Bravery In Dante's Inferno, By Dan Brown

Dante's use of allegory in the Inferno greatly varies from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in purpose, symbolism, characters and mentors, and in attitude toward the world. An analysis of each of these elements in both allegories will provide an interesting comparison. Dante uses allegory to relate the sinner's punishment to his sin, while Plato uses allegory to discuss ignorance and knowledge. Dante's Inferno describes the descent through Hell from the upper level of the opportunists to the most evil, the treacherous, on the lowest level. His allegorical poem describes a hierarchy of evil.

Dante's "Inferno" is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. Dante's descent into hell is initially so that Dante can see how he can better live his life, free of weaknesses that may ultimately be his ticket to hell. Through the first ten cantos, Dante portrays how each level of his hell is a manifestation of human weakness and a loss of hope, which ultimately Dante uses to purge and learn from. Dante, himself, is about to fall into the weaknesses of humans, before there is some divine intervention on the part of his love Beatrice, who is in heaven. He is sent on a journey to hell in order for Dante to see, smell, and hear hell. As we see this experience brings out Dante's weakness' of cowardice,

Unexpectedly, this theme occurs once they arrive at the gates of Hell. “Dante reveals that his fear to Virgil about making the trip to Hell, and Virgil’s response is to explain that his own intercession in Dante’s moral crisis could not have occurred without the philanthropic concern of others.” (Sewanee 2009) Upon their entrance Dante becomes aware that this torturous place has been created from “Primal Love”. “Although Dante’s Hell is a terrifying place, we learn that it is part of a just and good universe.”

Dante was a man with a vision. He lived in a world that was “Torn by discord” (Limentani,117). Born in 1265, Dante’s Florence was the center of a war ravaged Italy. He became involved in politics at a young age and before too long became a White Guelph, one who supported the Papacy in the fight against invading Germanic kings. 1301 was a tragic year because it marked the beginning of the Black Guelph regime and saw Dante exiled from his home town forever. These experiences made Dante quickly realize that this world is corrupt to the core. “Greed for material things is the main fault, greed which is allowed to dictate the actions of men. Only a cessation of strife, the establishment of universal peace can ensure the happiness of mankind and allow men to pursue the ultimate aim for which God has destined them on earth, that of exercising constantly and to the full their distinctive quality, the ‘Virtus Intellective’ (virtuous intellect)” (Limentani,117). He believed that all life on this earth has a purpose and meaning to it. This can be seen in the Inferno because during the long trek through Hell Dante does almost nothing but work to arrive a Paradise, the heavenly end to all those lacking wickedness. He traveled far trying to make his life purposeful by working his way up to Heaven.

The Inferno is a book that has grabbed a large ,and ever growing, audience for centuries. The book challenged 14th century catholicism and continues to challenge modern day theology. Tackling topics that are usually considered to sensitive to touch, Dante gives us a book filled with dark and light, a physiological adventure and a physical one, religious and historical controversy, a story that everyone can relate to in a strange and different way. Every person who reads this book walks away having complete their own spiritual journey and going on to challenge what they think and fight for what they believe, just as Dante did when he wrote this book. The story of Dante's life makes it seem as though he was born to challenge political and religious ideas.

During The Inferno, Dante goes through many examples where he is afraid and this shows how the overall theme of the poem is fear. Since this book is mostly based on religion and shows this by descripting Dante’s journey to hell. After doing some research, many have said that religion is based primarily upon fear of what will happen in the afterlife. Will the human soul be punished by God by being damned to hell or rewarded by getting into heaven. This is why many have there own interpretations of what God wants us to do in order to please him, and what we see as to be considered a sin to him.

The reason that Dante is even on this journey is because Beatrice, who is Divine Love, is worried that Dante has “has strayed onto a friendless shore and stands beset by such distress that he turns afraid from the True Way”. She asks Virgil ,the Roman poet that Dante draws lots of inspiration from, to lead him through Hell. By doing this, Dante will learn to resist the temptation of sins, and return to the True Way. However, he would need to gather inner strength to be able to survive the journey.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is written by a man exiled from his hometown of Florence, Italy. He was taken away from his true love Florence and those he placed in the Inferno happen to be those who wronged him. This was seen with Dante’s focus on Florentines in hell and his focus on Julius Caesar betrayers. Furthermore The Inferno was an example of how personal bias affects literature, which was seen in Homers The Odeyssey and Virgil’s The Aenid. In the comparison of the two works with Dante’s

Just like every other sinner in Hell they have no hope of ever reaching Paradise. However, since they are free from punishment, they are free to discuss their thoughts, philosophies and ideas to one another. But this raises even more questions. Why would Dante put his own inspiration and guide in Hell?

   In The Inferno, Dante explores the ideas of Good and Evil. He expands on the possibilities of life and death, and he makes clear that consequences follow actions. Like a small generator moving a small wheel, Dante uses a single character to move through the entire of Hell's eternity. Yet, like a clock, that small wheel is pivotal in turning many, many others. This single character, Dante himself, reveals the most important abstract meaning in himself: A message to man; a warning about mankind's destiny. Through his adventures, Dante is able to reveal many global concepts of good and evil in humanity.

Dante has experienced many different things while exploring the Inferno that help him realize his full potential and his true self. The biggest change Dante made was the amount of courage he had while going through the Inferno. This can be seen through the way he acts throughout the book. This is shown when Dante in the beginning of the Inferno faints due to fear. While in the first circle of Hell after entering the gates of Hell Dante faints after seeing “[a] whirl burst out of the tear drenched earth, a wind that crackled with bloodred light” (III;133). If Dante was more courageous by this point in his journey Dante wouldn’t have fainted. However, as Dante continues on his journey he runs into more things that

Dante Alighieri's Inferno is a first hand account of a journey into the darkest and innermost depths of Hell through the eyes of a 14th century Italian poet. Alighieri writes himself as the main character as he travels throughout the different levels of Hell with the guidance of his trustworthy mentor and great poet, Virgil. Virgil teaches Dante many lessons along the way but he stresses the importance of the sinners and why deserve they deserve their punishments. Virgil uses this as a tool to persuade Dante on how salvation from God is the ultimate goal to stay on the path of righteousness. Personally, Alighieri's inclusion of the character Virgil was an aspect of the book that was most appealing to me.

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante awakens in a dark forest where he finds three vicious beast. These beast scared Dante but the she-wolf he feared most of all saying that, “This last beast brought my spirit down so low with fear that seized me at the sight of her” (53). In order to return to the light and escape the beast, Dante must face the nine stages of hell that are filled with different types of sinners. Dante fears going through hell, but with the help of an old love, Beatrice, and the voice of reason, Virgil, Dante passes through the stages of hell. During his journey Dante realizes he recognizes certain people there and finds out that he will spend much of his own afterlife in purgatory.

The inferno by Dante is a story of faith, religious and moral beliefs with various elements, symbols and themes. Through this journey Dante is guided through hell and back by Virgil a symbolism of his teacher and a comrade philosopher like him. The three elements through out this story that seemed to stand out the most are the perfection of God's justice, evil as a contradiction to God's will, and the style of language.

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet and writer of the 13th century, creates a fictional account of his visions of his journey through Hell. His background as a Catholic influences his life and his writings, including The Inferno. He uses the historical and political events of his lifetime to influence his writings as well. Dante is educated and very familiar with the history and literature of the classical world. In The Inferno, he expresses his admiration for Greco-Roman history, literature, mythology, and philosophy, but he also places limitations on the ability of the classical world to gain salvation as taught and believed in Christian doctrine.