The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
Hi! My name is Madeline, I am in 9th grade and live in Hailey Idaho. I love politics, philosophy, writing, and playing the violin. I could talk about these topics all day. I also love reading, my favorite books are The Lord of The Rings, anything written by Tolkien, and Fahrenheit 451.
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, one of the greatest literary works, is an allegory of the struggles and joys of Christianity.
The story centers on Christian, who lives in the wayward city of destruction. One day, he meets a man named Evangelist who tells him that his city will soon be destroyed because of wickedness. Christian is told that he must travel to the Celestial city where the King lives where he will be safe and will be eternally happy in the Good Kings presence. He longs to follow Evangelist’s advice, but when he tells it to his family and the other towns people, they think that he is absurd and mock him. Christian decides to begin his journey anyway, even though he will be leaving everything he knows behind, even his wife and children, who still think he is foolish. To begin his journey, he must travel to the wicket gate, where he is given a scroll with the King’s words on it. Soon he reaches the cross, where his burden if guilt falls off his back, never to be seen again. Throughout his journey, Christian is met with many hardships, such as a nasty battle with one of the wicked one’s servants, his fellow pilgrim’s martyrdom in the city of Vanity Fair and happens upon many tempters who try to dissuade him out of the Way. Through it all, Christian overcomes every trial and temptation with courage and faith, eventually entering the Celestial City where he is jubilantly received, and lives in joy forever.
This story is a timeless allegory that will not be soon forgotten by the reader. I recommend this book for ages 7th grade and up.
