The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses

Lewis begins by quoting a passage from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace that illustrates the power of social hierarchy and inner circles. Lewis hazards a guess that his audience has “met the phenomenon of an Inner Ring” (145)—a powerful, unwritten social system that excludes some people and welcomes others. Further, Lewis claims that one of the dominant human traits during the prime of life is the desire to belong to the inner ring and the fear of being excluded from it. In fact, it is probable that the desire to be in the “in” crowd is a strong driving force behind things like drinking and sex. Although related to ambition, the “longing to be inside” takes many forms (151), including the desire for social intimacy and approval. Lewis’s main purpose in the chapter is to convince his listeners that this desire is “one of the great permanent mainsprings of human action” (151).

Lewis grants that the existence of inner rings is unavoidable and that camaraderie among people who work together is a good thing. Further, people in the lower rungs of an organization do often know what is going on better than those at the top.