The Pilgrim’s Progress is both a religious book and a book of adventures-Explain

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is an allegorical drama that deals with the spiritual progress of the human soul towards heaven. Bunyan was a preacher and he wanted to bring people to the right path so that they could all attain salvation. He wanted the people to adopt ways that would enable them to throw off their burden of sins and become the elect of God. Bunyan had read novels and romances wherein brave soldiers fought against giants and dragons. So he thought of presenting the human soul as a knight going towards the Heavenly city and on the way fighting the forces of evil in the form of giants and dragons. Thus, in The Pilgrim’s Progress in which the progress of the soul towards salvation is shown as a pilgrimage from the city of Destruction to the celestial city. In this text, Bunyan teaches the sinners the mistakes they do on their way to salvation.Instead of writing a book in the form of sermons or advices, Bunyan wrote his text by presenting the struggle of the human soul to attain salvation as a story with concrete images of good and evil. Thus, Bunyan’s text could create an impact on the lives of not only the educated people, but also the uneducated and common people. Bunyan has not used very high language, not his style is grand like that of Milton in his Paradise Lost. The language is simple and the dialogue is life-like. Thus, a common reader does not get bored but rather reads the text with interest. The Pilgrim’s Progress can be read as a story and all its incidents and characters convey a lesson that are conveyed indirectly. The average man can identify himself with Christian because he also has a burden of sins on his back and also wants to attain salvation by following the right path. As the story proceeds, the pious and religious man decides that he will lead a pure life and fight against evil. The story conveys that at every stage, Christian got out of his difficulties by praying to God. Without knocking at the wicket gate (praying to Jesus) he can not enter the way to celestial city. As story progresses, the journey of Christian gets adventurous, Christian has to fight with devils and giants like Belzeebuls, Anollyon, Giant Despair etc. He gets caught in a trial in the vanity fair but escapes with God’s grace and mercy from all his difficulties. A puritan or a religious man who reads The Pilgrim’s Progress enjoys the theological (religious) discussions which take place in the text from time to time. Suppose Bunyan wants to teach people that doubts are dangerous for a devotee and he should have a firm faith in God at all times. But Bunyan does not do so in the form of giving advice or sermons that might become boring. Instead, he shows that the moment Christian gets doubtful about God, he gets trapped in the slough of Despond from which he can come out only when his faith in God is revived and he gets divine help. Despair takes the form of a giant who imprisons Christian and Alopeful and beats them mercilessly. They are able to get out of the Doubting castle with the help of the master key which is a ‘promise’ of

salvation made by Jesus to all his faithful disciples. But all these religious preaching’s are preached in an interesting manner. So, when a child reads The Pilgrim’s Progress, he does not regard the persons and places of religious symbols. But he takes them literally and enjoys the book as a tale of wonderful adventures. But when the same child grows up, he can read the same text as having a spiritual and a religious significance. Thus, for children, the text is a story about a brave knight (Christian) who fights against dragons, giants and all evils. Again, The Pilgrim’s Progress also appeals to a religious man and helps to find him the path to his spiritual salvation. It is a book of theology.  Thus, we can see that The Pilgrim’s Progress has mingled instruction and pleasure, thus exciting the zeal of religious man and also the wonder of the child. Hence, the text is a wonderful combination of a religious book and a book of adventures.