The Great Divorce is a book filled with a series of many Christian theological ideas most of them revolving around the idea of life after death, specifically, the ideas of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The way those theological ideas are portrayed is through the story’s setting with each location in the story representing some aspect of the afterlife. The book begins with the narrator travelling through a land that the readers are supposed to associate with either Hell or Purgatory however it is never stated as to which one it is. What we know about this realm called Grey Town is that no matter where the narrator seems to go, he is never truly happy. Pope John Paul II explains Hell best by saying that “It is not a punishment imposed externally by God but a development of premises already set by people in this life.
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Christians believe that Purgatory is a state for someone who wishes to accept God into their lives but is in need of cleansing before entering Heaven. The state of Purgatory can be seen when the narrator travels through Grey Town and Heaven. As I mentioned before, Grey Town is a place where the narrator never truly felt joy. While most people can associate this will Hell, there are also some elements of Purgatory present in this part of the book. As mentioned before, Hell is a state where a person has chosen to reject God from their life. By doing this, they are prevented from ever entering Heaven. However Grey Town seems to offer an exit through the bus trip to Heaven. Purgatory works much in the same way by serving as a place “For those who find themselves in a condition of being open to God, but still imperfectly, the journey towards full beatitude requires a purification,” (John Paul II, 5). The bus ride and subsequent visit provide this. In Grey Town, the narrator begins his journey of repentance and once in Heaven, the spirits who approach him tell him and that in order to enter Heaven they must seek
Christians believe that Purgatory is a state for someone who wishes to accept God into their lives but is in need of cleansing before entering Heaven. The state of Purgatory can be seen when the narrator travels through Grey Town and Heaven. As I mentioned before, Grey Town is a place where the narrator never truly felt joy. While most people can associate this will Hell, there are also some elements of Purgatory present in this part of the book. As mentioned before, Hell is a state where a person has chosen to reject God from their life. By doing this, they are prevented from ever entering Heaven. However Grey Town seems to offer an exit through the bus trip to Heaven. Purgatory works much in the same way by serving as a place “For those who find themselves in a condition of being open to God, but still imperfectly, the journey towards full beatitude requires a purification,” (John Paul II, 5). The bus ride and subsequent visit provide this. In Grey Town, the narrator begins his journey of repentance and once in Heaven, the spirits who approach him tell him and that in order to enter Heaven they must seek