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Part 1: The Valley of Humiliation
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pilgrim’s Progress, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Burden of Sin and Salvation through Christ
The World vs. Christianity
Obstacles on the Journey
The Centrality of the Bible
Women as Pilgrims
Summary
Analysis
Christian enters another valley called the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He meets two men, sons of those who gave “an evil report of the good land,” hurrying in the opposite direction. They tell Christian that the Valley is dark, filled with fearsome creatures and miserable cries. Christian clutches his sword but presses forward.
“An evil report” refers to a story in the Old Testament Book of Numbers in which men were sent to investigate the Promised Land for the Israelites, bringing back a false report of its terrors. In other words, the men here aren’t to be trusted, even if (as Christian discovers) their report initially seems accurate.
Themes
Literary Devices
Quiz
Test Yourself
On the right hand of the Valley, there is a deep ditch into which the blind have led the blind throughout history. On the left hand is a bottomless pit into which King David once fell. The path between them is quite narrow, and it’s so dark that Christian can hardly see a step in front of him. In the middle of the Valley stands the entrance to Hell itself, with fire, smoke, and horrible noises issuing from it. Christian’s sword does him no good here, and he falls back on the weapon of fervent prayer. Even when fiends seem to draw near, a Scripture quotation drives them back.
Ominous biblical imagery (the blind leading the blind; the dreaded “pit” of David’s Psalms) surrounds Christian on all sides, and he can barely navigate through the dark valley. The atmosphere is so fearful that only direct prayer to God can get Christian through it. As elsewhere, the power of the Bible repels demonic presences, even on the outskirts of Hell.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
Christian is frightened. At one point, as he passes the entrance to Hell, a demon draws behind him and whispers blasphemies. Christian, distressed, believes these thoughts are coming from his own mind. After he has walked for a little while, he hears another voice ahead of him, saying, “Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear none ill, for thou art with me.” Christian cheers up, because he knows that another believer in God must be in this Valley, and that God must be with both of them, though he can’t perceive God’s presence.
The demon’s whispered deception suggests that the devil plays tricks on pilgrims, making them believe they have cursed God when they really haven’t. However, the presence of another pilgrim (recognizable by the recited bible verse, Psalm 23:4) changes Christian’s outlook. A fellow pilgrim’s company makes the journey easier because it becomes easier to discern God’s presence.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
The sun rises, and Christian feels relieved. Yet the second half of the Valley is even more dangerous than the first—it’s filled with traps and pitfalls which he could not have seen by night. However, by the light of day, he passes through the valley, and at its end he sees the bones of pilgrims who once passed through here. He also sees a cave guarded by two giants called Pope and Pagan. He is unharmed by them, however, since Pagan is dead, and Pope is too old and feeble to pursue Christian.
The rising of the sun makes the land look less ominous and more navigable, though still dangerous; not all pilgrims have made it through. The giants symbolize two common enemies in Protestant eyes: paganism (especially that which persecuted the earliest Christians) and Roman Catholicism (led by the Pope). Bunyan suggests that he thinks Protestantism is becoming preeminent and that Catholicism is obsolete.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
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