The Inferno: Blog 3, Topic 3

Carefully read the following poem by American poet Robert Frost.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
and would suffice.

Using Frost's poem as a starting point, discuss the symbols of fire and ice in Dante's Inferno. Where does he employ each and for what purpose? How does each symbol relate to Dante's overall plan in designing his hell? [NOTE : Make sure that you have read all of Circle 9 before answering this question.]

      Fire represents God's wrath and is evident in circle 6 and circle 7, round 3. Ice represents alienation and lack of love and warmth. We see ice in circle 3 and circle 9. They relate to Dante's designing of Hell because the worst sinners are farther down in Hell. 
      In circle 6, the heretic's punishment is the souls are trapped in a burning tomb; "here the tombs were chests of pain: for, in a ring around each tomb, great fires raised every wall to a red heat...from their pits an anguished moaning rose on the dead air" (71). Their sin was that they didn't believe in immortality and believed that the soul dies with the body. Fire represents God's wrath so obviously he feels very strongly about this sin because these people didn't believe that their souls could go to heaven and have an afterlife. In circle 7 round 3: the violent against God, nature, and art, their punishment is they have to lie, crouch, or walk on the burning sand while the Rain of Fire comes down on them; "the ground was burning sand...some were stretched supine upon the ground, some squatted with their arms about themselves, and others without pause roamed round and round...great flakes of flame fell slowly as snow falls" (111).  These sins anger God with fury because for all three sins the souls are abusing the gift that God gave them. The blasphemers spoke badly about God and cursed him, the sodomites had sex not for creating life, and the usurers charged illegal interest not to improve society. All these explain why fire is part of their punishment because their sin infuriated God.
      Ice is evident in circle 3, the gluttons. Their punishment is "the frozen rain of Hell descends in torrents. Huge hailstones, dirty water, and black snow pour from the dismal air to putrefy the putrid slush that waits for them below" (45).  Their punishment is the opposite of their sin because generally food and drinks make you warm but here they are cold. These sinners wallowed in food and drink their whole life and never made better use of the gifts that God gave them. The souls in circle 9 alienated themselves from society and God's love, these are the worst sinners and are the farthest away from God and his love and warmth. Their punishment is that the souls are trapped under or above the freezing ice distorted; "they shone below the ice like straws in glass. Some lie stretched out; others are fixed in place upright, some on their heads, some on their soles; another, like a bow, bends foot to face" (279). In the poem Fire and Ice by Robert Frost ice is aligned with hatred; these souls are the farthest away from God and he hates them because they committed the worst sin. These souls are alone to suffer and ice symbolizes alienation and their lack of love and warmth. These symbols of fire and ice relate to Dante's overall planning in designing his Hell because the sins committed by these souls are worse than the sins in the first few circles of Hell. Therefore, their punishment is going to be worse. Dante saves the punishments of using fire and ice until the last few circles because they are the worse, and are deeper in Hell.

In the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, the world ends in ice.

In the movie, 2012, the world ends in fire.

The first time I read this poem, Fire and Ice, by Robert Frost, it was in the beginning of the book Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Here is a clip from the beginning of the movie Eclipse. Bella is reciting the poem to Edward in their meadow in the very beginning of this clip.

The Inferno: Blog 2, Topic 3

In Circle 7, the Violent are punished in three separate rounds depending on the nature of their violent tendencies. Choose one round within Circle 7 and explore an archetypal symbol that Dante uses there to explore the sin. You may, for example, look at the river of blood in Round 1 or the trees in Round 2 or the desert and fire in Round 3. Consider the archetype itself and then how Dante utilizes the symbol to enhance his own work.

Circle 7: Round 2, The Violent Against Themselves
      Circle 7: round 2, is where the souls who committed suicide lie. The souls lie in The Wood of the Suicides. In these woods, the souls are not present in a human sense; they are branches and thorns on the trees. The archetypal symbol Dante uses in round 2 is trees. The souls cannot be present because they destroyed their own substance and therefore, cannot take a human presence.
      Round two holds The Violent Against Themselves; the souls who committed suicides and destroyed their own lives. When Dante arrives to The Wood of the Suicides he hears "cries of lamentation rise and spill on every hand, but saw no souls in pain" (102). This is because the souls are in the form of tree branches. Puzzled, Dante broke off a branch under Virgil's proposition and heard the branch cry "men we were, and now we are changed to sticks; well might your hand have been more merciful were we no more than souls of lice and ticks" (103). When the soul says that they used to be men but now they are sticks, that is their punishment. They are in the form of sticks and can't take a human presence because they destroyed their own life.
      The archetypal symbol used in round 2 is the trees in The Wood of the Suicides. Trees symbolize life and knowledge. Since the trees symbolize life, these souls are represented as trees because they took their own life and are not in human form. The soul says to Dante, "our bodies will dangle to the end of time, each on the thorns of its tormented shade" (105). The souls are going to be the tree branches forever and they can never take back their sin of taking their own life and are denied a human form. Dante utilizes the archetypal symbol of the trees to enhance round 2 because their sin becomes the punishment. The trees mean life but the souls took their own life and therefore have to become trees for the rest of eternity.

In this picture, Virgil told Dante to break off a branch of one of the trees to hear the story of the souls who were changed into this tree form.

I chose this song, World Spins Madly On because the lyrics of the song is "Woke up and wished that I was dead with an aching in my head I lay motionless in bed...I watch the stars from my window sill the whole world is moving and I'm standing still..." This song sounds like someone who doesn't fit in and wants to kill themself. When it says I wished that I was dead, it means that they want to kill themself; they shouldn't though because, we find out in Circle 7, Round 2 that the punishment for suicide is very harsh and you would be turned into a tree branch.
   

The Inferno: Blog 1, Topic 3

Choose one circle that Dante visits in Upper Hell and carefully analyze how the punishment of the sinners embodies the law of contrapasso. To develop this topic to the proper degree, you will need to very closely analyze specific language and imagery utilized in this circle. Make sure to consider the description of the circle itself, the way the sin is described, and the way the punishment is described. What does Dante seem to be asserting about this sin specifically through the punishment he chooses?

Circle 1: Limbo, The Virtuous Pagans and Unbaptized Children
      The law of contrapasso is a symbolic retribution. A symbolic retribution means that one must pay for a transgression with a punishment of the same nature; the sin itself becomes the punishment. The virtuous pagans were born before Christ and they can never go to heaven. Therefore, no Christ in life means no Christ in death.
      The unbaptized children were people who were never baptized in life and did not accept Christ. Virgil explains to Dante he belongs to this circle and that the souls in circle one are "sinless. And still their merits fail, for they lacked Baptism's grace...their birth fell before the age of the Christian mysteries, and so they did not worship God's trinity in fullest duty. I am one of these" (28). This is saying that these souls are technically sinless because it wasn't their fault that they were born before God.
      The better side to limbo is that their punishment is not as bad as the other circles in the upper level of Hell. These souls have no hope, "For such defects are we lost, though spared the fire and suffering Hell in one affliction only: that without hope we live on in desire" (28). The souls aren't suffering pain, just hopelessness. These souls aren't suffering, they are just sad. When Dante came upon them, he observed, "No tortured wailing rose to greet us here but sounds of sighing rose from every side, sending a tremor through the timeless air, a grief breathed out of untormented sadness" (27). These souls aren't being tortured, just sad that they are stuck in this circle of Hell forever and they can't get out. Dante has pity for these souls and can't believe they are in Hell for something that was out of their control, "The pain of these below us here, drains the color from my face for pity...I thought how many worthy souls were suspended in that Limbo, and a weight closed on my heart for what the noblest suffer (27-28). Dante refers to these souls as "worthy souls" meaning that these souls have not sinned and they are worthy of going to Heaven.
       Although these souls are in Hell, their punishment is not harsh, "The signature of honor they left on earth is recognized in Heaven and wins them ease in Hell out of God's favor" (29). God recognizes that it's not their fault that they were born before Christ, and even though they cannot go to Heaven, he grants them ease in Hell. This part of Hell is lush and pleasant, "we reached the base of a great Citadel circled by seven towering battlements and by a sweet brook flowing round them all...came to a green meadow blooming around" (30). These souls are lucky that they get to spend the rest of eternity in Hell in a nice meadow, as opposed to the torture that goes on in the rest of Hell. The unfortunate virtuous pagans and unbaptized children are in limbo forever due to not believing in Christ and not getting baptized.

Explanation of song:

I chose this song, Non Believer because in the chorus he is asking "Do you take the non believers?" In circle one, Limbo, the virtuous pagans and the unbaptized children did not accept Christ. Therefore, no Christ in life means no Christ in death. In this circle, we find out that God doesn't let you go to Heaven if you don't believe in him so it answers the question to this song. "Do you take the non believers?" The answer is no, God does not accept you if you don't accept him.