against having their whole life dominated by the tyranny of the past

[soso]

A Ghost argues /with the Bright Spirit //who was her brother Reginald:

‘It’s a lie. A wicked, cruel lie. 

How could anyone love their son more than I did? 

Haven’t I lived /only for his memory /all these years?’

‘That was rather a mistake, Pam. In your heart of hearts you know () it was.’

‘What was a mistake?’

‘All that ten years’ ritual of grief. 

Keeping his room /exactly as he’d left it; keeping anniversaries; 

refusing to leave that house /though Dick and Muriel were both wretched there.’

‘Of course they didn’t care. I know that. I soon learned [to expect no real sympathy from them].’

‘You’re wrong. No man ever felt his son’s death more than Dick. 

Not many girls loved their brothers /better than Muriel.

It wasn’t against Michael () they revolted:

it was against you—against having their whole life dominated by the tyranny of the past:

and not really even Michael’s past, but your past.’

‘You are heartless. Everyone is heartless. The past was [all () I had.’

‘It was all () you chose to have.

It was the wrong way to deal with a sorrow.

It was Egyptian—like embalming a dead body.’

‘Oh, of course. I’m wrong. [Everything () I say or do] is wrong, according to you.’

‘But of course!’ said the Spirit, shining with love and mirth /so that my eyes were dazzled.

‘That’s [what we all find /when we reach this country].

We’ve all been wrong! That’s the great joke.

There’s no need to go on pretending () one was right!

After that we begin living.’

From The Great Divorce
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis