Charles Williams and the peace we cannot force

Do you know the Inklings? You probably do! Chances are that, at some point, you followed C. S. Lewis through the wardrobe into the land of Narnia, or marched alongside J. R. R. Tolkien across the vast hills of Middle Earth.

But did you know there were other worlds conjured by the Inklings? Worlds a little weirder, a little less accessible – but that C. S. Lewis would say you absolutely needed to visit, anyway?

The fictional worlds of Charles Williams are strange. They are worlds of warped space, living symbols, and nightmares become reality. Their temptations, however, are all too familiar: People want control, recognition, relief from fear, and freedom from the frustrations of living with other people. Sometimes, they pursue those desires until the relationships that might sustain them begin to disappear.

In this conversation, author and magician James Warren – a decades-long reader of Williams – guides us through the "forgotten Inkling's" perplexing fictional worlds, using a particular theme as a compass: the difference between offering to carry another person’s burden, and deciding that another person must carry ours.

Love, according to Williams, forces us to ask an uncomfortable question: when we imagine a better world, have we quietly assigned someone else the suffering needed to produce it?

Drawing on René Girard’s understanding of rivalry and scapegoating, Jim explores this tension through the novels The Place of the Lion, Descent into Hell, and The Greater Trumps. He also considers how our efforts to separate ourselves from a rival can leave us increasingly bound to that person.

There are no tidy formulas here. Only an invitation to examine the stories we tell about goodness, power, and the people we find hardest to love—questions that belong naturally within The Wicked Truth’s ongoing exploration of living without violence in a violent world!

You need not have read Williams to enter the conversation. Come with curiosity – and be aware that Jim discusses significant plot details!