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.
