Pilgrims Progress and 1984

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Pilgrim’s Progress & 1984- An analysis on the illustration of contextual paradigms of their times Throughout history, literature has been the mirror to society’s reactions to shifting ideologies and paradigms in which an individual must evolve within. Both Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan and 1984 by George Orwell are texts in which the context of their times are dominant aspects illustrating the composers own affirmation or disapproval towards society. Pilgrim’s Progress written between 1660 and 1688 during the restoration period illustrates Christian a hero’s quest for salvation in which he must not be tempted by the world’s pleasures and reach the celestial city. The text gives insight into the radical changes in western society and religion during the texts context. Bunyan creates an allegory of this paradigm shift critiquing the 17th century courts salacious attitudes as well as justifying Oliver Cromwell’s puritanic restoration period. Written more than 400 years after Bunyan’s time the powerful warnings against the dangers of totalitarian society within Orwell’s 1984 were extremely prevalent within its contextual period. 1984 a novel illustrating a great imbalance of power between the individual and the totalitarian regime is a timeless dystopian text so removed from society and hyper real that it is labelled a canon of modern times and shares countless attributes with Pilgrims Progress. The prose epic of English puritanism; Pilgrim’s Progress embodies the spirit of religion agreeing with the strict moral code of the time. Bunyan’s Pilgrims draws heavy influence on the ideologies of Martin Luther and John Calvan. This dominant religious framework shared the common goal to purify the church of what they saw of as excess and materialisation. This universal theme of spiritual redemption is hallmarked through Christian’s character and conveyed by his
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