Knowledge Gained Through Travel
The Pilgrim’s Progress demonstrates that
knowledge is gained through travel by portraying Christian and his
companions learning from their mistakes on their journey. Pilgrimage
depends on travel, and so a pilgrim must be a voyager prepared to
go far and wide. Yet in Bunyan’s book, voyage in itself does not
make a traveler a pilgrim. The pilgrim must advance spiritually
as he or she advances geographically. The key factor is knowledge,
which must increase as the pilgrim proceeds forward. Christian never
makes the same mistake twice or meets the same foe twice, because
he learns from his experiences. Once he experiences the Slough of
Despond, he never needs to be despondent again. Other pilgrims who
lack understanding may advance fairly far, like Heedless and Too-bold,
who almost get to the Celestial City; however, they do not understand
what they undergo, and so they only babble nonsense and talk in
their sleep. They are travelers but are not pilgrims because they
cannot verbalize or spiritually grasp what they have been through.
The Importance of Reading
The importance of reading is emphasized throughout The
Pilgrim’s Progress because the pilgrims reach salvation
and happiness by understanding the Bible. The pilgrims who have
not read and do not understand the Bible are viewed as disappointments,
who will not gain entry to the Celestial City. For example, when
Christian dismisses the good lad Ignorant, he does so only because
Ignorant cannot grasp divine revelation as conveyed by the Bible.
In effect, he rejects Ignorant because he cannot read. Another example
is in the first stage of the book when the narrator falls asleep
and first glimpses Christian, who is crying and holding a book.
The book is the Bible and it strikes pain into the heart of the
believer who has strayed from its message. Though pilgrims may read
the Bible, they also must believe its message and apply it to their
everyday lives. Reading is necessary even for death. When Christiana
receives her summons to the Master and takes leave of the world,
the summons is sent in the form of a letter. If she could not read
it, she would never meet her maker. Reading is not merely a skill
in life but the key to attaining salvation.
The Value of Community
The value of community is portrayed in Part II through
Christiana’s journey to the Celestial City with her children and
a few other companions. As a result, Christiana experiences pilgrimage
itself as a communal activity. Every time she makes a stop and picks
up more pilgrims to accompany her, the group grows substantially.
Her strengths as a pilgrim involve reaching out to others, as when
caring for her children, receiving weak or disabled pilgrims into
her group, and marrying off her sons. In contrast, Part I portrays
pilgrimage as a solitary activity. Though Christian finds companions
in Faithful and Hopeful, he never seems to need them. He could progress
just as well without them. In fact, when Christian experiences his
original spiritual crisis and decides to leave his home and city,
he does so alone, as if solitude were necessary to feel the divine
word. Yet when Christian cries after the four mistresses of the
Palace Beautiful ask why he left his family, he displays a hidden
longing for his family. Bunyan emphasizes here that spirituality
is best when it is communal. Christian does not end up in solitary
bliss wandering alone in heaven but in the Celestial City filled
with happy throngs of residents. His community is a large group
of similar-minded people. Yet Christiana instinctively knows what
Christian learns in the end: spiritual existence should involve
togetherness.
