“There must, whether the gods see it or not, be something great in the mortal soul. For suffering, it seems, is infinite, and our capacity without limit.”
―
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How C.S. Lewis Crafts a Plot Structure as Complex as Faith Itself
Till We Have Faces (1956) by C.S. Lewis is a retelling of the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche’s sister Orual. The book was initially met with mixed reviews by his usual who readers found it more complex and darker than previous works. This deeply disappointed Lewis who felt it was one of his best books. Over time though, it finally gained recognition as one of his most sophisticated novels. Now modern critics consider this to be his finest novel praising its psychological depth and complex exploration of faith.
Five in one, Faces is a mythological retelling, a philosophical novel, a Christian allegory (though much more subtle than Narnia), psychological fiction and literary fiction exploring the nature of divine love versus human love, the problem of suffering and divine hiddenness, the journey from rationalistic skepticism to faith, the difference between seeing ourselves as we are versus how we imagine ourselves, and the relationship between sacred and profane love.
To write a book fitting one of these categories and exploring just a pair of these ideas would be an accomplishment but that Lewis has done all this (and more) proves him to be a literary giant.
In this series of teaching, we’ll examine Faces from the wide view of plot, structure, antagonistic forces and how it all fits together with the bigger theological questions. In Part II, we’ll define and discuss it’s format of memoir-as-accusation and the narrative technique that seems to be largely exposition but turns out not to be so.
Plot: Rebellion Against “The One”
At the Studio, we’ve unpacked and examined–at length–the seven basic plots. Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and Rebirth. But here is a plot we’ve never studied.
Rebellion Against The One.
There is another “outlier” plot, The Mystery which is about a hero uncovering a crime or plot with a predicable rise and fall in the action–the mystery itself–but no real change in the one who uncovers the mystery. The Detective. And this one is somewhat similar only there is a “going the distance” quality to Rebellion and seems to be part of the overcoming the monster plot, in that the monster is oneself, or the ego. So, this might even be called the reversal of the tragedy.
Defined: This plot is about a solitary hero “who finds himself drawn into a state of resentful, mystified opposition to some immense power which exercises total sway over the world in which he lives. Initially, he increasingly feels he is right, and that the mysterious power must in some fundamental way be at fault. But suddenly, he is confronted by that power in all its awesome omnipotence. The rebellious hero is crushed. He is forced to recognize that his view has been based only on a very limited, subjective perception of reality. He ends accepting the power’s rightful claim to rule over the world and himself.”
Orual’s journey fits this plot perfectly, and she goes through each of the predicable stages as laid out in other plots we’ve seen (see structure chart below). Because this is the light version of the plot, Orual becomes somewhat heroic primarily by the fact of her discovery of her own smallness and limitations when set up against the gods that she had been so furious. They reveal themselves, and their awesomeness, by revealing her smallness to herself. In the end, she’s put into her proper place in the larger scheme of things and all is resolved.
Other stories that fall under this plot: The Book of Job, Brave New World, Nineteen Eight-Four. Many of the Russian masters have written such books as well, in rebellion against totalitarianism and to make the case that the human spirit will rise and shine through any man-made or constructed thought/economic systems of suppression that try to undermine free-will and human sovereignty.
Faces Structure:
With a sophisticated narrative structure, Faces is essentially a book within a book or a novel divided into two distinct parts:
- Part One: Orual’s complaint against the gods, written as a memoir/accusation
- Part Two: A shorter, more intense section where Orual comes to understand the truth about herself
Value Line: Truth or Wisdom or Both
The third hinge that holds a story in place comes from study of the value line. This is something we’ve long studied from Chapter 14 of Robert McKee’s Story and goes to the principle of antagonism. Summarized McKee tells us that “a protagonist and its story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.” The way we work with this in class is to ask ourselves what the core value is of our protagonist and then work that along the line to the negation of the negation through contrary/contradictory/negation of negation. The two that I’ve pulled out for Till We Have Faces are truth or wisdom. What do you think?
Truth/Positive > White lies/half-truths/Contrary > Lies/Contradictory > Self-Deception/Negation of Negation
Wisdom/Positive > Ignorance/Contrary > Stupidity/Contradictory >Stupidity perceived as intelligence/Negation of Negation
Theological Questions: Asked and Answered
- How and when human love can become possessive and destructive
- How our own complaints against God often mask deeper truths about ourselves
- Our process of spiritual transformation
- The nature of true worship versus self-serving religion
Taking on these huge questions, we see how Lewis allows Orual’s complaint to becomes the very means by which the gods reveal her to herself becoming a brilliant illustration of how our own accusations contain the seeds of our own transformation. There’s a fascinating ambiguity in the ending that makes all this even more powerful. While Orual does come into divine presence, Lewis maintains the pre-Christian setting with its multiple “gods,” but writes it in such a way that monotheistic readers can see through to a deeper truth. Also, the final confrontation happens in multiple stages that become increasingly numinous and profound.
Let’s recap: First, Orual sees herself truly (the terrible vision of herself reading her complaint, which reveals it to be not an accusation against the gods but the story of how she devoured those she loved). Then she encounters various divine figures, including the god of the Mountain, and finally faces ultimate Reality in the form of the divine Judge. One of the most powerful moments is when she realizes: “I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?”
This last line gets at the heart of why the book is titled Till We Have Faces – suggesting that we cannot truly encounter God (or even the gods) until we become real persons, stripped of our illusions and self-deceptions. The “face” we need is one of genuine selfhood, free from the masks we wear, a willingness to see ourselves truly. Our “babble” – our complaints, our prayers, even our praise – might not mean what we think they mean until we’ve done the hard work of self-knowledge.
The metaphor of words being “dug out of us” is particularly powerful. It’s not gentle or comfortable. It’s excavation, implying that our truest words are buried under layers of self-deception and need to be painfully unearthed. This connects deeply to spiritual traditions of contemplative prayer and confession, where what we think we’re going to say to God is often not what actually emerges when we get quiet and honest enough. The concept of not having a “face” – of being somehow incomplete or unformed until we’ve gone through this process of revelation – speaks to why authentic spiritual transformation can be so difficult. We come to God thinking we’re fully formed, with legitimate grievances and clear demands, only to discover we’re still in process of becoming real persons.
Like when Job finally encounters God. He had his complaints all prepared, his case against divine justice all worked out. But in the actual presence of God, something entirely different emerge. Both Job and Orual discover that their eloquent accusations were missing the point entirely. So, Lewis manages to capture something profound about spiritual maturity here – that it’s not just about learning more or believing more strongly, but about becoming more real, more fully oneself in God’s presence.
🧐 PONDER:
- What elements of the ‘Rebellion Against The One’ plot structure could transform your character’s complaints into revelation? How might this change your story’s arc?
- Looking at McKee’s value line concept (Truth to Self-Deception), where does your protagonist begin their journey, and what events force them toward true self-knowledge?
- How does your protagonist’s perception of divine/ultimate truth change as they move through your story? What catalyzes these shifts?
In Summary
From its unique “Rebellion Against The One” plot structure to its profound theological underpinnings, we’ve seen how Lewis constructs a multi-layered narrative that works simultaneously as myth, philosophical inquiry, and spiritual journey. Through McKee’s value line analysis and the examination of theological themes, we’ve uncovered how Lewis weaves together the personal and the divine, showing how Orual’s journey from accusation to self-knowledge mirrors universal truths about human nature and divine relationship. The novel’s sophisticated structure serves both its narrative and spiritual aims, demonstrating how literary technique can illuminate profound truths.
In our next exploration, we’ll examine the craftsmanship behind Lewis’s storytelling, focusing on his masterful use of the memoir-as-accusation format and his sophisticated scene work. We’ll discover how he creates immediacy within memory, builds tension in a story where the outcome is known, and uses narrative technique to reveal character transformation. Through close reading of key passages, we’ll learn how Lewis achieves what few writers manage: making exposition feel like immediate experience.
