Persecution (Stage 5)

Christian meets up with his former fellow townsman Faithful, who fled the City of Destruction shortly after Christian left. Faithful says that Christian’s old acquaintance Pliable returned to town and was mocked for the dirt on his clothing from the Slough of Despond.

Faithful reports that he declined the offer, knowing it would be slavery. Even though he rejected Adam, Moses appeared to strike down Faithful in punishment, Christian concludes, for secretly being attracted by Adam’s offer. Faithful reports that shame tried to turn him from his holy path, attacking religion as unmanly. Christian congratulates Faithful on his fortitude and then tells him of his own adventures.

Another townsman named Talkative joins the two. Faithful is initially impressed by Talkative’s devoutness, since Talkative likes discussing religious topics. Rejoining Talkative, Christian asks him to explain the difference between speaking out against sin and despised it. Annoyed, Talkative leaves them.

Emerging from the wilderness, Evangelist meets Christian and Faithful and congratulates them on overcoming their obstacles. At Vanity Fair, Faithful and Christian are mocked, smeared with dirt, and thrown in a cage. Faithful tries to speak in his own defence but is burned at the stake and carried off to heaven. Christian is remanded to prison but escapes later.

Who is Apollyon?

Apollyon wants to prevent Christian. Like Giant Despair, also bent on stopping Christian, Apollyon has a physical irregularity that displays his evil. Apollyon is a hybrid being, part dragon, bear, human, and fish. He unites all four elements: the water of a fish, the air associated with wings, the fire linked to dragons, and the earth that bears live on. He also combines animal and human. These symbolic combinations convey his immense power, suggesting that he draws energy from all corners of the universe. His complex nature is the opposite of Christian’s extreme simplicity. Apollyon became one of the best-known characters in Bunyan’s book even though he appears for only a short time.

Apollyon signifies weakness to worldly forces. He represents the opposite of the spiritual freedom that Christian expresses in leaving behind his worldly existence. Apollyon’s name resembles the Greek god Apollo, lord of the beauty and form that dominates worldly values. Apollo was a pagan deity, far removed from the Christian God that the pilgrim strives toward. Furthermore, Apollyon expresses a belief that Christian is his feudal subject and owes allegiance to him as protector. He believes he has the right to power over another individual, which Christian rejects with his sense of divine freedom and being subject only to God. Thus Christian’s defeat of Apollyon symbolizes a victory over all worldly power.

Battle With Apollyon (Stage 4)

The four mistresses of the Palace Beautiful accompany Christian to the end of their property and give him food for his journey. They warn him of the slippery ground he will enter, called the Valley of Humiliation. Walking through the valley, Christian sees a foul monster approaching, a human form with dragon wings and bear feet, covered in fish scales. Christian is scared but does not flee. The monster’s name is Apollyon, and he claims Christian as his subject, since Christian is on his land. Christian refutes him, saying he is already subject to a different prince, meaning Christ. Apollyon flies into a rage, voicing hatred for the rival prince. They fight with swords, and Apollyon nearly kills Christian, but Christian at the last minute saves himself and strikes Apollyon, who flies away.

Continuing onward, Christian finds himself in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, a hot desert full of pits. The narrator comments that this is where the mouth of hell is located. Christian realizes there is more danger for him here than his fight with Apollyon and hears the demons clamoring for him. He is deeply afraid but takes solace in the thought that Christ is protecting him like a candle in the dark. At the end of the valley, Christian sees the bones, ashes, and mangled remains of other pilgrims. The area is lorded over by two giants, Pope and Pagan, who devoured earlier pilgrims. Christian is not afraid, since they are both decrepit and unthreatening.

Removal of Burden (Stage 3)

Continuing on his journey, Christian comes to a wall that the narrator identifies as Salvation. Passing by the wall, Christian feels his burden spontaneously drop to the ground. Proceeding onward along the “strait and narrow” path of the wall of Salvation, Christian notices three figures Simple, Sloth, and Presumption asleep and bound with iron chains. Christian ascends a hill called Difficulty. Christian is unsure what to do. When Christian reaches for his certificate, he finds it missing. After retracing his steps, Christian finds his certificate and vows always to remain watchful. Arriving late at the pilgrims’ hotel, Christian has lost much time sleeping. After Christian identifies himself, Discretion allows him inside. The three other daughters, Piety, Prudence, and Charity, ask about Christian’s journey. 

Faith is given a deeper meaning when Christian’s burden spontaneously falls from the sight of the cross in the Third Stage. This removal of the burden marks a new perspective on his progress.  Clearly faith depends on striving. Christian has undertaken many risks already to get where he is, and his way is far from easy. Yet faith also involves changes that require no effort at all, like the miraculous relief from the burden. Christian does not even have to remove the burden, since it removes itself. In Christian doctrine, these two parts of the pilgrim’s experience are known as will and grace. Will is the exertion required to find faith and master oneself. Grace is what comes without trying to get it, a pure gift from heaven. Christian experiences both will and grace when passing the cross, and he is rewarded for his strong individual faith when the burden falls.

Stage 2

The second stage begins by Evangelist leading Christian to the right path, kisses Christian goodbye and wishes him well, and Christian resumes his journey. A serious-looking attendant named Goodwill appears. With Christian safe inside, Goodwill requests an account of his journey so far. Christian reports his progress so far. Satisfied, Goodwill then sends Christian to a nearby house where the Interpreter lives, saying that the Interpreter may show Christian many helpful things.

The Interpreter invites Christian into his home. He shows Christian a picture of a serious man in a crown. Christian asks who it is, and the Interpreter tells him that the man saves souls and promises a better world beyond this one. Next Christian enters a large, dusty parlour where the Interpreter orders a man to sweep. Christian enters another room where a fire burns against a wall. A man pours water onto the fire, but the fire only burns higher and hotter. Christian is puzzled until he sees another man on the other side of the wall pouring oil to rouse the flames. Finally the Interpreters leads Christian into a very dark room where a man sits, hands folded, in an iron cage. Christian asks what he is doing there, and the man explains that the cage is his despair. The Interpreter asks Christian what he feels at seeing all these things. 

Stage 1

The opening portrays the most central idea of the work: the journey. The Pilgrim’s Progress is about travel and the meaning that one man’s travel comes to acquire. The trip is one of discovery and learning new things. Christian is journeying not to come home but to leave home, or rather to make a new home for himself in an unfamiliar place, the Celestial City. Because he believes his town is destroyed, he literally cannot go home again. He heads for a better place through his journey to the Celestial City. Therefore the geographical wandering across the land is also a mythic advancement, a spiritual development, which is the “progress” referred to in the title. The journey to the Celestial City is a solitary experience. Christian is first introduced alone and crying with a book in his hand, and he remains alone for large portions of the story. Secondary characters come and go, but Christian remains. In part, his solitude is a necessary aspect of his Protestant faith, which holds that salvation comes not through church attendance and group ritual but through private prayer and introspection. Bunyan shows the reader that faith is individual, so Christian must be alone to practice it.

Author's Apology

In his Apology, Bunyan affirms his aim to strengthen religious belief through fiction. He attacks the popular misconception that religion and fiction are enemies, asserting that the Bible contains many fictional parables. Bunyan also states that he wrote his work mainly for himself, to further his own spiritual development. 

My first Blog (Intro Blog)

Hi world, this is my first blog. My blog is solely based on a in depth look and critique of The Pilgrim's Progress.

The Pilgrim's Progress was writing by John Bunyan and published in February of 1678. This classic piece literature is a Christian allegory which tells the story of the Christian Pilgrimage to Heaven. The importance of this story is to portray the the human's purpose in life from a Christian perceptive. This perceptive explain that our whole purpose of existence was to embark on a life long narrow quest to Heaven. I chose to use this book in my blog (CPT) because it relates to me. This Book relates to me because I am in the midst of this pilgrimage. Therefore, I see this book as a tool to encourage and educate people, mainly Christian, about the quest of life and what we as humans are here to do in earth on earth.