The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

A pilgrimage is a long journey, usually taken for religious enlightenment, that ends at a symbolic location such as a cathedral, the tomb of a saint, or the site of a miraculous occurrence. Whether it be the haj to Mecca, a search for healing in Lourdes, or the Mormon missionary journey, the concept of making a long, physically arduous trip to gain wisdom or a better understanding of oneself resonates across many different cultural and religious contexts. Drawing on the literary tradition of the pilgrimage from works like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Joyce creates a story of one man’s trip across England that begins as a mission to honor his dying friend and transforms into a pilgrimage of redemption and reconciliation. Like all pilgrimages, Harold’s trip is fraught with physical and emotional strife, and he embraces its suffering in hopes it will absolve him of his mistakes. Joyce uses the universal archetype of the pilgrim on a pilgrimage to provide the physical structure for the novel and as a symbol of Harold’s inward journey toward penance and peace.

Harold never intended to walk 600 miles to Berwick-on-Tweed. He never intended to walk farther than his mailbox, but as he takes steps away from his home, something inside him opens, and he feels a sense of freedom and purpose for the first time in many years. Harold’s pilgrimage is “unlikely” not just because he is prone to physical inertia, having done little more than mowing the grass since his retirement, but also because Harold is unwilling to journey inside himself for fear of facing his grief. The road welcomes him, and he is enthralled and encouraged by the beauty of his country and the people who live in it: “He had a different map, and that was the one in his mind, made up of all the people and places he had passed” (201). With each town he crosses and each human he encounters, Harold’s eyes open wider to the world around him. His crusade becomes an act of surrender, as he must rely on the kindness of strangers and on his intuition to keep going. Joyce emphasizes the beauty and simplicity of paring down life to what can be carried on one’s back to focus on spiritual edification. However, the farther Harold walks northward, the more his inward journey becomes the focus of the narrative.

The freedom of the open road leads Harold to an emotional epiphany. Trauma and grief long buried in his subconscious rise to the surface with each footfall. Though he tries to push the memories away, distracting himself with the physical needs of the trip, his emotions demand attention and are brought to the surface by his physical activity: “In walking, he freed the past that he had spent twenty years seeking to avoid […] (96). Physically surrendering to the demands of the pilgrimage is the first step toward enlightenment; only after Harold faces the truth of himself can the real spiritual work begin. One by one, Harold releases the burdens of his past, freeing his heart and mind to accept the Harold of the here and now.

Though the traditional religious pilgrimage is a quest to deepen faith or come to a deeper understanding of a deity, Harold’s lack of religious compunction does not preclude him from experiencing spiritual transformation. By the end of his trek, the trip symbolizes a journey of discovery not only of his country but also of himself; the pilgrimage allows him to work through the shame and pain of the past, resetting his life’s journey.