John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Process, is a religious allegory about a good man’s journey through life. Christian’s journey is symbolic of a Catholic man’s struggles to get to Heaven because of the symbolisms behind the names of each character and the destination of the “Celestial City.”
At one point during Christian’s journey in The Pilgrim’s Process, he is traveling with Faithful. The audience can obviously see that Faithful is supposed to represent all Catholic peoples faith in God. However, Envy, Superstition, and Pickthank put Faithful on trial, and sentences Faithful to death. This storyline is a description of how sins can lead people away from their faith in God and completely blind them from the Lord’s will. However, Bunyan provides a small poem in verse 243, that states, “Well, Faithful, thou hast faithfully profest, Unto thy Lord; with whom thou shalt be blest, When faithless ones, with all their vain delights, Are crying out under their hellish plights: Sing, Faithful, sing, and let thy name survive; For though they kill’d thee, thou art yet alive!” So even though Faith was executed, Faith can never truly die because there always will be Hope. In the story, Hopeful comes to replace Faithful and continue to lead Christian to the Celestial City. Naming these characters was a very overt way to symbolize the common struggles of the average Catholic individual, and their struggle to reach Heaven.
Also, Christian’s destination at the end is the Celestial City, which is a symbol of Heaven. Throughout Cristian’s journey, he has to face many hardships, and meet many characters, good and bad. Although at some points he was led astray from his path towards the Celestial City, like when Faithful was killed and he was sent back to jail, he was still always helped along the way by characters such as Hopeful and Faithful. He was always being guided, like how God is supposed to lead us on the path of righteous to Heaven. This is a great religious allegory because it shows how even though Christian was led off the path of salvation by Envy, Superstition, and Pickthank, God will always be there in the form of Hope to guide us back onto the path towards the “Celestial City.” By creating this end game of true holiness, Bunyan is accurately portraying the long and tumultuous path on getting to Heaven.
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