Previous
Similes
Part 1: Talkative
Explanation and Analysis—He Doth Love to Talk:
As Christian and Faithful walk along together, they encounter a man named Talkative who claims he's also on the way to the Celestial City. Talkative's talk is an example of situational irony, because although his choice of religious subjects and his eagerness to discuss them leads readers to expect that he's a good pilgrim, the reality is that he's a fake:
What thing so pleasant, and what so profitable, as to talk of the things of God? What things so pleasant? [...] for instance, if a man doth delight to talk of the History or the Mystery of things; or if a man doth love to talk of Miracles, Wonders, or Signs, where shall he find things recorded so delightful, and so sweetly penned, as in the Holy Scripture?
Faithful is briefly taken in by Talkative's chatter, but Christian soon takes Faithful aside and warns him that he and Talkative hail from the same town, where it's widely known that Talkative doesn't practice what he preaches: he drinks a lot, mistreats his family and servants, and prayer and repentance from sin aren't practiced in his household. In other words, though Talkative loves to be seen as spiritual because of what he talks about, it's only talk, and he's not at all religious at heart. (Indeed, it quickly becomes apparent that there isn't much substance to Talkative's conversation; he loves to spout spiritual words and phrases, as above, but he doesn't really say anything about them.)
Bunyan uses the figure of Talkative to undercut readers' expectations and perhaps even prick their consciences. When Talkative is first introduced, many readers probably react like Faithful and think he sounds like a legitimate pilgrim, even one worth emulating. The truth about Talkative warns readers to be more discerning about so-called pilgrims. It also forces readers to consider the uncomfortable possibility that they, too, might be more like Talkative than like Christian or Faithful, and this encourages them to evaluate whether their own religion is truly authentic.
Related Themes:
