Our present culture persistently incorporates the themes from The Inferno because of Dante Alighieri’s exceptional knowledge about human reasoning. Although our technology-driven world suggests modification in human lives, the recurring sin of our generation debunks any advancement in human nature. The archetypes introduced by Dante Alighieri still relate to the modern world throughout our culture because human nature is unchanging. The greedy characteristics of the sinners in Circle Four, always wanting more in their life on Earth, correlates to the song “I Want It All” from High School Musical 3. The intentions of the students to “want it all” portraits avaricious qualities that parallels to the hoarders in The Inferno ( ). Just like the students, the hoarders desired all earthly things, rejecting their religious beliefs. The students only care about “the fame and the fortune” for their earthly career, disregarding the true importance of life, family and religion ( ). The greed consumed the hoarder’s and student’s minds, …show more content…
The lonely sister decides to not “stay on the path” of life and gets lost in the Suicide Forest ( ). The lost souls that “moved into the pathless woods”, in both The Inferno and The Forest, receive punishment for their violence against themselves by residing forever in these suicidal forests ( ). Resembling the trees in The Inferno, the depressed sister holds in all of her feelings, only sharing them through harmful actions against herself. These detrimental actions ruin the sister’s life, ending her earthly existence and commencing an afterlife of pain and torture. Once the sister left the path of life, she The sister in The Forest and all the suicidal souls in Hell of The Inferno create a perfect archetype as they inflicted violence against themselves after God rewarded them with the gift of
In Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” we are painted a picture of a rich and lavish lifestyle filled with parties, money, and distractions. But this image eventually falls aparts from the roots as Gatsby’s true character is exposed. Likewise, in the song “Demons” by Imagine Dragons, we are allowed to see what’s truly inside the people with most. Through both pieces, several themes unfold regarding the obsession with material possessions and the pains of “having it all”. Together these pieces blend providing valuable lessons for the future of my life.
Throughout the novel, crucial family members and friends of the girl that died are meticulously reshaped by her absence. Lindsey, the sister, outgrows her timidity and develops a brave, fearless demeanor, while at the same time she glows with independence. Abigail, the mother, frees herself from the barbed wire that protected her loved ones yet caused her great pain, as well as learns that withdrawing oneself from their role in society may be the most favorable choice. Ruth, the remote friend from school, determines her career that will last a lifetime. and escapes from the dark place that she was drowning in before. Thus, next time one is overcome with grief, they must remember that constructive change is guaranteed to
In analyzing this gradient of morality, it is useful first to examine a work from early literature whose strong purity of morality is unwavering; for the purposes of this discussion, Dante’s Inferno provides this model. It is fairly straightforward to discover Dante’s dualistic construction of morality in his winding caverns of Hell; each stern, finite circle of Hell is associated with a clear sin that is both definable and directly punishable. As Dante moves downwards in this moral machination, he notes that
Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world today. Christianity has the largest amount of followers today. Over time, the religion has developed and change depending on the era. However, most of the traditional values are kept the same since its creation. Throughout many years, there have been numerous ideas originating from Christianity that do not exist today. During the development of the western world, religion played a big role in everyday lives. During the 14th century, an era of change began with the Renaissance as people experienced change and development through the western worlds. In Dante’s Inferno, some of these new beliefs, changes, and different forms of imagery can be noticed throughout the whole poem. Throughout
... sins, but she can’t take back what she did so she will forever have blood on her hands. This guilt and all of the lies she has told is giving her true trepidation and in the end she decided to end her terror by taking her life.
Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved, reveals the effects of human emotion and its power to cast an individual into a struggle against him or herself. In the beginning of the novel, the reader sees the main character, Sethe, as a woman who is resigned to her desolate life and isolates herself from all those around her. Yet, she was once a woman full of feeling: she had loved her husband Halle, loved her four young children, and loved the days of the Clearing. And thus, Sethe was jaded when she began her life at 124 Bluestone Road-- she had loved too much. After failing to 'save' her children from the schoolteacher, Sethe suffered forever with guilt and regret. Guilt for having killed her "crawling already?" baby daughter, and then regret for not having succeeded in her task. It later becomes apparent that Sethe's tragic past, her chokecherry tree, was the reason why she lived a life of isolation. Beloved, who shares with Seths that one fatal moment, reacts to it in a completely different way; because of her obsessive and vengeful love, she haunts Sethe's house and fights the forces of death, only to come back in an attempt to take her mother's life. Through her usage of symbolism, Morrison exposes the internal conflicts that encumber her characters. By contrasting those individuals, she shows tragedy in the human condition. Both Sethe and Beloved suffer the devastating emotional effects of that one fateful event: while the guilty mother who lived refuses to passionately love again, the daughter who was betrayed fights heaven and hell- in the name of love- just to live again.
A person’s actions are a reflection of the society in which they live. Every day, humans are influenced by several outside factors such as music, television, and other humans. When a child is born, they are a blank canvas waiting to be painted, and society is the artist. Society evolves the way a person thinks, which in turn determines the way a person acts, because all human actions are driven by emotions. During the Medieval Ages, Christianity was the predominant religion of Rome. Religion, specifically Christianity, played a crucial role in the governing of medieval society. As a Roman, religion played a major role in Dante Alighieri’s life. His strong Christian beliefs influenced his literary work by altering his overall idea of sin, his decisions of whom to place in Hell, and each sinners corresponding punishment (Burge). Dante’s idea of sin is when a person acts against God. Those who are placed in Hell are those who commit acts that offend or betray God. Dante also places Brutus in Hell because as a Roman Dante loved Caesar, and the Roman people despised Brutus for his involvement in the murder of Julius Caesar. Although Brutus did not a...
...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with brutality, because sympathy in Hell condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on afterwards to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.
Moreover, Dante, the narrator of the Inferno, has succeeded in not only telling the frightening story of the Inferno, but also pointing out the importance of the relationship between human’s sins and God’s retribution, using the monsters as the symbols for each kind of sin and its punishment throughout the progress of the story, which teaches his readers to be well aware of their sins through the literature – a part of humanities; the disciplines that teach a man to be a human.
In circle three of Inferno, Dante conjures a despairing tone by use of vivid imagery and extensive detail to display the harrowing effects of gluttony. This is best exemplified through the weather patterns and general landscape of this circle, the Poets’ encounter with Cerberus, and Dante’s conversation with Ciacco, the Hog. These devices also allow for the conveying of ideas embedded within the text.
Literature be an extremely influential and useful tool in helping its audience to understand the implications of human nature and its sins. Examples of texts that achieve this feat are Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri and One Thousand and One Nights. Within both, human beings (or their afterlife counterparts found in Dante’s Inferno referred to as “shades”) experience various negative and often painful situations brought on by the sinful actions of individuals. Dante’s Inferno and One Thousand and One Nights contain parallel themes, such as infidelity and justice, which address the consequences of human imperfections and failure.
Dante’s The Divine Comedy illustrates one man’s quest for the knowledge of how to avoid the repercussions of his actions in life so that he may seek salvation in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy establishes a set of moral principles that one must live by in order to reach paradise. Dante presents these principles in Inferno, where each level of Hell has people suffering for the sins they committed during their life. As Dante gets deeper into Hell, the degrees of sin get progressively worse, as do the severity of punishment.
Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with many questions and thought provoking dialogue to interpret. These crossroads provide points of contemplation and thought. Dante’s graphic depiction of hell and its eternal punishment is filled with imagery and allegorical meanings. Examining one of these cruxes of why there is a rift in the pits of hell, can lead the reader to interpret why Dante used the language he did to relate the Idea of a Just and perfect punishment by God.
...ion. Dante cites now-historical and mythological figures to exemplify the sins and to make for the better understanding of sin to even the most inept of readers. This work stands alongside The Bible as one of the greatest religious-literary masterpieces of all time.
... Moreover, such belief in human reason signifies Dante's hope towards a bright society and the pursuit of God’s love as the other part of self-reflection. In conclusion, a great deal of tension and contrast between “dark” and “light” in The Inferno helps us to explore Dante’s self portrait—he fears dangerous desires and sinful darkness, but shows much courage and hope towards life since he nevertheless follows his guide Virgil to dive into horrible Hell. As shown in Canto I, such emotional reaction to dark and light symbols lays a great foundation for developing Dante’s broad and universal traits as his journey progresses.