term loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This narrative acts as an extendedmetaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves on the literal level, but they also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegorical reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative. [Literary Terms and Definitions. Dr. Kip Wheeler, Department of English, Carson-Newman College.]

Paul Bunyon's Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian allegory, which means that, as an extended metaphor, the characters and action of the narrative have a double meaning and that the underlying metaphorical spiritual and moral meaning overrides the importance of the literal narrative meaning: the moral and spiritual lessons of the story are more important than the action the characters undertake. This is relevant because when asking what the morals of the story are, the answer must come from the meaning of the whole book in its entirety.

The many morals include being faithful to Christian theology, belief and practice; being hopeful toward the coming resurrection and union with the God of Christianity; aspire toward attaining a place in the "Celestial City" of Heaven; don't be feeble minded and blown from your path by every idea that comes along; be valiant in defending the truth of Christianity; don't yield to despondency; be forever honest with persons; be steadfast in pursuing the righteous of those who attain the Celestial City; bear no ill-will toward others; don't prejudge persons, places or ideas; don't be ignorant, lacking in knowledge, training and information; don't be obstinate about doing what is good or right; continue progressing on the pilgrim's path to the Celestial City and righteousness. Two most important morals can be extrapolated from the whole, however.

The first most important moral is that while on the pilgrim believer's journey to the ultimate goal of the Celestial City of Heaven, you must not allow yourself to be distracted by actions, beliefs or attitudes that will deter you and waylay you in some slough or other trap of unrighteousness and faithlessness: keep looking toward the goal and keep progressing in the spirit and attitude of joy and steadfastness. The second most important moral, pointed out as important by being the subject of the climax of the story, is that ignorance must be corrected or it will surely lead to (1) a failure to attain the Celestial City and also to (2) eternal suffering, separation from the righteous and destruction.

Though some critics question Bunyon's choice to have the punishment of Ignorance as the climax of the story, when seen in this light, as the second most important moral, and when seen as the antithesis (opposite) of the progress toward the goal in the correct spirit and attitude, it is easier to see why Bunyon chose this climax since it accentuates what he saw as the greatest obstacle to successful progress for the pilgrim.

Well, in this richly allegorical work of fiction, some of the main themes are suggested through the motif of the journey and the pilgrim. Characters seem to be defined by their pilgrim nature or their lack of it in the text. Consider the main characters that we are presented with who are travelling towards the Celestial City. Christian, Christiana, Faithful and Hopeful are all journeying towards this goal and their character is revealed by their intent to reach the city. However, on their way, they encounter a large number of other characters who again show themselves for who they are by their intention to reach the Celestial City or their decision to stay where they are and keep them away from the Celestial City. Again, as with all the characters, names are incredibly significant in suggesting the various traits of characters. Prejudice, Ill-will and Obstinate, for example, make clear their opposition to the Celestial City and what it represents.

Thus we can see that the key theme of the journey and how characters respond to this theme defines them and reveals a lot about their character as we are presented with a world where everyone is judged based on their attitude to this pilgrim adventure

The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegorical narrative, and all of its characters are explicit representations of thematic ideas. The major theme of the work is how to go through life in the proper Christian (specifically Puritan) manner, so each character represents different aspects of this message.

Most obviously, the main character, Christian, represents the average Christian individual. He learns from a character named Evangelist that a wrath is coming that will destroy anyone without salvation. He undergoes a perilous journey where he is tempted to fall astray, but he perseveres with the aid of allegorical figures like Good Will. Characters such as Mr. Worldly Wiseman, Presumption, and Hypocrisy are all manifestations of different sins or sinful mindsets that come close to preventing Christian from reaching his ultimate goal: the Celestial City (obviously a stand-in for the Christian heaven).

Overall, characters in The Pilgrim's Progress are not so much nuanced individuals as they are plain symbolic manifestations of religious thematic ideas. The author, John Bunyan, makes it very obvious to the reader what each character is meant to represent and how they relate to the Christian journey toward salvation. Bunyan leaves no room for alternative interpretations.