Final Blog

"Look how Mohammed claws/ and mangles himself, torn open down the breast!/ Look how I tear myself!" (XXVIII. 30-32)



This depicts the scene from the eighth circle of Hell in which the schismatics are tortured by being continuously split in half by a demon with a sword. Dante then becomes aware of the fact that among the tortured souls is Mohammed the prophet and cornerstone of the Islamic religion. The fact that Muslim, one of the most important figures in human civilization, is condemned to Hell really bothers me. However, in all truth I am not surprised by the prophet's inclusion in Dante's personal Hell. After all, he did live in a time when the war between Christianity and the Muslims was still quite violent. Dante feels that since Mohammed took part in the creation of an alternative religion he deserves to burn in Hell. I would not be so bothered by this if the Islamic ideology felt the same way about Christians and followers of other faiths. Muslims believe that all people who believe in God and who live a good life shall be saved from eternal punishment after death. Once again the finality of Dante's interpretation of the Christian religion is evident. Dante's reaction to this torture show how he has transformed throughout his journey to Hell. at the beginning of his journey he felt sorry and sympathetic for the souls being tortured, but as his journey comes to an end he seems to have become less sympathetic.

Reflection

I must say that I have mix feelings when it comes to Dante's Inferno. I enjoyed Dante's description of his view of Hell and he uses clever figurative language to curve the severity of the situations. "As the man I saw split open from his chin/ Down to the farting-place" (XXVIII.24-25). The playful language makes situations that would otherwise be too gruesome to describe easier to read. Dante is effective in his portrayal of his personal Hell in that he makes the reader believe that he truly did travel to the "bottom of the universe" (XXXII. 8). One thing that bothered me throughout the demonic tale is the judgment that Dante passed on others. Since it his own personal Hell, Dante had the power to put who he like in Hell and make them suffer how he saw fit. Based some of the individuals who placed in Hell, it is clear that he was a strict follower of the Christian religion and the rules laid out in the Bible. This is where I have another problem with Dante's writing. I believe that there are many gray areas in religion and not as concrete and defined as Dante makes it appear. That fact that the likes of Homer and the other poets of Antiquity would be in Hell just because they existed before Christianity is a little absurd to me. I can see why so many people have read this book and overall it was pretty interesting and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to take the journey to the bowels of Hell, without having to actually go there.