as his wife” (12). I was very drawn to this passage because for some odd reason, I just felt that he was speaking with such honesty and such truth about death. It is so common that when people lose a close, loved one, they end up pulling away from those that are also close to them out of fear, and eventually, end up losing them as well. Lewis describes it in such a delicate but deep way, I was astounded. I am used to being so entertained by him, but not on an emotional level. I have experienced those close to me being affected by death and then pulling away from me and others, and it is just how Lewis describes. He use of words is remarkable. He begins by describing simple details about his father’s temper and anxiety, but digs deeper to address how this affected not only his father’s life personally, but his and his brother’s as well.
As the title of this work would suggest, C.S. Lewis uses Joy (with a capital J) as the main theme and the occurrence of which each time in his life is structured around. I find this intriguing, especially as he describes Joy as being that which if you have felt it, you know and you can't help but want to feel it again. I also wonder at his use of this word in particular to describe it, in light of the fact that his future wife’s name is also Joy. I look forward to seeing how he ties this in or does not. As an auto-biographer, Lewis is extremely honest about his actions and motives as a child and as he grows into boyhood. He very fairly attributes blame to himself as much as to his family or schoolmates and teachers. This is refreshing as well as strange, and his writing style is so very down to earth and straight forward that it is unlike an auto-biography at all, he truly does seek to remove all the supposed romance from his life and show himself as a ‘simple’ man. Lewis’ list of favorite and least-favorite books is extremely interesting and because of his success later on, I am extremely fascinated by authors whom he claims to be influenced by. Some who perhaps received just as much renown through Lewis as through their own work?
Lewis mentions his ingrained pessimism. Thinking back to the five chapters, I began looking for sources of this pessimism. There seem to be ample events in his early life that would lead him to this kind of outlook. The death of his mother was most likely one of the most traumatic events of his childhood. He prayed continuously for her health to return, but unfortunately the worst case scenario occurred and she passed away. Furthermore, instead of becoming closer to his father, his father reacted very negatively to the death of his wife and drove his children away. When it came to boarding school, his father looked at a wide array of options. Despite the odds working in his favor, the very worst option was chosen and he was sent to Oldie. When speaking with adults at various social gatherings, instead of being praised for his large command of the English language, he was ostracized by adults. Throughout, his early upbringing, a lot of worst case events seem to happen to Lewis. Then again, Lewis does mention events in his early life that were fairly positive. He was not picked on and bullied the most. However, it looks like these events weren’t significant enough to sway his mind.
The first thing that jumped out to me as very Lewis-esque was the description of the many books in the New House. He suddenly interjects, "Where all these books had been before we came to the New House is a problem that never occurred to me until I began writing this paragraph. I have no idea of the answer” (8). This sentence shows me two things. One, this is such an honest account, unmitigated, perhaps only filtered by relevancy. I also loved that line because it is the way he writes: to the point, practical, without flowery language. His descriptions of the New House also reminded me of the mansion in the Chronicles of Narnia. I could imagine C.S. Lewis using the Chronicles as a portal to his childhood.
Lewis’ description of his father’s verbal scolding/disciplining struck me as powerful. The reader gets an honest account of family life while almost witnessing his maturation. On top of that, it is incredibly ironic – I can imagine a man yelling at a frightened child who has no clue what is going on. I can also tell Lewis has an exceptional memory: he remembers dialogue, clear details of childhood, etc.
I didn’t realize that Lewis had such a hard childhood. I wonder how his relationships with his father and his brother reflect his portrayals of family in The Chronicles of Narnia. I do remember a lot of bonding amongst siblings but not much else.
“That was the first beauty I ever knew. What the real garden has failed to do, the toy garden did. It made me aware of nature—not, indeed, as a storehouse of forms and colors but as something cool, dewy, fresh, exuberant.” It is interesting to see that C.S. Lewis found his first form of inspiration not from Nature, but rather an imitation of Nature, of something real. By describing the ‘toy garden,’ which invokes various sensations in him, Lewis can imagine a Paradise, an abstract thought that he can relate to. It seems that for Lewis, it takes one piece of imagination to inspire another. After all, imagination does not arise from what reality is, but from what reality can be. This memory that Lewis mentions is a crucial stepping-stone in his path towards the kind of writer he will grow up to be. He discovers that he cannot write stories about India—only Animal-land, which he continues to make up. In fact, it seems that his description of reality will only stop at its literate characteristics and nothing else. Only by imagination, can he twist reality, create a reality that continually changes and find words to describe that change. Another interesting aspect to note is that Lewis can directly link this memory to his brother. If he saw this toy garden on a market street, would he have had thought it was also beautiful? My guess is perhaps not. His brother can not only by a source for emotional recall, but also a great influence on how he thinks.
The reader who finds these three episodes of no interest need read this book no further, for in a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else.... I will only underline the quality common to the three experiences; it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic... in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again." (17-18) C.S Lewis takes the readers on a journey through his childhood in the first five chapter of his book, Surprised by Joy. Though these chapters serve as an autobiographic description of his life, C.S Lewis makes clear that the premise of this book is to highlight his encounter with Joy. Therefore his childhood was a part of the process to which he discovered “an unsatisfied desire” called Joy. Similar to how C.S Lewis defines the term Joy, he also describes his spiritual development as “a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lusts.” (p.60) C.S Lewis marks this part of his childhood as a time in which he lost his faith but I would argue that it was a pivotal movement in his life in which his faith began to grow. I believe that there comes a time in everyone’s life when a person beings to question the parameters of his/her faith. This internal dialogue exists when that person’s spiritual desires to connect God in stagnate because of a lack of growth and development in ones spiritual maturity. That is when the unsatisfied desire to become closer to God which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction, has not become realized. Though some believers might use this time as a way to challenge the ways he/she experiences God others take themselves outside of their affiliation with religion. All in all, this experience allowed C.S Lewis to experience God and His undesirable Joy in a very tangible and satisfying way.
I think the truth is that the belief into which I had hypnotized myself was itself too irreligious for its failure to cause any religious revolution. I had approached God, or my idea of God, without love, without awe, even with out fear. He was, in my mental picture of this miracle, to appear neither as a Savior nor as Judge, but merely as a magician […] (pp. 13). In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis details his life experience of finding joy. He shares of his upbringing and how contrary to what people believe he was not raised in strict and vivid Puritanism (pp.6). ¬ As a child, Lewis was taken to church and was taught, “ prayers offered in faith would be granted”; He recalls setting himself to pray for his mother’s health that was sick with cancer. Lewis reveals his early view or understanding of God, a view that was shallow and without reverence. God if thought of was though of as a mere magician who would grant miracles to those who asked him. Note worthy is that Lewis does not think much of this episode because most children have this similar view and understanding of god (pp.13). He imagined that this type of “belief “ in god was common among children and that it was not really of religious importance in the same way, which other children’s beliefs are also not of religious importance. Lewis later recognizes that in his child there were instances where he noticed he was missing what he describes as “ unsatisfied desire […] more desirable than any other satisfaction” also known as joy.
Even before beginning “Surprised by Joy” by Lewis, I immediately thought of the Wordsworth’s poem “Surprised by Joy.” From my knowledge of Lewis’s writing, I know that he did not simply wish the titles to be coincidently similar. The sameness of the title suggests that Lewis found reassurance and likeness in Wordsworth poem. Wordsworth writes the poem when he momentarily forgets about the death of his daughter-the joy he feels when he forgets that his daughter has died, but that joy is fleeting because his memory catches up with him and forces him to remember that his daughter is in fact dead. Wordsworth and Lewis have similar views on what joy really means. Lewis, from his autobiography, suggests that joy is something that he only experiences in glimpses and eventually those glimpses fade away. Similar to Wordsworth who, through his poem suggests that the joy he feels when he forgets his daughter’s death is only fleeting. This connection suggests that Lewis is determined to find out what can create lasting joy-he is seeking a joy that does not simply fade away, but a joy that is sustaining. Not having read the whole book, I can guess that Lewis suggests that God is the way to finding ultimate joy because He is the one thing in the world that never changes.
“So much for Oldie’s; but the year was not all term. Life at a vile boarding school is in this way a good preparation for the Christian life, that it teaches one to live by hope. Even in a sense, by faith; for at the beginning of each term, home and the holidays are so far off that it is hard to realize them as to realize heaven....In all seriousness I think that the life of faith is easier to me because of these memories...” Page 21
Although the title would suggest that “Joy” is the main theme of this book, I am curious to see how the idea of hope will play out as well. The passage above particularly stood out because he parallels his life at boarding school with the Christian life and then links it to the idea of living by hope. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps this idea of hope is more connected with the idea of “Joy” then it may first appear because whenever Lewis talks about “Joy” he mentions how there is always a longing for more than the commonplace, a longing to again long for this desire (pg 11). Throughout chapters 1-5 Lewis describes how in the midst of the bad and the good he constantly tried to search for this “Joy” that he could not experience at his own volition. It seems that both the idea of hope and Joy relate to each other because both seem to make the commonplace, the everyday struggles not matter. I say this because whenever he experiences a moment of “Joy” he describes how everything else becomes small, almost trivial in light of this desire. Similarly, hope is what allowed him to survive in boarding school. Lewis looked to something more than just himself, then just his circumstances. He longed for the days, the moments he would be able to go back home.
"Joy is distinct not only from the pleasure in general byt even from aesthetic pleasure. it must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing" (Pg. 40)
Looking at this passage, there seems to be an apparent connection back to the title of the book itself. Here he defines what joy is to him. In the previous four chapters of the book he conveys to the reader all of his past experiences. However, with each experience, there comes an end, or transition into the next chapter of his life. There is no longing for what has preceded nor any desire to return to the past. In other words, he has not found “the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing” in any of his past experiences. With each experience, there he seems to be searching for some sort of fulfillment and yet he is disappointed at each turn. And by the way he discusses his fruitless religiosity and his conversion to atheism, I assume the joy he will be surprised by, as said in the title, is that Christianity is the thing that will become to him an undying desire. His life will be much more fulfilled and he will have a longing to continue to obtain pleasure from the knowledge of God and his savior. This joy will be, as he says, truly “distinct from pleasure”, as it will be a joy that wells up from within and satisfies indefinitely.
C.S. Lewis managed to describe, in his Surprised By Joy, how he came to his conversion into Christianity. He did so in a very candid and unrestrained style that allowed him to reveal his inner thoughts as he reminisced back into his childhood years leading up to the point where he is writing this book. I found it most interesting how he came to write. “What drove me to write was the extreme manual clumsiness from which I have always suffered…” (p.8) This confession of weakness brought more insight into how Lewis was able to still find the “Joy” which he describes in this book. I can see that he chose not to let his handicap affect his desire nor feeling of joy. He describes how he discovered how much he could find more happiness in his ability to create a world with his imagination as compared to creating something with his hands. This joy that he experienced and shared from his past was something that he described as authentic and “distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure.” (p.40) This authentic joy is in many ways elusive due to the fact that as Lewis described it, “never in our power.” (p.11) Joy is something that we cannot control but so dearly wish for. We can see that Lewis believed joy to be something apart from circumstances but something more supernatural—this being an implication of his realization of his need of God to supply this much desired joy in his life.
In reading this passage by C.S. Lewis and hearing him describe his view of God “merely as a magician” was very interesting to me. The way that he is describing the character and power of God here bring about an even bigger issue of whether or not believers or unbelievers see Christ and his power in the same light. The light that says the power of God, whether it be signs and wonders or the movement of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of people, is just a trick or an allusion of the mind. Another very interesting idea that Lewis brings up here is that he “approached God or the idea of God, without love, without awe, even without fear”. He realized in his life that for him to truly realize and experience what God was actually doing and how he was moving, he must be in a constant state of being in “awe” of the things of God. Searching day after day, hour after hour, truly yearning to see and EXPERIENCE the goodness, power and love of God. I believe this principle is a necessary one for not only our spiritual lives but also our social lives as well.
C.S. Lewis's description of the "highest sense" of imagination resonated with what I found compelling in The Chronicles of Narnia and in other works of literature that I hope to revisit someday. The imagination that C.S. Lewis experiences-- the memory of the toy garden, the "Idea of Autumn" awakened by reading Squirrel Nutkin, and the transportation to "huge regions of northern sky" brought about by a verse in a poem-- explains the awe and wonder found in his writing. He calls this longing for wonder joy. Unlike his brother, he is stirred by what is out of reach physically and mentally (the memory of a memory, the Green Hills, autumn, the boundlessness of nature). Things which are artificial or machine-like (ships, trains, and insects) have nothing of the infinite and belong to the realm of invention. I think C.S. Lewis’s definition of joy is what distinguishes poetry from the ordinary. What I like about C.S. Lewis’s treatment of imagination is a lack of sentimentality, which I believe would have distanced me from his writing. This understatement of emotion probably, as he mentions, rose from the distrust of emotion he inherited seeing the contrast between his mother and father. I would like to learn more about C.S. Lewis’s distrust of emotion and whether or not it is ever resolved.
Initially, I apologize for posting on this an hour late! I planned on doing it at 11:30, but AirBears was not letting me log on! That being said, my thoughts:
The center of the "autobiography" is not entirely focused on Lewis. No doubt, it chronicles his life and aspirations as a young man, but it becomes very clear early on that it will be more about his philosophy regarding life. This is centered on his conversion from Atheism to Christianity. It's compelling to me how he uses the word "Joy" to explain his ultimate belief in God. This shows that, previous to the said belief, there was an absence of Joy in his life to some extent. In this way, I think what drove Lewis is a basic principle that drives most people, whether religious or not: the desire to be happy. Thus, as Spencer Hagan (who posted above me) said, we, as humans, will search for such a light that can show itself, day in and day out. If God cannot provide such a light, it would impossible to have it come from anywhere else. Lewis ultimately came to believe this fact, and it will be interesting to see his progression in the next few chapters.
As somewhat of a side note, I appreciate Lewis as an artist because no two works are the same. He can convey worlds of meaning with several underlying threads in several different ways. From The Chronicles of Narnia to Surprised by Joy to The Screwtape Letters (I read a bit ahead), all of works show different aspects of the same universal light shown to us because of a God.
“In my daydreams I was training myself to be a fool; in mapping and chronicling Animal-Land I was training myself to be a novelist.”
In reading these chapters, I am surprised by how dedicated C. S. Lewis was as a child. He brought to life his solitary childhood, and made us understand why he was such a prolific reader, and later, writer. He describes his childhood analytically, yet not without a sentimental note. What I find most interesting are the three experiences he identifies as Joy. Although they are all abstract ideas meant to be felt rather than described in words, he manages to convey that transitory sense of wonder and intensity. C. S. Lewis’ apparent surrender to Joy in childhood appears to be indicative of his later religious sentiments when he claims that “Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.” However, it is interesting to compare this with his opinion of his father’s extroverted sentiments, seeing in displays of emotion a certain weakness.
C. S. Lewis’ strong bond to his brother seem to have provided a particularly important emotional connection for him as a child. From how he describes his parents, there appears to have been a certain distance, exacerbated by the death of his mother. This is perhaps why he so loathes formality.
The first was upon reading the part where he describes how his thumb only has one joint. This defect did not allow him to do certain things, so instead he turned to writing. As we all know, he has become a really good writer. So, what resounded with me was not so much what he said in that paragraph, but how he responded with the defect. C. S. Lewis seems to have turned his defect (bad situation) into the cause of who he is today. This was what struck me as I began thinking about how easy it is to complain about defects, instead of using them to our advantage.
Another thing I noticed was he kept mentioning people who had a negative influence on him. However, always, at the end he would try to include something good about them, or try and explain how they were not intentionally evil. He also mentioned that they were not to blame even though he was blaming them. I understood what he was saying even though there was some irony in it. A person is influenced by the people around them, but ultimately they make the choices in their own life. So while C. S. Lewis was exposed to certain things by Pogo, Pogo did not make him do everything he chose to do. I appreciate that he makes a conscious effort to not blame others for what he would look back on as wrong choices.
“But I must insist that this was a totally different activity from the invention of Animal-Land. Animal-Land was not (in that sense) a fantasy at all. I was not one of the characters it contained. I was its creator, not a candidate for admission to it. Invention is essentially different from reverie; if some fail to recognize the difference that is because they have not themselves experienced both. Anyone who has will understand me. In my daydreams I was training myself to be a fool; in mapping and chronicling Animal-Land I was training myself to be a novelist. (p.10)
It is interesting that Lewis makes this clear distinction between the different definition of “imagination.” Lewis’ s imagination was not one of fantasy, but of ‘invention’. Even at this young age, he went so far as to create a whole history for this Animal-Land and even maps that were “geographically related to [his] brother’s India” (p.9). It is amazing that his attention to detail and ability to create these literary worlds were already so apparent in his childhood, and no doubt foreshadows his future as a novelist whose works of fiction reflected his Christian faith. He states that his imagination declined while at boarding school at Belsen, which shows that his imagination did not stem from his schooling, but rather from his reading of many books from his father’s extensive collection, and also from his love of nature and beauty. It is inspiring that his intrinsic imagination was able to persist through his life to his adulthood, even with all the things that happened in his life, including the loss of his mother and estranged relationship with his father. I feel that such personal hardships in one’s youth can cause someone to lose their child-like creativity due to the realization of a harsh reality, but with Lewis, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Post by Eric Tsiliacos
ReplyDelete“I suspect that this patter, occurring twice and so early in my life, has unduly biased my whole outlook. To this day the vision of the world which comes most naturally to me is one in which ‘we two’ or ‘we few’ (and in a sense “we happy few”) stand together against something stronger and larger.” (Pg. 32)
C. S. Lewis’ Surprise by Joy is not structured like the typical autobiography. It is not the typical autobiography in the sense that he is not describing his entire life for the sake of being remembered but rather tracing a series of events surrounding a key term he calls joy. He describes his early childhood and adolescence to set the stage of the man who would later convert to Christianity. For the first several chapters he describes those key events and patterns that shaped who he would later become in his adult life. While the second half refrains from describing anything too mundane.
The quote provided above is an example of such a pattern observed by Lewis. The two events being: his strong relationship with his brother as they faced their father’s uncontrollable emotions at the death of their mother and his time at boarding school with a terrible headmaster. It is interesting to note that it is not until after he describes the two events that he “suspect[s]… this pattern.” Another phrase C. S. Lewis could use to describe such realizations is the observation of God’s providential hand in his life. It will be interesting to look for this pattern of “standing together against something stronger and larger” in his other works.
I must restrain myself. I could continue to describe Oldie for many pages; some of the worst is unsaid. But perhaps it would be wicked, and it is certainly not obligatory, to do so. One good thing I can tell of him. Impelled by conscience, a boy once confessed to him an otherwise undetectable lie. The ogre was touched; he only patted the terrified boy's back and said, “Always stick to the truth.”
ReplyDelete-Page 27
C.S. Lewis can be quite an ironic writer. Here, he says that he “could continue to describe Oldie for many pages,” indicating that he plans to cease further description about his geometry teacher, but he goes on for another page or two describing speculation of how Oldie may be insane and how effective he is at teaching geometry. Also, Lewis also includes the phrase “some of the worst is unsaid,” about Oldie. Already, Lewis has mentioned that Oldie abuses the children, treats them cruelly, and insinuates that perhaps Oldie did this due to erotic desire. This slight mention that “the worst is unsaid” tantalizes the reader's mind about what Oldie could have done worse than what has already been mentioned.
Also, Lewis writes to absolve himself from blame, by saying that “perhaps it would be wicked” to mention what the “worst” of Oldie's actions were. However, this is quite contradictory because simply by mentioning that Oldie has done worse than the already horrific actions he has committed is “wicked” enough because the reader has jumped to terrible conclusions and expect that Oldie is most definitely a terrible man. Lewis has already defamed Oldie as much as possible, and by not defining what the “worst” is, the conclusion is open ended for actions that might even be worse than what Oldie actually did, so Lewis already has done the “wicked” deed. (Hopefully that made sense.)
It seems like Lewis wants to reveal the horrors of his childhood and the hardships that Oldie caused for him while still having an easy conscience about speaking badly about Oldie. But even by trying to absolve himself and listing a “good thing” of Oldie, he still manages to insult him further and call him an “Ogre.” I find this highly comical, and intriguing that the text is so ironic.
-Ginger Wu
In the first 5 chapters of Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis takes us to a travel to his childhood years. He does so without trying to hide his silliest childish thoughts, and without dramatizing the difficulties of his times. He disclaims from the beginning of the book that he is willing to do so as he often finds others to identify with him in matters that they thought they were the only ones to experience. He therefore engages the readers with his honesty and his unpretentiousness in giving a plain but interesting biography that the readers as well can, at least in some parts, identify with.
ReplyDeleteOne such moment of honest description of his thoughts is the one that he explains how he lost his Christian faith, and gained his passion of digging deeper into spirituality:
“ It is a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lusts.” (p.60)
Lewis account of his childhood thinking process reflects his thoughtfulness as a little child. He is able from a young age to go into elaborate thinking and challenge the accepted norms of the grown ups (which also shows in other ways such as the creation of Boxen). But also, from the reader’s point of view, this thinking process that Lewis unravels in front of us shows his ability as an author to go back to the basics, and explain with simplicity what goes on in the questioning mind of a child that wants to know more than what is offered.
-Efrosini Proios
I find it very interesting in C.S Lewis account from his childhood he speaks of his love for reading the old library upstairs in their house. He describes himself being raised in “long corridors,empty sunlit rooms,upstairs indoor silences,attics explored in solitude...also, of endless books” (pg 10). I found this interesting because I'm sure this affinity for reading at a early age prepared, trained, encouraged him to become the phenomenal writer that he is now remembered by. Then after he would read he began to write stories of his own, writing of other worlds and presenting his stories with illustrations. He would “dress” these animals in his stories. This was what he called animal-land where chivalrous mice and rabbits how rode out not kill giants but rather cats. Reading this part of his life in chapter one was very enjoyable to me because he had such a creative imagination for a six,seven,eight year old. I value having an imagination where your dreams can come alive and a world that you can create. This is essential for successful individuals I believe. Him being able to tap into his imagination at a early age definitely prepared him for when he would later write more children stories and stories involving a made up world of his.
ReplyDeleteReading the first five chapters of C.S. Lewis’s Surprise by Joy had quite a different effect on me than his other works, such as the Chronicles of Narnia. In The Chronicles of Narnia, I felt that I connected to him through his use of imagination in regards to a mixture of animals, humans, imaginary worlds, etc. I never felt that I personally connected to this, considering it was not real, but I did feel as though I connected to his use of imagery and description behind his message. In Surprise by Joy, I ironically have been very surprised by my somewhat deep and sincere connection to certain passages he describes. For example, before going into detail about the religious impacts of his mother’s death, he describes the toll that he felt his mother’s death took on his dad’s relationship with himself and his brother. Lewis states that “my father never fully recovered from this loss…his nerves had never been of the steadiest and his emotions had always been uncontrolled. Under the pressure of anxiety his temper became incalculable; he spoke wildly and acted unjustly. This by a peculiar cruelty of fate, during those months the unfortunate man, had he but known it, was really losing his sons as well as his wife” (12). I was very drawn to this passage because for some odd reason, I just felt that he was speaking with such honesty and such truth about death. It is so common that when people lose a close, loved one, they end up pulling away from those that are also close to them out of fear, and eventually, end up losing them as well. Lewis describes it in such a delicate but deep way, I was astounded. I am used to being so entertained by him, but not on an emotional level. I have experienced those close to me being affected by death and then pulling away from me and others, and it is just how Lewis describes. He use of words is remarkable. He begins by describing simple details about his father’s temper and anxiety, but digs deeper to address how this affected not only his father’s life personally, but his and his brother’s as well.
ReplyDeleteAs the title of this work would suggest, C.S. Lewis uses Joy (with a capital J) as the main theme and the occurrence of which each time in his life is structured around. I find this intriguing, especially as he describes Joy as being that which if you have felt it, you know and you can't help but want to feel it again. I also wonder at his use of this word in particular to describe it, in light of the fact that his future wife’s name is also Joy. I look forward to seeing how he ties this in or does not.
ReplyDeleteAs an auto-biographer, Lewis is extremely honest about his actions and motives as a child and as he grows into boyhood. He very fairly attributes blame to himself as much as to his family or schoolmates and teachers. This is refreshing as well as strange, and his writing style is so very down to earth and straight forward that it is unlike an auto-biography at all, he truly does seek to remove all the supposed romance from his life and show himself as a ‘simple’ man.
Lewis’ list of favorite and least-favorite books is extremely interesting and because of his success later on, I am extremely fascinated by authors whom he claims to be influenced by. Some who perhaps received just as much renown through Lewis as through their own work?
Lewis mentions his ingrained pessimism. Thinking back to the five chapters, I began looking for sources of this pessimism. There seem to be ample events in his early life that would lead him to this kind of outlook. The death of his mother was most likely one of the most traumatic events of his childhood. He prayed continuously for her health to return, but unfortunately the worst case scenario occurred and she passed away. Furthermore, instead of becoming closer to his father, his father reacted very negatively to the death of his wife and drove his children away. When it came to boarding school, his father looked at a wide array of options. Despite the odds working in his favor, the very worst option was chosen and he was sent to Oldie. When speaking with adults at various social gatherings, instead of being praised for his large command of the English language, he was ostracized by adults. Throughout, his early upbringing, a lot of worst case events seem to happen to Lewis. Then again, Lewis does mention events in his early life that were fairly positive. He was not picked on and bullied the most. However, it looks like these events weren’t significant enough to sway his mind.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that jumped out to me as very Lewis-esque was the description of the many books in the New House. He suddenly interjects, "Where all these books had been before we came to the New House is a problem that never occurred to me until I began writing this paragraph. I have no idea of the answer” (8). This sentence shows me two things. One, this is such an honest account, unmitigated, perhaps only filtered by relevancy. I also loved that line because it is the way he writes: to the point, practical, without flowery language. His descriptions of the New House also reminded me of the mansion in the Chronicles of Narnia. I could imagine C.S. Lewis using the Chronicles as a portal to his childhood.
ReplyDeleteLewis’ description of his father’s verbal scolding/disciplining struck me as powerful. The reader gets an honest account of family life while almost witnessing his maturation. On top of that, it is incredibly ironic – I can imagine a man yelling at a frightened child who has no clue what is going on. I can also tell Lewis has an exceptional memory: he remembers dialogue, clear details of childhood, etc.
I didn’t realize that Lewis had such a hard childhood. I wonder how his relationships with his father and his brother reflect his portrayals of family in The Chronicles of Narnia. I do remember a lot of bonding amongst siblings but not much else.
“That was the first beauty I ever knew. What the real garden has failed to do, the toy garden did. It made me aware of nature—not, indeed, as a storehouse of forms and colors but as something cool, dewy, fresh, exuberant.”
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see that C.S. Lewis found his first form of inspiration not from Nature, but rather an imitation of Nature, of something real. By describing the ‘toy garden,’ which invokes various sensations in him, Lewis can imagine a Paradise, an abstract thought that he can relate to. It seems that for Lewis, it takes one piece of imagination to inspire another. After all, imagination does not arise from what reality is, but from what reality can be. This memory that Lewis mentions is a crucial stepping-stone in his path towards the kind of writer he will grow up to be. He discovers that he cannot write stories about India—only Animal-land, which he continues to make up. In fact, it seems that his description of reality will only stop at its literate characteristics and nothing else. Only by imagination, can he twist reality, create a reality that continually changes and find words to describe that change. Another interesting aspect to note is that Lewis can directly link this memory to his brother. If he saw this toy garden on a market street, would he have had thought it was also beautiful? My guess is perhaps not. His brother can not only by a source for emotional recall, but also a great influence on how he thinks.
Breana Collins
ReplyDeleteThe reader who finds these three episodes of no interest need read this book no further, for in a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else.... I will only underline the quality common to the three experiences; it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic... in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again." (17-18)
C.S Lewis takes the readers on a journey through his childhood in the first five chapter of his book, Surprised by Joy. Though these chapters serve as an autobiographic description of his life, C.S Lewis makes clear that the premise of this book is to highlight his encounter with Joy. Therefore his childhood was a part of the process to which he discovered “an unsatisfied desire” called Joy. Similar to how C.S Lewis defines the term Joy, he also describes his spiritual development as “a spiritual lust; and like the lust of the body it has the fatal power of making everything else in the world seem uninteresting while it lusts.” (p.60) C.S Lewis marks this part of his childhood as a time in which he lost his faith but I would argue that it was a pivotal movement in his life in which his faith began to grow. I believe that there comes a time in everyone’s life when a person beings to question the parameters of his/her faith. This internal dialogue exists when that person’s spiritual desires to connect God in stagnate because of a lack of growth and development in ones spiritual maturity. That is when the unsatisfied desire to become closer to God which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction, has not become realized. Though some believers might use this time as a way to challenge the ways he/she experiences God others take themselves outside of their affiliation with religion. All in all, this experience allowed C.S Lewis to experience God and His undesirable Joy in a very tangible and satisfying way.
Indescribable Joy*
ReplyDeleteI think the truth is that the belief into which I had hypnotized myself was itself too irreligious for its failure to cause any religious revolution. I had approached God, or my idea of God, without love, without awe, even with out fear. He was, in my mental picture of this miracle, to appear neither as a Savior nor as Judge, but merely as a magician […] (pp. 13).
ReplyDeleteIn Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis details his life experience of finding joy. He shares of his upbringing and how contrary to what people believe he was not raised in strict and vivid Puritanism (pp.6). ¬ As a child, Lewis was taken to church and was taught, “ prayers offered in faith would be granted”; He recalls setting himself to pray for his mother’s health that was sick with cancer. Lewis reveals his early view or understanding of God, a view that was shallow and without reverence. God if thought of was though of as a mere magician who would grant miracles to those who asked him. Note worthy is that Lewis does not think much of this episode because most children have this similar view and understanding of god (pp.13). He imagined that this type of “belief “ in god was common among children and that it was not really of religious importance in the same way, which other children’s beliefs are also not of religious importance. Lewis later recognizes that in his child there were instances where he noticed he was missing what he describes as “ unsatisfied desire […] more desirable than any other satisfaction” also known as joy.
Even before beginning “Surprised by Joy” by Lewis, I immediately thought of the Wordsworth’s poem “Surprised by Joy.” From my knowledge of Lewis’s writing, I know that he did not simply wish the titles to be coincidently similar. The sameness of the title suggests that Lewis found reassurance and likeness in Wordsworth poem. Wordsworth writes the poem when he momentarily forgets about the death of his daughter-the joy he feels when he forgets that his daughter has died, but that joy is fleeting because his memory catches up with him and forces him to remember that his daughter is in fact dead. Wordsworth and Lewis have similar views on what joy really means. Lewis, from his autobiography, suggests that joy is something that he only experiences in glimpses and eventually those glimpses fade away. Similar to Wordsworth who, through his poem suggests that the joy he feels when he forgets his daughter’s death is only fleeting. This connection suggests that Lewis is determined to find out what can create lasting joy-he is seeking a joy that does not simply fade away, but a joy that is sustaining. Not having read the whole book, I can guess that Lewis suggests that God is the way to finding ultimate joy because He is the one thing in the world that never changes.
ReplyDeleteSarah Vaughan
“So much for Oldie’s; but the year was not all term. Life at a vile boarding school is in this way a good preparation for the Christian life, that it teaches one to live by hope. Even in a sense, by faith; for at the beginning of each term, home and the holidays are so far off that it is hard to realize them as to realize heaven....In all seriousness I think that the life of faith is easier to me because of these memories...” Page 21
ReplyDeleteAlthough the title would suggest that “Joy” is the main theme of this book, I am curious to see how the idea of hope will play out as well. The passage above particularly stood out because he parallels his life at boarding school with the Christian life and then links it to the idea of living by hope. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps this idea of hope is more connected with the idea of “Joy” then it may first appear because whenever Lewis talks about “Joy” he mentions how there is always a longing for more than the commonplace, a longing to again long for this desire (pg 11). Throughout chapters 1-5 Lewis describes how in the midst of the bad and the good he constantly tried to search for this “Joy” that he could not experience at his own volition.
It seems that both the idea of hope and Joy relate to each other because both seem to make the commonplace, the everyday struggles not matter. I say this because whenever he experiences a moment of “Joy” he describes how everything else becomes small, almost trivial in light of this desire. Similarly, hope is what allowed him to survive in boarding school. Lewis looked to something more than just himself, then just his circumstances. He longed for the days, the moments he would be able to go back home.
"Joy is distinct not only from the pleasure in general byt even from aesthetic pleasure. it must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing" (Pg. 40)
ReplyDeleteLooking at this passage, there seems to be an apparent connection back to the title of the book itself. Here he defines what joy is to him. In the previous four chapters of the book he conveys to the reader all of his past experiences. However, with each experience, there comes an end, or transition into the next chapter of his life. There is no longing for what has preceded nor any desire to return to the past. In other words, he has not found “the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing” in any of his past experiences. With each experience, there he seems to be searching for some sort of fulfillment and yet he is disappointed at each turn. And by the way he discusses his fruitless religiosity and his conversion to atheism, I assume the joy he will be surprised by, as said in the title, is that Christianity is the thing that will become to him an undying desire. His life will be much more fulfilled and he will have a longing to continue to obtain pleasure from the knowledge of God and his savior. This joy will be, as he says, truly “distinct from pleasure”, as it will be a joy that wells up from within and satisfies indefinitely.
-Peter Nishinaga
C.S. Lewis managed to describe, in his Surprised By Joy, how he came to his conversion into Christianity. He did so in a very candid and unrestrained style that allowed him to reveal his inner thoughts as he reminisced back into his childhood years leading up to the point where he is writing this book. I found it most interesting how he came to write. “What drove me to write was the extreme manual clumsiness from which I have always suffered…” (p.8) This confession of weakness brought more insight into how Lewis was able to still find the “Joy” which he describes in this book. I can see that he chose not to let his handicap affect his desire nor feeling of joy. He describes how he discovered how much he could find more happiness in his ability to create a world with his imagination as compared to creating something with his hands. This joy that he experienced and shared from his past was something that he described as authentic and “distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure.” (p.40) This authentic joy is in many ways elusive due to the fact that as Lewis described it, “never in our power.” (p.11) Joy is something that we cannot control but so dearly wish for. We can see that Lewis believed joy to be something apart from circumstances but something more supernatural—this being an implication of his realization of his need of God to supply this much desired joy in his life.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah Lee
In reading this passage by C.S. Lewis and hearing him describe his view of God “merely as a magician” was very interesting to me. The way that he is describing the character and power of God here bring about an even bigger issue of whether or not believers or unbelievers see Christ and his power in the same light. The light that says the power of God, whether it be signs and wonders or the movement of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of people, is just a trick or an allusion of the mind. Another very interesting idea that Lewis brings up here is that he “approached God or the idea of God, without love, without awe, even without fear”. He realized in his life that for him to truly realize and experience what God was actually doing and how he was moving, he must be in a constant state of being in “awe” of the things of God. Searching day after day, hour after hour, truly yearning to see and EXPERIENCE the goodness, power and love of God. I believe this principle is a necessary one for not only our spiritual lives but also our social lives as well.
ReplyDeleteC.S. Lewis's description of the "highest sense" of imagination resonated with what I found compelling in The Chronicles of Narnia and in other works of literature that I hope to revisit someday. The imagination that C.S. Lewis experiences-- the memory of the toy garden, the "Idea of Autumn" awakened by reading Squirrel Nutkin, and the transportation to "huge regions of northern sky" brought about by a verse in a poem-- explains the awe and wonder found in his writing. He calls this longing for wonder joy. Unlike his brother, he is stirred by what is out of reach physically and mentally (the memory of a memory, the Green Hills, autumn, the boundlessness of nature). Things which are artificial or machine-like (ships, trains, and insects) have nothing of the infinite and belong to the realm of invention. I think C.S. Lewis’s definition of joy is what distinguishes poetry from the ordinary. What I like about C.S. Lewis’s treatment of imagination is a lack of sentimentality, which I believe would have distanced me from his writing. This understatement of emotion probably, as he mentions, rose from the distrust of emotion he inherited seeing the contrast between his mother and father. I would like to learn more about C.S. Lewis’s distrust of emotion and whether or not it is ever resolved.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I apologize for posting on this an hour late! I planned on doing it at 11:30, but AirBears was not letting me log on! That being said, my thoughts:
ReplyDeleteThe center of the "autobiography" is not entirely focused on Lewis. No doubt, it chronicles his life and aspirations as a young man, but it becomes very clear early on that it will be more about his philosophy regarding life. This is centered on his conversion from Atheism to Christianity. It's compelling to me how he uses the word "Joy" to explain his ultimate belief in God. This shows that, previous to the said belief, there was an absence of Joy in his life to some extent. In this way, I think what drove Lewis is a basic principle that drives most people, whether religious or not: the desire to be happy. Thus, as Spencer Hagan (who posted above me) said, we, as humans, will search for such a light that can show itself, day in and day out. If God cannot provide such a light, it would impossible to have it come from anywhere else. Lewis ultimately came to believe this fact, and it will be interesting to see his progression in the next few chapters.
As somewhat of a side note, I appreciate Lewis as an artist because no two works are the same. He can convey worlds of meaning with several underlying threads in several different ways. From The Chronicles of Narnia to Surprised by Joy to The Screwtape Letters (I read a bit ahead), all of works show different aspects of the same universal light shown to us because of a God.
-Weston Scott
“In my daydreams I was training myself to be a fool; in mapping and chronicling Animal-Land I was training myself to be a novelist.”
ReplyDeleteIn reading these chapters, I am surprised by how dedicated C. S. Lewis was as a child. He brought to life his solitary childhood, and made us understand why he was such a prolific reader, and later, writer. He describes his childhood analytically, yet not without a sentimental note.
What I find most interesting are the three experiences he identifies as Joy. Although they are all abstract ideas meant to be felt rather than described in words, he manages to convey that transitory sense of wonder and intensity. C. S. Lewis’ apparent surrender to Joy in childhood appears to be indicative of his later religious sentiments when he claims that “Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.” However, it is interesting to compare this with his opinion of his father’s extroverted sentiments, seeing in displays of emotion a certain weakness.
C. S. Lewis’ strong bond to his brother seem to have provided a particularly important emotional connection for him as a child. From how he describes his parents, there appears to have been a certain distance, exacerbated by the death of his mother. This is perhaps why he so loathes formality.
I had a few unrelated thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe first was upon reading the part where he describes how his thumb only has one joint. This defect did not allow him to do certain things, so instead he turned to writing. As we all know, he has become a really good writer. So, what resounded with me was not so much what he said in that paragraph, but how he responded with the defect. C. S. Lewis seems to have turned his defect (bad situation) into the cause of who he is today. This was what struck me as I began thinking about how easy it is to complain about defects, instead of using them to our advantage.
Another thing I noticed was he kept mentioning people who had a negative influence on him. However, always, at the end he would try to include something good about them, or try and explain how they were not intentionally evil. He also mentioned that they were not to blame even though he was blaming them. I understood what he was saying even though there was some irony in it. A person is influenced by the people around them, but ultimately they make the choices in their own life. So while C. S. Lewis was exposed to certain things by Pogo, Pogo did not make him do everything he chose to do. I appreciate that he makes a conscious effort to not blame others for what he would look back on as wrong choices.
“But I must insist that this was a totally different activity from the invention of Animal-Land. Animal-Land was not (in that sense) a fantasy at all. I was not one of the characters it contained. I was its creator, not a candidate for admission to it. Invention is essentially different from reverie; if some fail to recognize the difference that is because they have not themselves experienced both. Anyone who has will understand me. In my daydreams I was training myself to be a fool; in mapping and chronicling Animal-Land I was training myself to be a novelist. (p.10)
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Lewis makes this clear distinction between the different definition of “imagination.” Lewis’ s imagination was not one of fantasy, but of ‘invention’. Even at this young age, he went so far as to create a whole history for this Animal-Land and even maps that were “geographically related to [his] brother’s India” (p.9). It is amazing that his attention to detail and ability to create these literary worlds were already so apparent in his childhood, and no doubt foreshadows his future as a novelist whose works of fiction reflected his Christian faith. He states that his imagination declined while at boarding school at Belsen, which shows that his imagination did not stem from his schooling, but rather from his reading of many books from his father’s extensive collection, and also from his love of nature and beauty. It is inspiring that his intrinsic imagination was able to persist through his life to his adulthood, even with all the things that happened in his life, including the loss of his mother and estranged relationship with his father. I feel that such personal hardships in one’s youth can cause someone to lose their child-like creativity due to the realization of a harsh reality, but with Lewis, that doesn’t seem to be the case.