Bunyan published Part II of The Pilgrim’s Progress in 1684. In the six years between Parts I and II, his confidence as a writer grew visibly. The Pilgrim’s Progress is so fresh and original partly because Bunyan knew no great fiction writers to copy. Early editions of his work were often on cheap and coarse paper, bought mainly by the poor. Bunyan thus had a hand in educating the class from which he himself came. Though Bunyan published nine books, including his spiritual autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, The Pilgrim’s Progress has remained arguably the most renowned published Christian allegory, a symbolic story that serves as a disguised representation for meanings other than those indicated. The characters in Bunyan’s allegory have no individual personality but are embodiments of moral qualities as illustrated by their names: Christian, Christiana, Great-heart, and Hopeful, to name a few.

The Pilgrim’s Progress has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible and is said to be one of the most widely read books in English. After catching a severe cold on his way to London, Bunyan died at a friend’s house in 1688. Bunyan is buried in the cemetery at Bunhill Fields in London. It is said that many Puritans pleaded on their death beds to be buried as close as possible to the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress.

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 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.

Gates test spiritual faith and commitment. To reach the Celestial City, Christian and Christiana not only have to avoid a number of dangerous creatures and slippery sloughs and hills, but they must pass through two gates. These gates are important because not just anyone can pass, as seen with other characters, such as Ignorance. In Part I, when Goodwill commands the Wicket Gate to allow Christian through, Goodwill lets him pass because Christian states he is traveling to Mount Zion. Goodwill is a good judge of character and lets him pass. Many other characters, such as Formalist and Hypocrisy, would not gain entry because they cheat throughout their journey, as seen when they climb over the wall of Salvation. Christian also possesses a certificate of entry, which allows him entry to the Celestial City gates. He has earned his certificate because he maintained a spiritual journey and did not fall victim to any of the characters who tried to pull him off course. In contrast, when Christiana approaches the gate leading to the Celestial City, she and her group are immediately allowed entry after she mentions she is Christian’s wife. Christian’s story is so widely known on the outskirts of the Celestial City that Christiana need only say his name, and she is allowed in. Without Christian’s name, the gatekeeper tells them he judges the pilgrims who seek entry by how they react to his ferocious dog. The two gates leading to and into the Celestial City represent a new life and journey that not every pilgrim can access. These gates might also be compared to the gates of heaven. After all, those allowed past the gates of heaven have been judged before Christ and allowed entry because of the good that they represent.

The Pilgrim’s Progress aims to tell religious truths indirectly. The author says this in his Apology when he answers critics who complain that religion should not tolerate storytelling. The author, Bunyan, replies that the Bible itself contains literature and the New Testament in particular uses many parables, or indirect illustrations, to communicate its truths. Bunyan explains that he can make up something from his head to spread God’s word. And this is exactly what Bunyan does when the narrator makes up his dream, rather than explain his own experience. The narrator does not discuss his own actual autobiography but makes up another person named Christian, an unreal character. Here again, Bunyan uses the “unreal” to deliver a very real message.

Bunyan demonstrates the importance of interpreting indirect meanings by focusing on Christian’s experience with the Interpreter. The scene in the Interpreter’s house is one of the longest in any dwelling place in all of ThePilgrim’s Progress. Christian spends a lot of time with the Interpreter because he has a lot to learn about interpretation. Like any religious believer, in Bunyan’s view, Christian cannot get to heaven by just obeying a few moral rules. Instead, he must figure out how to understand meanings behind objects and events. Christian’s perception of what occurs in the Significant Rooms emphasizes the importance of interpretation. The Interpreter shows Christian not just one example of a thing that requires interpretation to be understood but half a dozen. Some of the interpretation is fairly straightforward, like the portrait of Christ that represents the religious figure himself. Others require more thought and guidance. Christian doesn’t know that the fire represents the believer’s faith and water represents the devil. Nor is it obvious in the dusty parlor that the dust symbolizes sin, and the sweeper is the law of the Old Testament. Christian must be guided to these meanings. In this, Christian is like the reader of The Pilgrim’s Progress who must be guided to find meanings behind the obvious layers of the story.