The Polarity of Heaven and Hell
In the Preface, Lewis talks about William Blake’s poetic work “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” He argues that, since Heaven and Hell are diametrically opposed, there can be no marriage or combination of the two; they are entirely mutually exclusive. The title of the novel reflects this; if Blake’s argument was the “marriage” of Heaven and Hell, then this is the “great divorce” of the two. This opposition is obvious throughout the novel; the occupants of Hell are all selfish, insubstantial Ghosts who can scarcely bear to be present in Heaven, the reality beyond all realities, preferring instead to retreat to their comfortable discomfort. Even the presentation of Heaven to the Ghosts is condescension: they could not physically or mentally comprehend its true state of existence, much like Dante’s Paradiso. These two realms are portrayed as precise opposites of one another, and that reflects their separate definitions: Heaven is the presence of God, while Hell is His absence.
Human Self-Deception
The tendency of humans to deceive themselves about their own nature and characteristics is on full display here. The Ghosts of Hell are varied in personality and motivations, but all of them have an essential egotism that prevents them from truly understanding themselves and why they have ended up in Hell rather than Heaven. For example, one of the men the narrator meets on the bus ride is someone who believes life has been out to get him, and he has been underprivileged his entire life, so his presence in Hell is just the result of a series of strokes of bad luck. This precise self-pity and self-aggrandizement, however, is at the core of his problem, making utter humility impossible. The contrast between the Ghosts and the Spirits is incredible: while the Ghosts are selfish and self-glorifying, they deceive themselves and appear as transparent shades, while the utterly humble Spirits are full and real and gloriously radiant.
Selfless Love
One of the key distinctions between the denizens of Heaven and those of Hell is their attitude with relation to the self. The Ghosts of Hell are incredibly selfish and egocentric, while the Spirits of Heaven are selfless and Christ-centric, and therefore others-centric. This selfless love for Christ manifests itself in a selfless love for others: the Spirits are giving up their own ultimate joy and satisfaction, regressing a little from God in order to attempt to save the souls of those who missed their opportunities in the first place. This sacrificial love is also (and extremely) evident in the character of Jesus, who sacrificed his own life to enable the salvation of humanity. Heaven is a realm saturated with selfless love, while Hell is the location of small, twisted, and warped perversions of this love.
