Inferno

In the book Inferno, a man named Dante is stopped by a man named Virgil. Virgil is Dante’s symbol of human reason and has been sent to help protect him from anything that may go wrong in his life. When Virgil learns of Dante’s unfortunate straying from the True Path, he warns Dante about going through the wilderness by saying, “He must go by another way who would escape this wilderness, for that mad beast that flees before you there, suffers no man to pass. She tracks down all, kills all, and knows no glut, but, feeding, she grows hungrier than she was” (30-31). Listening to Virgil, Dante says he will follow him to Peter’s gate, and through the sad halls of hell.

In hell, there are nine circles: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. Each circle has different types of sinners and punishments. In order to get through hell, Dante and Virgil must go through each circle. While passing through the different levels, Dante and Virgil come across many different types of sinners, each acknowledging their sins in a different way.

One of the first sinners that Dante connected with was Francesca, in circle two. Francesca had an affair with her husband’s brother, Paolo. Once her husband found out about the affair, he killed both his wife and his younger brother. Paolo and Francesca were then sent to hell for their sins. While talking to Dante, Francesca shows great remorse for her sins by saying, “The double grief of a lost bliss is to recall its happy hour in pain” (61). By saying this, Francesca means that it is not worth it to cheat. Because although you still have the happy memories, all you will have left is pain. Dante felt such pity for Francesca that he fainted onto Hell’s floor. When Dante awakes, he moves onto the next circle, preparing himself for any other sinners that he may come across.

In circle 9, there was one sinner that Dante will never be able to forget, Lucifer. Dante explains, “With what a sense of awe I saw...