This chapter considers the importance of language, storytelling, and the justification of fiction in Grimmelshausen's Der Abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch in relation to moral and religious tensions similar to those that appear in Bunyan's texts. Like The Pilgrim's Progress, Simplicissimus contains many ambiguities and contradictions, but it is possible to arrive at a satisfactory interpretation of the text by taking its moral element into consideration. In order to understand more completely what the book is saying about the value of fiction, this chapter will also examine one of its sequels, Der seltzame Springinsfeld, and briefly discuss some of Grimmelshausen's other texts.

In the first chapter of the second volume, the Continuatio, Grimmelshausen describes the exemplary and didactic role of Simplicissimus while defending it against his critics. He uses the metaphor of the sugar-coated pill to argue that his book exposes folly in order to encourage virtue. Simplicius's stories serve moral aims similar to those that might inform a sermon. His amusing experiences teach readers how not to act; these moral lessons justify the work's publication. Although this sounds very similar to the justification Bunyan uses in his verse prefaces to the two parts of The Pilgrim's Progress, there is an important difference in terms of how Grimmelshausen applies the defense to his text. The lessons in Bunyan's text are both moral and spiritual, whereas the lessons in Grimmelshausen's text are almost exclusively moral.