Spencer Sims, Till We Have Faces 1

Class:11-18-14

Before I begin, I feel I should preface with the fact I had difficulty following the entirety of the discussion when not specifically directing back to "till we have faces". We went in depth in the expressions of love and how they relate to C.S. Lewis' four forms of love. It seems to me that two of which are, practically, impossible to explain without first hand experience. Without out experiencing one myself I feel what I was able to add to the conversation was diminished without true experience under my belt. However I believed the discussion allowed me to reflect more deeply on the love Orual illustrated in "till we have faces". Orual seemed to be expressing a form of "Storge" love as C.S. Lewis calls it. He describes storge love as is fondness through familiarity (a brotherly love), especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance. It is clear to see that Psyche was a foundational part of Orual's life. Orual constantly expresses a need for pysche to be in her life, especially when she mourns for her when she is to be sacrificed. but a curious thing happens, it is in this moment when Orual begins to pervert this love, or rather when it is finally evident. Orual only feels truly at a loss when Psyche accepts her fate, changing her outlook on the present situation. When psyche begins to think differently Orual becomes truly upset, the sister she loved is being taken from her, because she is no longer the one she knew her to be. Throughout the entirety of the book she fights tooth and nail to get psyche back, she even fights psyche herself, to hold onto the image that she so desperately clings to. C.S. Lewis acknowledges, both in "the four loves" and "till we have faces" that when these loves are experienced in their extremes they can become twisted and often dangerous. Orual's Storge love for psyche had turned to jealously, if it had not started that way to begin with. Blackmailing a loved one with suicide seems to be evidence of this. One could even argue that her jealously and love were one and the same, she merely led herself to believe and proclaimed it to be that she loved psyched instead of jealously coveting her.