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Ethos
Part 1: The Enchanted Ground
Explanation and Analysis—Pilgrims Talk Together:
As they pass through the Enchanted Ground, a place that tends to make pilgrims drowsy, Hopeful tells Christian the story of how he was converted to Christianity—a tactic to help them both stay awake and alert. While the flashback informs readers of Hopeful's backstory (he joined Christian partway through their respective journeys), it also serves to remind readers of the importance of remembering and sharing one's testimony in the Christian life. Before Hopeful tells his story, Christian sings a song about the importance of remembering:
When Saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither,
And hear how these two Pilgrims talk together:
Yea, let them learn of them
in any wise,
Thus to keep ope their drowsy, slumbring eyes.
Saints’ fellowship, if it be managed well,
Keeps them awake, and that in spite of Hell.
These verses are directed at the reader. They exhort "sleepy" Saints, or weary or complacent Christians, to do as Christian and Hopeful do—to "ope their drowsy, slumbring eyes" by talking together about the past, specifically about how their Christian journey has progressed thus far. When Hopeful embarks on his flashback, readers are meant to see ("hear [...] learn of them") that telling such stories isn't just an entertaining way to pass the time on a long journey, but a vital method for keeping awake, or staying focused on the goal. Through Hopeful's flashback and Christian's accompanying exhortation, Bunyan encourages readers to emulate this practice and avoid getting dangerously "sleepy" on their own journeys.
Related Themes:
