Materialism
In the first letter, Screwtape talks about the religion of Materialism and how he wishes more men and women would accept the religion and become devoted to it. Screwtape talks about Materialism and compares it with the devotion many had for ‘’the Church’’, most likely some form of Christian religion. The comparison has the purpose of highlighting the idea that after the war, many people lost the faith and trust they had in mainstream religions and started instead to worship material things. Those things became in time a religion for many and the material things became quickly their God.
Concentric circles
In the sixth letter, Screwtape compares the patient’s mind with a series of concentric circles. In the middle, a person’s will is found, followed then by his mind and then, finally, by his imagination. Screwtape urges Wormwood to keep the patient’s thought as far as possible from the center, namely his will. The comparison between a person’s mind and the concentric circles has the purpose of showing just how much a person has to persevere to make his or her thoughts a reality and how easy it is to let them linger on the outside circle, near the imagination area.
Secularism as a metaphor for danger
In some of the letters, Screwtape talks about what will make the patient loose his faith he talks about secularism and how a distant attitude is dangerous towards religion. Because of this, secularism and the dismissive attitude many have towards attitude is seen as a metaphor for danger when it comes to religion.
Jokes as a metaphor for sin
In the 11th letter, Screwtape talks about laughter and how it can be used by the demons. Screwtape argues that sometimes humans use laughter and jokes to make sin more acceptable. Through their jokes, humans hide the fact that they find some sins amusing and tempting and through their jokes they take away from the gravity of performing those sins.
Metaphor for faith
Another metaphor used in the letters is the Church as a metaphor for faith. Screwtape and the demons realize just how important is the connection between acts that prove one’s spirituality and a person’s faith and because of this they try to make the patient attend Church as little as possible and to become dissatisfied with it to the point where he will begin to associate going to the Church with negative emotions.
