History Creator / CSLewis

* {{Bulverism}}: TropeNamer, via an essay of the same name involving a hypothetical boy named Ezekiel Bulver.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII:
** Much of Lewis's fiction (''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', ''Literature/TheGreatDivorce'', five of the seven [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] books, and the second book in Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy, specifically) takes place during the War. It's usually not dealt with extensively, but you can catch plenty of references to the Blitz and the subsequent air raids, blackouts, etc. all the same. This is understandable, as Lewis lived in England and did much of his writing during the '30s and '40s.
** What later became ''Mere Christianity'' was originally a series of wartime radio broadcasts given by Lewis, meant to lift the spirits of the British people. These broadcasts were only edited and put into print after the war was over.

* AuthorAvatar: Strange case in that it's the avatar of another author. The old man who owns the warderobe (aka. an old Digory Kirke) is supposedly inspired by Lewis' best friend John (you may know him better as Tolkien).

* EpilepticTrees: Due in part to the unusual circumstances of his conversion, there's a conspiracy theory held by many militant atheists that Pr. Lewis was never actually an atheist, and that that entire stage of his life was a hoax; Wiki/RationalWiki pushes this conspiracy theory in their article on him (yes, you read that right, ''rationalwiki'' promoting a ''conspiracy theory'').

* SelfDeprecation: ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' has the story of [[EccentricMentor a magician called Coriakin]] who was assigned to govern [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame a bunch of dim-witted dwarves known as Duffers]] (an obvious metaphor for God and humanity), and eventually turned them into one-legged creatures called Monopods as a PlayfulPunishment for disobedience. The Duffers were initially unhappy with their new form, but eventually found advantages in it, such as using their giant foot as a boat for swimming. This is a humorous parallel to Lewis' own life story: he was born with only one functional joint in his thumbs, which rendered him incapable of sports and other physical activities, and led to him becoming a writer. I. e. it was his God-given handicap that eventually led him to prosperity and the fulfillment of his talent.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: The subject of his scholarly book ''Studies In Words'', which traces the historical development of the meanings of eight seemingly simple words such as "nature," "free," and "sad."

* SpeciesSpecificAfterlife: In one of his non-fiction essays, he considers the possibility that animals have immortal souls, and wonders if giving them segregated afterlives would be the only way to keep different animals from tormenting each other. Then he cheekily notes that mosquito Heaven and human Hell might easily be the same place.

* ''Screwtape Proposes A Toast'' (1961): A brief sequel to ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''.

* GodzillaThreshold: Deemed even [[CorruptCorporateExecutive robber barons]] less dangerous than [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]]. After all, a robber baron has no delusions of serving the greater good (and is therefore more likely to do good in the occasional benevolent mood because what benevolence they have isn't tied up in by-and-means-necessary), pangs of conscience, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards depths to which even they are unwilling to sink]].

** ''{{Literature/Perelandra}}'': Towards the end The Oyeresu of Malacandra and Perelandra both appear to Ransom in different forms in preparation for the final ceremony and ask him to choose which ones are most suitable for human eyes/ears. They end up with vaguely anthropomorphic shapes with Malacandra as male and Perelandra as female

* EveryoneHasStandards: ''Mere Christianity'' uses the universal existence of morality to argue for the existence of [[{{God}} a moral Law-Giver]].

* Administrivia/TropesAreTools: At one point in "On the Reading of Old Books", he shows an upside to ValuesDissonance:[[invoked]]

* GodzillaThreshold: Deemed even [[CorruptCorporateExecutive robber barons]] less dangerous than [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]]. After all, a robber baron has no delusions of serving the greater good and is therefore more likely to do good in the occasional benevolent mood because what benevolence they have isn't tied up in by-and-means-necessary, pangs of conscience, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards depths to which even they are unwilling to sink]].

* Administrivia/TropesAreTools: At one point in "On the Reading of Old Books", he shows an upside to ValuesDissonance:

* GodzillaThreshold: Deemed even [[CorruptCorporateExecutive robber barons]] less dangerous than [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]]. After all, a robber baron has no delusions of serving the greater good and is therefore more likely to have the occasional benevolent mood, pangs of conscience, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards depths to which even they are unwilling to sink]].

* GodzillaThreshold: Deemed even [[CorruptCorporateExecutive robber barons]] less dangerous than {{Well-Intentioned Extremist}}s. After all, a robber baron has no delusions of serving the greater good and is therefore more likely to have the occasional benevolent mood, pangs of conscience, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards depths to which even they are unwilling to sink]].

* AuthorAppeal: He was apparently fond of [[DoesNotLikeShoes characters who go barefoot]], due to [[BarefootSage religious and mystical]] [[MagicalBarefooter symbolism]] behind it, and probably also [[BarefootLoon free-spiritedness and nonconformism]]. The number of barefooters is especially high in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' (the Narnia wiki even has [[https://narnia.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters_who_go_barefoot a specific category for them]]): Lucy Pevensie (her brothers and sister also like to do it sometimes), Coriakin and Ramandu from ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Ramandu's daughter and Queen Jadis (at least in the illustrations), Shasta and the Hermit of the Southern March from ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'' (though with Shasta, it's just BarefootPoverty), and Puddleglum from ''Literature/TheSilverChair''.
** Merlin from ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy That Hideous Strength]]'' is also barefooted.

* AuthorAppeal: He was apparently fond of [[DoesNotLikeShoes characters who go barefoot]], due to [[BarefootSage religious and mystical]] [[MagicalBarefooter symbolism]] behind it, and probably also [[BarefootLoon free-spiritedness and nonconformism]]. The number of barefooters is especially high in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Lucy Pevensie (her brothers and sister also like to do it sometimes), Coriakin and Ramandu from ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Ramandu's daughter and Queen Jadis (at least in the illustrations), Shasta and the Hermit of the Southern March from ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'' (though with Shasta, it's just BarefootPoverty), and Puddleglum from ''Literature/TheSilverChair''. Merlin from ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy That Hideous Strength]]'' is also barefooted.

* AuthorAppeal: He was apparently fond of [[DoesNotLikeShoes characters who go barefoot]], due to [[BarefootSage religious and mystical]] [[MagicalBarefooter symbolism]] behind it. The number of barefooters is especially high in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Lucy Pevensie (her brothers and sister also like to do it sometimes), Coriakin and Ramandu from ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Ramandu's daughter and Queen Jadis (at least in the illustrations), Shasta and the Hermit of the Southern March from ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'' (though with Shasta, it's just BarefootPoverty), and Puddleglum from ''Literature/TheSilverChair''. Merlin from ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy That Hideous Strength]]'' is also barefooted.

* ForTheEvulz: Deconstructed in ''Mere Christianity'': although it is possible to do good for the sake of doing good, nobody does evil for the sake of doing evil. A person might give money to the needy even when they are not feeling particularity generous that day, simply because it was the right thing to do, and they might even do it reluctantly. But who ever heard of someone who reluctantly cheated on their spouse in spite of being perfectly content with the partner they already had, purely because it was the wrong thing to do? Evil deeds are merely the pursuit of some good in the wrong way; anyone you might consider a villain either A) genuinely thinks they are doing the right thing, B)Thinks their villainous acts are justified, or C) doesn't give a crap.

* AuthorTract: Much of Lewis's work could qualify [[note]](a good reminder that [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]])[[/note]], including [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirits_in_Bondage that book of cynical, decidedly anti-Christian poetry]] he wrote before his conversion, though there are some exceptions:

* TropesAreTools: At one point in "On the Reading of Old Books", he shows an upside to ValuesDissonance:

{{Trope Namer|s}} for TheFourLoves (from the book ''Literature/TheFourLoves'') and NarniaTime (from the way time works between worlds in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'').