The patient’s mother, much like the patient, has few specific qualities—she’s an embodiment of clichés and stereotypes about middle-class, 20th century English mothers. One exception to this rule is that she is dainty and fussy with her food, therefore qualifying her as a glutton in Screwtape’s eyes. The patient’s mother is often irritable with the patient, since they have a bad habit of arguing and bickering with each other. At the same time, she’s shown to be capable of immense love for her son.
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The patient’s mother Character Timeline in The Screwtape Letters
The timeline below shows where the character The patient’s mother appears in The Screwtape Letters. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Letter III
Screwtape references information Wormwood has given him about the patient’s mother . He advises Wormwood to talk to Glubose, a “colleague” whose job is tempting the...
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Screwtape lists methods for creating a rift between the patient and his mother . The first method is to keep the patient thinking about “inner life.” In this...
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Screwtape’s second method for creating a rift between the patient and his mother is to render the patient’s prayers for his mother vague and dull. Ideally, the patient...
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Screwtape’s third method is to draw the patient’s attention to behaviors of his mother that he finds annoying. His fourth method is to encourage the patient and his mother...
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Screwtape asks Wormwood if the patient’s mother is angry or jealous that the patient has adopted Christianity without his mother’s help. He...
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Letter X
...time with the married couple, thereby causing him to neglect his work, his church, and his mother . His mother will become jealous and alarmed, increasing the tension between the two of...
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Letter XVII
...sternly explains that Wormwood is clearly ignorant of history. Wormwood should talk to Glubose about the patient’s mother , who is a glutton for delicacy. It is gluttony in this form, not gluttony...
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Screwtape explains the mindset of the patient’s mother . She believes in the principle of “all I want.” She thinks that her food...
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