Season 5 Podcast 133 John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Episode 40 Chapter 8 A “The Giant Despair.”

Season 5 Podcast 133 John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Episode 40 Chapter 8 A “The Giant Despair.” 

In last week’s episode we learn of The River of the Water of Life. In this week’s episode we meet the Giant Despair in Doubting Castle with a very dark dungeon.

Christian and Hopeful are lost in the By-path Meadow. They fell into By-path meadow because Christian, sore and exhausted, stubbornly insisted on taking the easiest way. He went against Hopeful’s advice. Because Christian was the eldest, Hopeful dutifully followed. Both learn an extremely hard lesson which nearly costs them their lives.

“Neither could they, with all the skill they had, get again to the stile that night. Wherefore, at last lighting under a little shelter, they sat down there until daybreak; but, being weary, they fell asleep. Now, there was, not far from the place where they lay, a castle, called Doubting Castle the owner whereof was Giant Despair, and it was in his grounds they now were sleeping; wherefore he, getting up in the morning early, and walking up and down in his fields, caught Christian and Hopeful asleep in his grounds. Then, with a grim and surly voice, he bid them awake, and asked them whence they were, and what they did in his grounds. They told him they were pilgrims, and that they had lost their way. Then said the giant, "You have this night trespassed on me by trampling in and lying on my grounds, and therefore you must go along with me."

In mythology and fairy tales giants are generally seen as evil. In Christian literature, of course, we have the giant Goliath, a symbol of fear. Head of the army of the Philistines, he cowered the entire Israelite army until defeated by the shepherd boy, David. In Pilgrim’s Progress, we have already met two giants, Pope and Pagan, both easily defeated. Now we meet the giant Despair. We should note that the giant did not chase Christian and Hopeful. Christian and Hopeful, lost in the By-path Meadow, trespassed on Giant Despair’s kingdom. Inhospitable as it is, the Giant Despair was in his rights to cast them into the dungeon. Bunyan recognizes that the path to the Celestial City is filled with extraordinary obstacles and many Christians, when faced with seemingly impossible trials, give in to despair and forsake their quest. Notice the giant’s command, “You must go along with me.” Christian and Hopeful were lost. They had been traveling in the night, symbolic of not being able to see a way out of their difficulty. They are exhausted. They have given up the fight; therefore, they are vulnerable to the Giant’s commands. Bunyan records.

“So they were forced to go, because he was stronger than they.”

That raises a very good question. How can we avoid despair? What did Christian and Hopeful do wrong? How could they have avoided the pitfall of despair? Is there a point of no return? Rodale’s Synonym Finder gives the following synonyms for despair:

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“Passive abandonment of oneself to fate, utter hopelessness, complete loss of hope, desperation, despondency, melancholia, utter discouragement, defeatism, disheartenment, pessimism, broken heartedness, misery, anguish, wretchedness. tribulation, anxiety, abandon oneself to fate.”

Hopeful tried to dissuade Christian from entering the By-path Meadow, but capitulated because Christian was his elder. Part of the power of Pilgrim’s Progress is the personification of virtues. Bunyan presents the virtues as separate individuals, but of course, one person may have some of the virtues, but not all. Christian was not at war with Hopeful. He was at war with himself. It was his own pride and arrogance that caused him to disregard Hopeful’s advice. Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory. Bunyan is asking us to study all the characters and decide for ourselves what virtues we need to acquire and what vices we need to avoid. We must be alert to motive as we read Pilgrim’s Progress.