Pilgrims Progress

The book begins with "The Author's Apology for his Book." This portion of the book, written in verse, aims to explain the author's purpose. He wrote the book, he writes, not for the benefit of his neighbors: "I did it mine own self to gratifie" (5). He acknowledges that people had differing opinions about whether he should publish it and what he should include, but he decided to proceed and instructs those who aren't interested to refrain from reading it. He then defends the style in which he has chosen to write. He argues that God often communicated by metaphor in scripture, and thus, Bunyan, too is justified in using this style of writing (8). He argues that he writes from a place of truth, and that would come through no matter the style in which he presents his words. He continues his defense of the genre until he openly defends the language he uses: "this book is writ in such a dialect, / as may the minds of listless men affect" (11). He finishes by calling the reader to read with "heart and head together" (12). In his dream, the author describes a man with a heavy burden upon his back, crying in agony. His wife and children think that the man overreacting and dismiss him as ill. The man is extremely agitated by what he has read in his book (the Bible), which leads him to believe that, because of his sins, he has been condemned to die. The Evangelist comes and tells the man to embark on a pilgrimage, instructing him that the Wicket Gate is the first stop on his journey to deliverance. The man takes the Evangelist's word and flees in the direction of the shining light, even though his family calls for him to stay.
We now learn that the man's name is Christian. As he runs, two of his neighbors catch up with him to find out the reason for his flight. Christian invites the men, called Obstinate and Pliable, to join him on his journey to paradise. Obstinate refuses to go along with Christian, thinking him "brainsick", but Pliable joins him. Christian regales his