(Do you believe that hell is a legitimate way to make people act appropriate?)
The afterlife is a very touchy and well-known subject. It is a concept that has been very commonly spoke of and researched in civilizations past and history, is being talked about now in the present, and will continue to be discussed further into the future. There are many questions that will never be answered about the destiny of a human’s soul after their bodies have died on earth. Here are many different belief of what happens, and one of them is the journey to either Hell or Heaven. One very important poet writes of his thoughts on this revolutionized idea, Dante Alighieri. He has been widely recognized for his writings throughout his lifetime …show more content…
Dante, in Cantos six, states “...new torments and new tormented souls I see around me wherever I move, and howsoever I turn, and wherever I gaze.” Hell is something that people should be scared of, in fear of the punishments and consequences you must face for the actions you take. Karl Witte conducts a summary of many essay’s on Dante’s Inferno, stating “…the punishments of Dante 's Hell consist in the unceasing continuance of the sinful activity itself, now transformed to torment.” (Witte).This is explaining the reason behind the torment on the souls of the dead. Human beings sin no matter who they are on earth. The degree of that sin, according to Dante, tells you the amount of punishment or torture you must go through. The torture that Hell had is very odd, but always has particular reasons for the amount of pain you could be put through. By reading Dante’s Inferno, it is no doubt that people would begin to be very careful of the actions they take in order to protect themselves from the afterlife. A concept that is so uncertain, would be very easily believed, especially the negative and physically painful aspects of …show more content…
Freedom is a very large part of being human, it is something that God gave us the right. Humans, and citizens of mankind, very much take control of their freedom. It is something that many people take for granted because they forget that is could be easily taken away from you. Everyone should fear the day they get their freedom taken from them, and that is when and if they enter Hell. Dante and Virgil walk through Hell without being controlled, which is envied by the damned souls throughout Hell, “When we encountered a band of souls coming along the barrier, and each was gazing at us in the evening people gaze at one another under the new moon.” These souls want nothing more than their freedom back, but because of what they did in their prior life they have to deal with the consequences. They want freedom in every way because it was taken from them. An author that wrote several journal articles, Susan E. Blow, wrote of the importance of freedom referring to Dante’s Inferno, “Its implicit argument is this: If man is free he is responsible. If he is responsible, justice requires the return of his deed upon him.” (Blow). This author is relaying the importance of the responsibility when having freedom. This concept is often forgot about, which leads to sin. Freedom can easily be taken away when compared with sin. Freedom is what is taken when you enter Hell. The damned souls have absolutely no