Through these letters, Screwtape advises Wormwood on everything from coping with his patient's Christianity, mother, love life and even his viewpoint on the war. C.S. Lewis creatively intermingles humor with the more serious aspects of life. After the patient is converted to Christianity, he begins to desire a better life and even pray for his mother.

In these letters, Screwtape conveys four steps to Wormwood to distance the relationships between not only the patient and his mother, but also between the patient and his Heavenly Father. First, he must keep his mind on the inner life to the point where he can examine his sins for a full hour and still be blind to those defects about himself which are plainly apparent to anyone who knows him, especially his mother. He can also make his patient's prayers completely harmless. For example, if he always prays for his...