Dantes Inferno Essays (1467 words) - Divine Comedy, Inferno

Dante's Inferno What Dante Gains By Going Through Hell The Inferno is a work full of imagery that describes the horrors of hell through the words of the author. What does Dante gain by all of this by taking himself through such an experience? I believe Dante gains three elements of life. The character Dante gains two of these and they are confidence and a clarification of his faith. The author Dante gains the last element, which is a release from his own personal hell of isolation. In the beginning, we see Dante as a somewhat scared and untrusting individual. He questions his worthiness and purpose several times. As Virgil leads Dante though hell, Dante becomes less scared and more trusting of his guide. Dante never seems to become synthesized to the horrors of hell. He becomes more confident and less scared but not to the point where hell is no longer shocking to him. Dante allows himself to feel the emotions of the inhabitants of hell without accepting their behavior. This final point takes his confidence to a higher level. The faith of our character seems to be waning in the first canto. He has to trust in his God and does not look to his God for support during the appearance of the three beasts. On the appearance of Virgil, Dante questions why the mother of God would find him worthy of a tour though hell. Dante claims he is not worthy of such an honor. Dante gains more faith by allowing himself to see how his god has structured the punishments of hell. As we read the cantos, Dante becomes less questioning and more accepting of the severity of the punishments. He moves from being questioning the inhabitants to kicking ones' face near the end of the book. I get the sense that Dante gains faith by seeing his god as a more righteous one at the end of the journey. So what has our author gained from this experience? The pain of isolation from family, friends, and country must be equal to anything punishment found in the Inferno. Family, friends, and country share a common thread. They are where we gain most of our sources of love and that warm feeling inside us. I think Dante expresses this by describing the pit of hell as a frozen lake. This lack of contact with your sources of warmth and love must me emotionally wrecking for anyone. I think Dante uses such graphic descriptions and imagery to provoke similar feelings in us. Dante helps us understand his personal hell and this writing is the beginning of a way to escape his hell just as his character did. Kelli Koning IDS 171 Fear vs. Reason in Dante's Inferno Dante uses fear to communicate naivety. Every instance, excluding one, Virgil shows his commanding power of reason, teaching Dante that fear is weak and unholy. Fear is based upon the ignorance of God's power over evil, and throughout The Inferno Dante is constantly learning the true power of God which in the end displaces his fear with reason. Virgil's role is to illustrate God's omnipotent and controlling hand over all factors of hell. Virgil counteracts Dante's fear by either chiding him or approaching the object that is inspiring Dante with such dread nonchalantly. In each case Dante learns to overcome his fears of evil by trusting in God's grace and control. Not understanding evil in the beginning of The Inferno, Dante is completely rattled by the fear of the three animals which are blocking his path. There are six stanza's in the first Canto alone that are completely devoted to describing the fear that was consuming him. Virgil comes to guide Dante past these animals and takes him into the abyss of hell. The creatures of hell frighten him immensely but as he progresses through the different circles of hell his fears subside as his ignorance of evil sloughs off. As Dante comes to a conceptual and physical idea of God's power this replaces his fear of evil. Dante seems to view fear as an absence of reason and reason is the knowledge of God's power. Therefore, fear is an unholy attribute characteristic of someone who is not of accord with