Similarities Between A Christmas Carol And Inferno

How can a glimpse at the afterlife influence one’s present self? What would this glimpse at the afterlife reveal? To some, the concept of an afterlife leads them to act in a way that their beliefs align with. In Abrahamic religions, people act in ways to avoid eternal punishment in hell. A glimpse into the future might impact one more than a retrospection. The book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the epic poem Inferno from The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri explore the afterlife and its influence in different ways through their protagonists, the people they encounter, and the effects the afterlife has on the protagonist.
The protagonist in both novels presents a need to change, unbeknownst to them. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens writes the character Scrooge

In Dickens’s tale, Scrooge does not interact with any characters during the “afterlife” portion of the story except the spirits that guide him through the past, present, and future. He interacts with human characters, including the families he impacts and those from his past, only to exemplify his selfishness and avarice in the beginning of the story and to exemplify his change after encountering the afterlife. Scrooge becomes submissive to the spirits, begging them to take him back when he cannot bear his memories and the events he sees. As a writer, Dante uses the characters in Inferno to represent events taking place in his time and criticize authoritative figures. He offers his opinions on past figures and idealizes ancient poets. As a character, Dante can interact with all the characters in the story. Dante steps on some spirits to show dominance, but also shows submissiveness when he shows fear when confronted by others. The two characters act similarly by asking questions to their guiding spirits to learn. Otherwise, the characters Scrooge and Dante interact with other characters in their novel