Letter 9 Summary

It is possible to exploit this down period, Screwtape continues in this letter. Sexual temptation is good here, when the person is low, miserable, and in want of energy, In fact, this is a wonderful time to try to tempt him into the lower forms of sexual expression, ones which are bereft of love. The man will take sexual pleasure as an antidote to his pain rather than as a meaningful exchange of love with a fellow, valued human being. It will, therefore, bring him little real pleasure, and it will have a measure of brutality in it which will shame him as well.

Screwtape expounds a bit on the subject of pleasure. Since the Devil cannot create, he can only pervert or destroy what God creates. Pleasure is a creation of God. Any pleasure taken in the way it was intended is...