How we cite our quotes: Paragraph (P#) or Line (Line #)
Quote #1
Difficult is behind, Fear is before,
Though he's got on the Hill, the Lions roar;A Christian man is never long at ease,When one fright's gone, another doth him seize. (P218)
Great. You've had the longest, least lucky day in the world—you flunked an exam, fought with your friend, screwed your knee up at soccer, missed the bus, and, of course, the minute you got home, you heard a message from your mom reminding you of some big favor you'd promised. Or maybe there were just two big lions waiting at your doorstep. Christian's experience on the Hill of Difficulty, culminating with these lions outside the Palace Beautiful, really captures the inevitability of suffering that Christians, according to Bunyan, have to be willing to accept. Come to Bunyan at the end of a long, slogging, exhausting day and he'd probably tell you it's a good sign and you're right on track.
Quote #2
The hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend;For I perceive the way to life lies here:Come, pluck up heart, let's neither faint nor fear.Better, though difficult, the right way to go,Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. (P211)
Ah, precious self-motivation. Little interpolated songs, like this one, frequently have Christian speaking to himself, urging or counseling himself in a way that might seem familiar to anyone who's had to wake up at five a.m., or finish a long paper, or run one more lap. One particular strategy of self-persuasion you notice here is the way he sings of "coveting," or being eager for, the challenge. Because the difficulty of the hill is a part of reaching salvation, Christian turns the suffering into a kind of pleasure, sort of like one of those crazy athletes who loves "the burn."
Quote #3
Why, the Valley itself, which is as dark as pitch; we also saw there the Hobgoblins, Satyrs, and Dragons of the Pit; we heard also in that Valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction and irons; and over that Valley hangs the discouraging clouds of Confusion; Death also doth always spread his wings over it. In a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without Order. (P326)
Might be hard to make the point any clearer than this: the Valley of the Shadow of Death is pretty much the most excruciating place in the world (or, at least, in Bunyan's allegory-world). What makes it so terrible in this quote, however, is interesting: the fact that it is "utterly without order." How is chaos such a cause of this dreadfulness? Have you ever experienced any "discouraging clouds of Confusion" that were just as terrible as any physical pain or suffering?
Quote #4
"… you are not yet out of the gun-shot of the Devil: you have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin: let the Kingdom be always before you, and believe steadfastly concerning things that are invisible… and be sure that one or both of you must seal the testimony which you hold, with blood." (P462, 464)
Evangelist here warns Christian and Faithful about the coming trial of their faith at Vanity Fair. This specific necessity of resisting sin "unto blood" speaks to the very real, mortal danger that earnestly living in the Christian faith can bring. Unlike the trial of passing chained lions, this danger is real and proven in a very real way—with Faithful's execution.
Quote #5
Then were these two poor men brought before the examiners again, and there charged as being guilty of the late hubbub that had been in the Fair. So they beat them pitifully, and hanged irons upon them, and led them in chains up and down the Fair, for an example and a terror to others, lest any should further speak in their behalf, or join themselves unto them. But Christian and Faithful behaved themselves yet more wisely, and received the ignominy and shame that was cast upon them with so much meekness and patience, that it won to their side (though but few in comparison of the rest) several of the men of the Fair. (P478)
This is a great example of the good that Bunyan shows coming from suffering. While the pilgrims' arrest and punishment is clearly ridiculous and unjust, the way they peacefully endure it grabs the attention of some of the people watching. Their calmness in the face of suffering is a testament to their focus on something higher. You might think of similar instances of this with nonviolent protest. Men like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were largely successful because they showed a commitment to something bigger than themselves, something more noble than violence.
Quote #6
They therefore brought him out, to do with him according to their law; and first they scourged him, then they buffeted him, then they lanced his flesh with knives; after that, they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords; and last of all, they burned him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful to his end. Now I saw, that there stood behind the multitude a chariot and a couple of horses waiting for Faithful, who (so soon as his adversaries had dispatched him) was taken up into it, and straightway was carried up through the clouds with sound of trumpet, the nearest way to the celestial gate. (P500)
This quote describes the execution of Faithful at Vanity Fair. The diction Bunyan uses is heavily borrowed from gospel accounts of Christ's crucifixion. In Matthew's gospel, Jesus is "scourged," (27:26); in Mark's, he is spat on (15:19). The "swords" echo the spear that was lodged in Jesus's side; and doing with Faithful "according to their law" comes directly from numerous places in Paul's letters and the Acts of the Apostles. References like this wouldn't have been lost on anyone back in the day.
Quote #7
Thus one died to make Testimony to the Truth, and another rises out of his ashes to be a Companion with Christian in his Pilgrimage. (P525)
This stand-apart statement, which, in the text, seems spoken more by the narrator than any character, directly states why the beloved Faithful had to die. This quote states it, but you might feel inclined to reserve judgment yourself. Why exactly is the suffering of one person necessary for the conversion of another?
Quote #8
"Well, towards evening the Giant goes down into the Dungeon again, to see if his prisoners had taken his counsel; but when he came there he found them alive, and truly, alive was all; for now, what for want of Bread and Water, and by reason of the Wounds they received when he beat them, they could do little but breathe: But, I say, he found them alive; at which he fell into a grievous rage, and told them that seeing they disobeyed his counsel, it should be worse with them than if they had never been born." (P620)
Bunyan's highly symbolic writing tends to skimp on details. He's just not concerned with describing things in a realistic way. When he does get descriptive on you, though, it's a good time to pay attention and think about why. Why does he explain the suffering and debilitation of the pilgrims so precisely here? What does it mean that Despair's beatings should have made them almost unable to move?
Quote #9
The Shepherds then answered, Did you not see a little below these Mountains a Stile, that led into a Meadow, on the left hand of this way? They answered, Yes. Then said the Shepherds, From that Stile there goes a path that leads directly to Doubting Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair; and these men (pointing to them among the Tombs) came once on Pilgrimage, as you do now, even till they came to that same Stile; and because the right way was rough in that place, they chose to go out of it into that Meadow, and there were taken by Giant Despair, and cast into Doubting Castle; where, after they had been awhile kept in the Dungeon, he at last did put out their eyes, and led them among those Tombs, where he has left them to wander to this very day, that the saying of the Wise Man might be fulfilled, He that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the congregation of the dead. Then Christian and Hopeful looked upon one another, with tears gushing out, but yet said nothing to the Shepherds. (P643)
A narrow escape indeed. Looking down with the shepherds onto the tombs, Christian and Hopeful are shown the image of what might have become of themselves. The suffering of these souls is particularly poignant because of their ignorance—first of what they were getting themselves into by taking the meadow, and second, because of their blindness. This is one of the keenest lessons Bunyan gives in how a seemingly simple mistake can lead to serious and painful consequences.
Quote #10
Now as they walked in this land, they had more rejoicing than in parts more remote from the Kingdom to which they were bound; and drawing near to the City, they had yet a more perfect view thereof. It was builded of Pearls and Precious Stones, also the Street thereof was paved with Gold; so that by reason of the natural glory of the City, and the reflections of the Sun-beams upon it, Christian with desire fell sick, Hopeful also had a fit or two of the same disease. Wherefore here they lay by it a while, crying out because of their pangs, If you see my Beloved, tell him that I am sick of love. (P887)
Ok, if you've just read this quote… read it again. And maybe again. Bunyan's description of the Celestial City is gorgeous, isn't it? Even more striking than the bedazzled streets, though, is the reaction the pilgrims have to all of this. They actually feel "sick," pained with the experience. Without a doubt, this is one of the most profound moments in the book, in part because this reaction of suffering at such beauty communicates the intense longing, patience, and endurance they've undergone for so long to arrive here. It's worth taking a moment to translate it to your own experience. Can you think of a time when something was so pleasurable or beautiful it actually made you hurt? In a way, that reaction speaks to the depth and truth of the desire—the way that something fulfills you at a level beyond your own understanding. This is the kind of love-sickness Christian and Hopeful feel upon entering the city. Pretty passionate for a Puritan, right?