Alienation In The Pilgrims Progress

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Although it may seem counter-intuitive to some readers, alienation and community go hand in hand in The Pilgrim’s Progress. The life of the pilgrim is a difficult one, and Christian often meets with scorn, malice, and ignorance. A pilgrim exists temporally in one world while simultaneously renouncing it and pursuing another means that the life of a pilgrim is filled with constant denial and anticipation. In one sense, the pilgrims are completely alienated from the material world which they were born into. In Vanity-Fair, for instance, Christian and Faithful’s creedal differences are manifested in their unusual clothing and the foreign language that they use. The locals are immediately recognized the pilgrims as outsiders. They choose their