Heaven And Hell In C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce

C.S. Lewis’ descriptions of heaven and hell in the book The Great Divorce are mainly metaphorical, as he wants to illustrate the fundamental differences between the two places that we have all grown up knowing about. To do this he uses the typical illustrations such as light and dark, sunrise and sunset, and mountains and valleys, or deep ravines. However, I think many things that are spoken about in the book are very similar to the actual places. Several differences are the people, the weather and environment, and the size. I think the descriptions of the nature of the people can be taken quite literally, whereas the weather and environment and the size are more metaphorical.
One of the biggest differences between heaven and hell in C.S. Lewis’
Lewis’ metaphorical heaven and hell is the weather and environment. Hell is described as an endless town, always dirty, rundown, and dingy. There are very few people to be seen. One of the Ghosts tells the narrator that all of the people in the Grey Town keep moving further and further apart and building houses as they go, because they cannot stand their neighbors after a few days. Another interesting aspect of the Grey Town is that the people can create everything they need just from their imaginations. However, the things that they can create are always imperfect, damaged, and insubstantial. For example, the roofs of their houses always leak in the rain and the windows are often broken. As for the weather in the Grey Town, it is constantly raining and the town seems to be stuck in an endless evening, but with a very dark night coming soon. Many of the people who live there are terrified of this night and what creatures will come out in the darkness. This pending night in hell signifies the finality and ending of our lives, and the lack of hope experienced by the people in hell. On the other hand, heaven is a beautiful place filled with flowers, fruit trees, green grass and clear streams. The place where the Ghosts’ bus arrived is in the foothills of a range of huge mountains. This is the heart of heaven, where it is assumed that all the spirits (and God) live. Heaven is so real and beautiful that it physically hurts the insubstantial ghosts. The blades of grass in heaven hurt their feet, and items such a apples weigh almost too much for the ghosts to carry. Things such as raindrops and sunlight could kill the ghosts. However, if they choose to say and go further into the mountains they will become solid like the spirits and be able to live comfortably. Heaven is also suspended in the moment just before the sun peeks over the horizon. This signifies that something better is coming, and that the people there have an eternal and