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 and Hopeful come to a silver-mine in a hill called Lucre. This area is dangerous: many people have been injured or killed when they ventured too close to the edge of the mine. There, they meet a man named Demas who invites them to dig for treasure. Hopeful wants to take a closer look at the mine, but Christian has heard this place is deadly; he calls Demas an enemy for leading others astray. After Christian and Hopeful continue on their way, By-ends and his friends arrive and accept Demas’s invitation. It’s uncertain what became of them, but they are never heard from again.
“Lucre” is just a term for money, but it has a negative connotation as money that is disreputable or shameful. In fact, Demas’s invitation to dig for silver is fraught with danger—pilgrims who accept end up going astray from the path forever. This suggests that, as Christian predicted, Christians who try to reconcile their religion with riches will, in the end, put money before religion, proving their unfaithfulness.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
Christian and Hopeful arrive at a strange monument. It looks like a woman who has been turned into a pillar. They decipher the writing on the statue, which says, “Remember Lot’s wife,” and realize this is the pillar of salt described in the Bible. Christian points out that if they had heeded Demas’s invitation, they might have wound up like Lot’s wife, too. Hopeful says he is no better than Lot’s wife, and it’s only by God’s grace that he didn’t do what she did. If Demas and his companions had only looked ahead to the statue, they would have seen the monument’s warning for themselves.
In the Book of Genesis, God turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt for looking back at her hometown of Sodom while fleeing its destruction. In that sense, she is a prime example of looking to the world with longing instead of toward the promise of Heaven. Those who visit Demas’s mine do as Lot’s wife did and suffer the consequences.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
Christian and Hopeful walk along a pleasant river with fruit trees on its banks. They spend the next few days resting here, gathering fruit and sleeping in a nearby meadow. When they resume their journey, the going becomes rougher, and they grow discouraged. They see a path wandering through a place called By-path Meadow and, though Hopeful fears being led astray, they decide to follow this easier-looking route. They come upon a man named Vain-confidence who says he’s also headed to the Celestial City, and the pilgrims follow him.
As the pilgrims have learned all along, one’s pilgrimage alternates between times of refreshment and times of discouragement. When things get rough, it’s more tempting to become complacent and take shortcuts, as Christian and Hopeful do here. The name “Vain-confidence” reveals that their chosen guide isn’t to be trusted (in other words, one places their confidence in vain, or without success).
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
Soon, not seeing what’s in front of him, Vain-confidence falls into a deep pit and lies groaning. Then it begins to storm and flood. Hopeful admits that he’d feared being led astray, but that he didn’t speak up more boldly because Christian is older. Christian apologizes for letting this happen, and Hopeful forgives him. The waters are too high to make their way safely back, so they fall asleep in a little shelter for the night.
Sure enough, Vain-confidence proves to be a misleading and ultimately useless guide. Because Christian chooses to trust Vain-confidence and Hopeful defers to Christian, they’re all in trouble. This underscores that pilgrims’ journeys are interdependent, meaning their difficulties are shared as well.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
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