Journey from Gray Town

Timothy Chester

Join us as we begin our journey through C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce. We start with the Preface, where Lewis sets the stage, presenting the core idea that reality is fundamentally an "either-or" and rejecting the notion that good and evil can simply blend or that evil can evolve into good over time. Using metaphors like a tree branching out and roads forking, he emphasizes that choices lead to divergence, not convergence, and some things must be left behind. Our exploration then moves into the early chapters, introducing the dismal grey town, characterized by perpetual rain, twilight, and endless, empty streets. Here, we meet a variety of argumentative and disagreeable souls queuing for a mysterious bus. These early encounters reveal characters embodying different flaws and sins, illustrating the town's unpleasant atmosphere.

Timothy Chester

Boarding the "wonderful vehicle, blazing with golden light", we journey away from the grey town. Through conversations with fellow passengers, particularly the Tousle-Headed Poet and the Intelligent Ghost, we gain deeper insights into the nature of this place. We learn the town expands endlessly because its inhabitants constantly quarrel and move further apart, constructing "unreal" houses by mere imagination due to a lack of needs. The Intelligent Ghost proposes that introducing "real commodities" would create an economic basis for community, offering a sense of safety, although the nature of the perceived danger is veiled. As the bus ascends into radiant light, the true state of the passengers is revealed – their forms distorted and seemingly fragile in the brightness. Not all seem ready or willing to embrace the destination, raising questions about why they came at all.