Blog Post: Inferno
When Dante writes about his trip into hell with Virgil, he talks about the gate and the sign that says to "abandon hope." He seems confused about this sign which surprises me. After learning about his past life, Dante was apparently a devout Catholic. The way he writes Inferno is from the point of view of himself, but doesn't know much about religion and has to travel through hell and purgatory in order to reach the "top of the mountain," or heaven. It seems like Dante wrote this book so that he could educate or convince others to live their life to serve God. By describing the circles of hell and how tortured each sinner lives, Dante is in turn scaring others into belief. Even though he means to convert their faith, he does it in a way that seems unholy. Can people really believe in God truly if they are only doing it in fear of what will happen if they don't?
I do find it very interesting myself to see how Dante in a way is scaring many into this belief. It may be unintentional for him to do so, but by his description and the images that have been created, it makes it seem like there is no other choice. If you don't convert, the best option would be Purgatory because you have the opportunity to improve by working off your sins for a long period of time. In response to your question, I do not think that people could really believe in God. They may constantly convince themselves of his existence through fear, but there will always be a part of them that is connected to their true religion.
ReplyDelete