C.S. Lewis tells the story of each character with a deeper meaning to them. They all go through a certain struggle that leads them to where they are meant to be. In ‘The Great Divorce’, C.S. Lewis portrays Pam’s struggle demonstrating how stubbornness, selfishness, and lack of love for God can make us lose perspective regarding our loved ones and others.
Pam is a very prominent character in this story. She is one of the most stubborn and impatient characters in this story. When the Spirit Reginald first meets Pam, he says she needs to be “thickened up” a bit before she can see her son Michael. Pam says, “Come on. The sooner I begin it, the sooner they'll let me see my boy. I’m quite ready” (Lewis, 99). The Spirit still thinks Pam is not ready to see her son, she is not in the right state of mind. Pam's mindset is that she needs everything instantly, but it cannot happen that way. She has to wait until the Spirit feels she is ready. In a sense, Pam has to suffer as Christ had to suffer, but obviously on a smaller scale.
Pam is also selfish in the way she acts. She uses God as a sort of path to get to her son. Pam doesn't truly love God because she became bitter from the loss of her son. The Spirit said, “you cannot love a fellow-creature fully till you love God” (Lewis, 100). This is saying, in a sense, that Pam doesn't love Michel if she doesn't love God. Pam is using God and being selfish. The only reason she wants to go to heaven is to see her son. The Spirit Reginald also brought up the fact that it was a mistake that Pam did not forget about Michael's death, because she then pushed away the rest of her family including her husband Dick and daughter Muriel. The Spirit said, “no man has ever felt his son's death more than Dick. Not many girls loved their brothers better than Muriel” (Lewis, 102). Pam was being selfish in that while she was grieving Michael’s death, so was Dick and Muriel, and she turned her back on them.
Pam has a lack of love for God because she is using him as a means to get to her son. The Spirit said, “He will be Pam. Everything will be yours. God himself will be yours. But not that way. Nothing can be yours by nature” (Lewis, 103). The Spirit is trying to tell Pam that Michael will be with her, but she has to love God for her sake, not just for the sake of being able to see Michael. Pam thinks being a mother is more important than loving God. Pam must love God first above everything. The only way you can love another person fully is if you love God fully, first. Pam must come to terms with her relationship with God before she sees her son.
C.S Lewis shows Pam’s struggle by demonstrating how stubbornness, selfishness, and lack of love for God can make us lose perspective on other things. Pam struggled heavily with understanding why the Spirit wouldn't let her see her son right away. In the story, we never figure out what happens with Pam and Michel.
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Pam’s Struggle in ‘The Great Divorce’: Character Analysis.
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2022 Dec 15 [cited 2024 Dec 21].
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