Wow, lots of great thoughts here, thank you. I'd be fascinated to see you elaborate.

I would say that the reason I'm drawn to Elisabeth Elliot is that she feels like an awake person within the dream, performing her scripted actions even so.

One might wonder why she does it, why she doesn't break away. Your comment on the religion "being interrogated almost to destruction in her own thought and spirit" is provocative.

Many have noted that Fred Phelps, the anti-gay protester, made the Evangelical stance so absurd and offensive that even Evangelicals were horrified. There are also bizarre suggestions, along the way, that he was not anti-gay at all.

A case might be made for "Elisabeth Elliot" being done in this same mode. She and Phelps might've known each other, interestingly, as they both attended Prairie Bible Institute in 1949.