The Wanderer

Part 1 here.

As we have seen, Bunyan probably wrote the bulk of the first part of The Pilgrim’s Progress during his lengthy imprisonment. When we know something of his life, we are able to see certain events, people and places reflected in his book. The full title gives us, in typically Puritan fashion, insight into its contents and purpose: The Pilgrim’s Progress from this world to that which is to come, delivered under the similitude [likeness] of a dream wherein is discovered the manner of his setting out, his dangerous journey, and safe arrival at the desired country. The second part of the book has an almost identical title, except that it sets forth the manner of the setting out of Christian’s wife and children, their dangerous journey, and safe arrival at the desired country.

These titles tell us much. The main motif of the book is pilgrimage. The starting point is the City of Destruction, and the destination to which the faithful pilgrims travel is the Celestial City. The book is an allegory, and it is a testimony to the potency of Bunyan’s writing that many otherwise complicated dictionary or literary definitions of allegory refer to Pilgrim’s Progress as the simplest and best way of defining and illustrating the genre! Essentially, an allegory is an extended metaphor (a vivid comparison) in which the characters, events and locations represent or symbolize other things. Bunyan uses this as a means of teaching, employing this colourful and memorable style to fix truth in his readers’ minds and hearts. So, for example, the City of Destruction which “will be burned with fire from heaven”[1] is this present world, and the Celestial City to which the pilgrims travel is the eternal and heavenly kingdom of God’s Son, enjoyed by the saints after death.

The first part traces the pilgrimage of a man called Christian, who flees from the City of Destruction and makes his way through many dangers and difficulties to the Celestial City. Several of the people whom he encounters, or the locations through which he travels, are well known wherever the book has been read, and have entered the English vernacular, becoming accepted literary references. One of the first places to which Christian comes is the Slough of Despond, where he is almost swamped by doubts and fears. Almost thrown off course, the faithful Evangelist directs him to the Wicket Gate through which he must pass to find the path to the Celestial City. Going through, he comes to the House of the Interpreter, who shows him many wondrous things, and sends him on his way. From there Christian ascends a hill with the Cross upon it, where he loses the burden of sin from his back.[2] He goes on up another hill called Difficulty, and passes between two chained lions to a lodge where he rests and is armed for his onward journey. His arms and armour are immediately put to the test in a long and painful battle with Apollyon, the devil, where Christian wins through in the face of much distress. He meets a fellow-pilgrim called Faithful, and together they press on to Vanity Fair with all its carnality, where both are imprisoned and where Faithful is martyred. Christian is delivered, and travels on with another friend, Hopeful, who has come to be a pilgrim through the testimony of Christian and Faithful. Although the two escape the snares of the Hill Lucre, they are captured by the Giant Despair through Christian’s foolish going out of the way, and held for a time in Doubting Castle. Again they escape, this time through the use of the key called Promise. On they travel to the Delectable Mountains, where four shepherds called Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere care for them, and give them a sight of the Celestial City far ahead. Pressing on, through encounters with men including Ignorance and Atheist, they come to the Enchanted Ground. To prevent themselves being made drowsy and lulled to sleep, they talk of good matter, and so pass through the Enchanted Ground to the land of Beulah, a place of true rest and delight. One last obstacle awaits them before they can reach the heavenly city: a river, death. There is no way to the Celestial Gate but through the river, the depth of which changes depending on the faith of those passing through it. Hopeful passes through quite easily, but Christian is at first overwhelmed with fears. Hopeful strives to keep his friend’s head above the water with encouragements, and soon Christian gets a view of Christ that delivers him from his fears. So the two men pass through the River to the Celestial City, and are welcomed into glory.

In the second part a band of pilgrims follows the same route as Christian. The core of the band comprises Christian’s wife, Christiana (who takes to the pilgrim way after her husband crosses the river), her sons, and a young friend called Mercy. By adopting this method in the second part, Bunyan fulfils his intention of dealing with several matters not immediately relevant or easily covered in the first part: “What Christian left locked up and went his way,/ Sweet Christiana opens with her key.”[3] These new pilgrims also face a painful struggle before entering through the Wicket Gate, after which they spend time in Interpreter’s house. He sends one of his servants with them, a faithful man called Great-heart, who guides and guards them through their journey. As they travel, Great-heart often discourses of the journey of Christian before them, showing them some of what took place along the way; he also fights for the pilgrims, killing, for example, the Giants Maul and Slay-good. One of Great-heart’s most notable conquests (with Christiana’s sons and another pilgrim called Honest) is the defeat of Giant Despair and his wife, Diffidence, together with the demolition of Doubting Castle. Other pilgrims join them as they travel, and they face particular battles and perils that Christian did not, although they pass through the same territory. There is even a marriage, between Christiana’s son Matthew and her young friend, Mercy. Eventually, the much-grown pilgrim band comes to Beulah, where they await their summons across the River, during which time several pilgrims offer one another counsel, encouragement and admonition before passing across.

Thus, in the course of these two parts of the book, we see men and women of various characters and dispositions fleeing the City of Destruction and arriving at the Celestial City at the end of their pilgrimage. The genius of this structure is to give Bunyan broad scope to deal with a wide variety of Christian experience, focusing both on the individual and communal aspects of Christian living. While the outlines above aim to give a fair representation of the journey taken by the pilgrims, there is no space here to provide more than the merest hint of some of the other characters (all with their own distinctive and instructive names and characters) across whom the pilgrims come in the course of their journey, and who illustrate some of the encouragements, dangers, temptations, errors and helps that exist along the way to the Celestial City.

[2] This scene is represented on Bunyan’s tomb in London. One side of the tomb shows Christian climbing the hill with his burden, the other shows him coming to the cross and the burden rolling away down the hill, never to be seen again.

[3] Pilgrim’s Progress, p.277.