In the story’s opening, Christian, the main character, represented the average atheist. Christian grew aware of his sins reading the Bible and his awareness became the burden on his back. Christian realized his damnation residing in the City of Destruction and sought deliverance from the hell that would come.
He tried to save his family by telling them of his discoveries, but they were so indoctrinated with the world that they scorned him for his foolishness. It was then that Christian realized all pursuance of God must be one’s own demonstration. Seeking to remove the burden on his back, Christian left the City of Destruction and his family behind. The course of Christian’s development from the world to the Lord shows the scenario of many new Christians beginning their journey on the straight and narrow way.
Faithful is the man that Christian catches up to on his pilgrimage and will forever be Christian’s companion. Readers see Faithful as someone who had always known the Lord, but had just begun to thirst after salvation. Faithful had a head start compared to Christian, but he could have been at his destination prior to the arrival of Christian.
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The reader can see that Faithful had a previous knowledge of God and a natural reliance on Christ. This leads the reader to believe that Faithful had an established relationship with God and had been brought up knowing Him. This would explain why it was so easy for Faithful to trust in the Lord, and why Christian was reluctant at first and had to acquire the same level of faith that Faithful already harnessed. The pilgrimage to the Celestial City, or heaven, came much easier to Faithful than to Christian because of Faithful’s trust in Christ.
Christian and Faithful tried to pass through the Vanity Fair, but were arrested for “offending” the materialistic townspeople. Both were put on trial but had no way of defending themselves because of the city’s bias. Christian was released safely, but Faithful’s earthly fate was to be tortured and executed.
Then an extraordinary instance occurred when Faithful was suddenly taken up… “Now I saw, that there stood behind the multitude a chariot and a couple of horses waiting for Faithful, who (so soon as his adversaries had dispatched him) was taken up into it, and straightway was carried up through the clouds with sound of trumpet, the nearest way to the celestial gate.” (Pilgrim’s Progress Section VI). The symbolism of this represents Faithful’s similarity to Elijah in the Bible. Just as Elijah, Faithful too was a martyr for Christ and showed strong faith in God.
To recap, Christian started an atheist and found redemption in God. Faithful was an undeveloped follower setup with trust in God. Faithful didn’t have to complete his pilgrimage because he was taken up whole, similar to Elijah in the Bible. Christian and Faithful were both tested via trial. Both made it to the Celestial City one way or another.
