Flora Lewis, Jack's mother
For today’s reading, I decided to take another small bite: A few letters from 1906 to 1908. These are the last few that were written while Jack’s mother, Flora, was still alive. It is a logical place to stop anyway, since the next in the series are sent from Wynyard School, and that marks a notable change in his life experience.
These letters include LP III: 79, 80, 82, and 105. 79, 80, and 105 are to Warnie (his brother) and 82 is to his father, Albert.
In 79, which was written on 18 May 1907, I’m immediately struck by the significant increase in spelling and punctuation errors I see. Whereas two years before, his letter was very well and clearly composed, this one abounds with errors that one might well expect from a younger writer: “onley” (only); “seteled” (settled); “wont” (won’t); “adia” (idea); “wight” (white); etc.
It is also notable that he mentions to Warnie that he is already composing his first play.
80 is notable for a brief history of “Mouse-land” in which Lewis gives Warnie a time-line breakdown of that country’s ages and kings from 55 BC until the ascendancy of King Bunny in 1377. Again, an interesting level of detail. At this point I wonder if Lewis ever considered studying history. I know that my own interest in “real” history was spurred on by the “creative” history I read as a child. I’ll keep an eye out for hints that might provide some evidence as opposed to mere speculation.
82 is a brief postcard that Jack sent Albert while he was away on holiday, and I notice that by 105 (Jack telling Warnie of his visit to “chains memorial” lighthouse in Larne Harbor) that Jack’s grammar and spelling have improved again and are back close to what I saw in the letter from 1905. He also mentions the illness that eventually kills his mother for the first time.
Of course, these few letters are hardly grounds to form absolute opinions, but I think there might be two likely causes for the fluctuation in Jack’s spelling and grammar:
- He had help on the 1905 letter. Perhaps it implies that Flora or his governess was working with him, maybe even using the letter to Warnie as a writing project. The later letters may not have benefited from their ministrations.
- He took more care with that letter than he did with the others for some reason. Perhaps he wanted to impress Warnie with his first letter and later got sloppier when it didn’t seem to matter as much.
Lewis, C. S. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis Walter Hooper, ed.(San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2004), 3-5.
Mere Lewis 