Pride

Quick Facts

Pride is a personified antagonist from the Valley of Humiliation who targets his cousin, Much-Afraid, to derail her pilgrimage to the High Places. He works to sever her trust in the Shepherd through shame, flattery, and “plausible” lies. First seen on the mountain path, he later reappears with allies from the Fearing clan. Handsome and persuasive, he is nevertheless exposed as cowardly in the Shepherd’s presence.

Who They Are

Pride is the smooth, handsome voice of self-importance turned against faith. He thrives on comparison and spectacle—pressuring Much-Afraid to measure herself by outward beauty, ability, and others’ approval rather than by the Shepherd’s promises. His allure is part of the strategy: because he looks “extremely attractive,” his arguments feel reasonable, even protective, masking their cruelty. He embodies the obstacle that the journey aims to defeat: the reflex to trust one’s own judgment and fear humiliation more than obeying love.

Physical cues mirror his spiritual reality. At first unthreatening and suave, Pride later appears “limping badly” after his fall—his wounded gait signaling a damaged, humiliated ego that remains venomous even when weakened.

Personality & Traits

Pride’s power lies in sounding like common sense while steering the heart away from trust. He mixes faux concern with cutting mockery, aiming to turn Much-Afraid inward—toward her deformities, inadequacy, and fear of shame—until she abandons the path.

• Arrogant and disdainful: He first ignores Much-Afraid in the Valley and later treats her as beneath him, maintaining a veneer of charm to disguise contempt.
• Manipulative flatterer: He alternates praise and scorn, pretending to “protect” her from future embarrassment while weaponizing her crooked feet and mouth.
• Horribly plausible: His arguments feel logical—“lasting shame,” inevitable abandonment—because they twist truth into fear.
• Coward at core: He flees the instant the Shepherd appears; proximity to true authority exposes his bluster as empty.
• Persistent but worsening: Even after defeat and a humiliating fall, he returns “extra venomous,” sometimes with Resentment, Bitterness, and Self-Pity, revealing how pride recruits other sins to keep its grip.

Character Journey

Pride does not evolve; he recurs. His static nature is the point: he represents a fixed spiritual temptation that must be recognized and resisted over time. Initially, his handsomeness and “plausible” tone shake Much-Afraid’s confidence. But each confrontation recalibrates her instincts away from self-reliance and toward calling for the Shepherd. His arc is really hers: as she learns to answer accusation with trust, Pride’s power shrinks. His limp after the cliff fall dramatizes this shift—injured pride can still hiss, but it can’t hold her. The story thus stages the theme of Overcoming Fear with Trust in God: Pride remains present, yet becomes increasingly irrelevant as faith matures.

Key Relationships

• Much-Afraid: As her cousin, Pride knows precisely where to press—her fear of being unlovable and visibly “wrong.” He tries to shepherd her himself, proposing safety through retreat and “a little pride,” reframing surrender as foolishness. Their clashes turn her inner war into dialogue: will she believe accusation or call for help?

• The Shepherd: Pride’s nemesis and the boundary of his power. The Shepherd’s arrival shatters Pride’s plausibility, revealing that pride cannot coexist with divine authority. Pride’s immediate retreat shows that his courage depends on God’s absence—or on silence from God’s people.

• The Fearing Family and Allied Sins: As the clan’s appointed agent, Pride spearheads the effort to drag Much-Afraid back to the Valley. When he enlists Resentment, Bitterness, and Self-Pity, the book shows how pride rarely travels alone; it multiplies its strength by attaching to grievance, woundedness, and self-absorption.

Defining Moments

Even when he loses, Pride clarifies what the journey requires: public humility over self-protection, obedience over appearances.

• First encounter on the path (Chapter 5; see the Chapter 1-5 Summary): He urges a return to the Valley, arguing the Shepherd will abandon her and that the Kingdom of Love admits only perfection. Why it matters: He names the core fear—lasting shame—and tries to replace trust with performances of worth.
• Assault at the Shores of Loneliness (Chapter 8): Backed by allies, he corners Much-Afraid on a narrow promontory and commands her to go with them. The Shepherd lifts him and drops him into the sea, leaving him limping. Why it matters: Pride is unmasked as powerless before love’s authority; humiliation disarms the humiliator.
• Taunts in the Forests of Danger and Tribulation (Chapter 11; see the Chapter 11-15 Summary): Still limping, he reframes the Shepherd’s guidance as cruelty—“He’ll humble you to the dust.” Why it matters: Even weakened, pride reframes humility as abuse; discerning the difference becomes part of Much-Afraid’s growth.

Essential Quotes

My dear cousin, you must give up this extraordinary journey and come back with me to the Valley. You don’t realize the true position in which you have put yourself, nor the dreadful future before you. The one who has persuaded you to start this improper journey is well known to have seduced other helpless victims in this same way.

This opener casts Pride as a counterfeit guardian. He mimics pastoral language—warning of danger, claiming insider knowledge—to discredit the Shepherd. The “dreadful future” he predicts is really the shame he intends to inflict if she obeys God instead of him.

And now, Much-Afraid, have a little pride, ask yourself honestly, are you not so ugly and deformed that nobody even in the Valley really loves you? That is the brutal truth. Then how much less will you be welcome in the Kingdom of Love, where they say nothing but unblemished beauty and perfection is admitted?

Here Pride weaponizes “honesty.” By calling self-contempt truth, he collapses identity into appearance and ability. The move is theological: if acceptance requires perfection, grace has no place—and the Kingdom of Love becomes the Kingdom of Merit, which pride prefers.

You know, he won’t be able to rest content until he has put you to complete shame, because that’s the way he produces that precious humility he’s so crazy about. He’ll humble you to the dust, Much-Afraid, and leave you a groveling idiot in front of everyone.

Pride recasts humility as humiliation and the Shepherd as a sadist. The slander aims to poison the very medicine Much-Afraid needs, turning her against the path to healing. The irony is sharp: Pride projects his own nature—shaming others—onto the one who frees people from shame.