Influential Writers Of The Twentieth Century: C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis, is one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. He was a British author and noted Christian apologist, meaning defender of the Christian faith, and is most well known for writing the “Screwtape Letters” and The Chronicles of Narnia series. Known as the ‘Father of Modern Fantasy’, Lewis was an author of many talents and was able to write anything, from fiction to nonfiction, from children’s books to adult novels, there was nothing that this man could not do. Lewis was born on November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His parents were Florence Augusta Lewis and Albert James Lewis, and his one sibling, who was born three years before Lewis, was Warren Hamilton Lewis. In 1905 the Lewis family moved to East Belfast England and, three years later, his mother, grandfather, and uncle died. Lewis was tutored at home until the age of ten, when his father enrolled him in the Wynyard School in Watford, England. Two years later, Lewis began attending Campbell College, Belfast, but had to drop out three months into the school year due to respiratory issues. Between the years of 1911 and 1913, Lewis went to school at the …show more content…
Lewis’s novels serve as some of the best examples of Christian writing. Having gone through many struggles in life, Lewis was able to understand better than most the difficulties people could have with accepting the Christian faith and attempted to address those concerns in his books. This is clear when he wrote in his book, Mere Christianity, "Ever since I became a Christian, I have thought that perhaps the best, perhaps the only service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief." As a child, Lewis loved fairy tales, fantasy creatures, and mythology. This is thought to have affected his writing style, particularly with the Chronicles of Narnia series, which has elements of fairy tales, mythology, and Christian stories in