At first glance, I was excited to read Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis. I had not yet read anything by C.S. Lewis, even though I was always told I would love his work. Once I actually began reading the book, I was very confused. I had no idea it would be about mythology and many of the gods. Because I was never taught much about mythology, this frightened me a lot. I always heard 'bad' things about mythology, or my teachers never liked it, so I right away go a negative view of this particular book. As I began this book, I had to put all of this behind me and really focus on what the book was saying to me as a reader in the 20th century. Until I read to chapter nine, I had no understanding of the story. After class lectures and really concentrating on the book, I came to understand more and more. By being able to understand more, I began to enjoy the book more. I was able to interpret the book better.

When beginning to read this book, I thought it would have a more Christian or religious theme than I seemed to be getting from it. I never thought it would be about mythology and gods. Until the middle of the book, I did not see any ties to Christianity whatsoever. In chapter eleven, Lewis writes about Psyche and her tremendous faith in "My god, of course. My lover. My husband. The master of my House." Even though Psyche "mustn't-not yet-see his face or know his name," she knew he loved her and never needed to see his face if she was told it was not yet the right time. It was at this point in the book that I connected this scene to my Christian beliefs and the faith that I have in the God whom I cannot see physically, as Psyche could not see her god. I have great faith in the God I believe in by the works He performs through His people on earth and around me. I also believe and have so much faith by reading His Word and obeying his commandments.

One of the ways that helped me really begin to understand this book and give some meaning to the relation between my religious beliefs and the mythology presented, was the lecture given by Scott Daniels. He began the paper he had written by explaining the different worlds these two sisters live in. The story is based on the connection between inner beauty and outer beauty between these two sisters. These sisters, along with every other character in the book has a different worldview on what is going on around them and the situations in their lives. He also stated that the central change in the book came from the invisible castle, in which Scott Daniels stated that one must "have the eyes of faith to believe the invisible castle. You don't just accidentally leave the light on, and they see it." This really made Orual's jealousy and Psyche's love for the gods become understandable in a new way for me. It started to tie the book together and show me things I had read about, but never really connected them with anything in my life or my beliefs.

I cannot believe anything in mythology. To me, it becomes a fiction work when I know it has anything to do with mythology. As I have stated before, in junior high and high school, I was in many classes that studied parts of mythology. I never could see mythology as true or even anything important to my life until I began to read this book and really think about the many similarities Lewis tied in to Christianity. I truly believe that I never really enjoyed mythology because it was a memorization process for me. None of my teacher liked it, so we studied it really quickly, took a test, and never looked at it again. The quick run through of the information never stayed with me. The teachers' bad attitudes really rubbed off on the students. When starting the mythology unit, the teachers began by stating how hard it would be. Most of the students, at this point, including myself, got a negative view of mythology that stayed with us throughout the rest of our schooling. I feel as though many of the 20th century readers feel as though they never received a good background in mythology. It is different and even more difficult than past generations because of the set view we have. After reading this book, I have a new view of the Psyche and Cupid myth. I see this myth now as a story that has been passed on from generation to generation. It has no actual meaning, but it is a fun story that, in some way, can be related to our lives or an experience that we have encountered at some point in time. In reading this book, I had to understand that not all mythology is 'bad' or 'evil,' but just different.

Scott Daniels lectured on Till We Have Faces from a paper he had written after reading the book. He saw how the two sisters were caught between two worlds. He stated that Christians in today's world are realizing that it was never "our world, if it ever was." Orual is someone who cannot see the invisible castle that is so important in this book. Psyche feels much sadness and pity for Orual. A good use of imagination by Professor Daniels was that he saw this book as though it explained that the world broke into two pieces and both Psyche and Orual are not on the same piece. Throughout the book, we see many diverse worldviews between the characters. Fox had a Greek philosophical worldview. He believed that the mind would control everything. King of Glome was a utilitarian who saw life's greatest challenge was to just get ahead. Orual threw herself in any accomplishment so she could drown out Psyche. These differing worldviews made the book very interesting. As Christians, he said we must accept others' worldviews as their beliefs, not ours, and invite them to see our invisible castle. He tied the similarities of the faith of Psyche and the jealousy of Orual to Acts 7 in the Bible and Stephen and Saul. As Christians, we must have faith to live in an invisible castle and then to give grace to those who do not have this faith. Psyche comes to the place in her life that she has a definite conviction to live in an invisible castle, but she does not put others down for not having the same conviction. The last item he addressed about the book was that of the idea of the veil. We could not see Orual's face, which gave her a sense of power, but it also symbolized the lack or limit of knowledge in life. We must have faith to get us through and not rely on anything else.

As I got further and further into the book, I was able to interpret more of what it meant to my religious beliefs and me. In chapter twelve, Orual began to feel much regret for the way she had treated Psyche. She had really come down hard on Psyche by telling her she must be crazy for believing in this god, her husband. Orual said many things that ended up hurting Psyche and really showing how insecure Orual is in life without Psyche being by her side. Orual knows she "must ask forgiveness of Psyche as well as of the god." I interpreted this to myself, as a Christian, that there are times in life that I do wrong or say wrong things against someone else, and must go to them and God to ask for forgiveness. Orual knew she had done wrong, and that she must go to not only Psyche, but also her husband, the god, to admit it and apologize. Again in chapter twelve, I interpreted another part of Orual's unhappiness to an experience I have had in my life. She begins to realize that "She is happy…Whether it's madness or a god or a monster, or whatever it is, she is happy…She is ten times happier…than you could ever make her. Leave her alone." There comes a time in every human being's life that we must let go of someone we love, whether it be a brother or sister, a mother or father, or son or daughter. We must realize that each of us is our own person. This is also shown when a loved one dies. We cannot keep them here forever, but we must come to the understanding that life will end at some point, and we must deal with this in the best way possible.

Chapter fourteen made something else very clear to me. When Orual begins to ask Psyche "How can you know if you have never seen him?" She wants to know how Psyche truly believes that she is the god's wife. This reminded me of explaining the Bible or God to a non-Christian. They never can quite grasp, at first, how we Christians believe in someone we cannot see physically. It is a hard concept for them to understand and us to explain. It takes a lot of patience and researching to find passages in the Bible to help back us up. Orual cannot understand, because Psyche cannot give evidence to her being married to the god. She just knows in her heart that she is his wife. Orual cannot accept this.

In chapter sixteen, Orual just tries to put everything back into place as it had been in Psyche's room before she left. Orual "locked the door and put a seal on it. And, as well as I could, I locked the door in my mind." Orual does not want to deal with the pain that Psyche is so happy living her life as it is. She does not want to come back with Orual. So, Orual decides to just not deal with the situation at all. She will pretend it actually does not exist until things turn out right for her.

By reading Till We Have Faces, I have learned a lot from the process of interpretation. If I had just read the book for my enjoyment, I do not believe I would have seen the connections C.S. Lewis made between mythology and my religious beliefs. I still do not and will not, at this point in my life, choose to read mythology, but by reading this book and writing this paper, I have seen that connections can be drawn between religion and mythology, or a work of fiction. I even wondered if some Christian authors wrote fiction, or non-Christian works, that would appeal to the non-Christians in our society and hopefully give them a chance to see the wonderful world of forgiveness and grace we as Christians live in.

I started this book with no real knowledge of what a C. S. Lewis work would be like. I knew he was a Christian writer, so I expected a book about the Bible, not mythology. I was surprised at first, because I had always viewed mythology as 'bad' or 'wrong,' but as I continued to read, I was glad I had finished the book. I had opened up my mind and eyes to see how I could interpret things I believed, such as my religious beliefs.

Katie Maddox

Introduction to Literature

May 8, 1999