Monday, October 27, 2008

Blogging Project Post #8

Overall, Inferno is an allegory, or a story with a deeper or secondary meaning beyond the details of the story. What message do you think Dante was attempting to give us? If this is more than the tale of visiting Hell, what was it?

42 comments:

zach ackerman said...

I think that the deeper message Dante is giving us is to watch what we do. The ditch of liar is very far down. This is something that some people see as nothing and they do it everyday. I think he is trying to tell us we need to watch what we do and think about our actions and the consequences we will have during life but also after.

Davies Molloy said...

It is a fairly simple message that does not span much farther than the simple message of being careful in every day life not to offend God or commit to many sins. Dante told a pretty story that makes Christians feel scared and guilty about everything they do and furthers the belief that hell is some sort of burning dark place filled with whipping and torture.

James Raymond said...

I feel that in order to do well and to be the best you can be and know the reasons why that is important, and to see what the other side of the road looks like. People need to know what their punishment might be in the end, if they decide to go the path that is destruction and evil. It is important to be good and not to follow the bad crowed because you might never know what’s going to happen to you in the long run. Dante felt he needed to remind people how things happen to bad people in the afterlife and in order to not have that to happen to people he wanted to write a book that showed the difficulties people could go through in their afterlife.

Mike Childs said...

I think Dante's message was that we need to think about our actions before doing them. We never really think about our actions, we just do it. With this story I think Dante wants us to be more careful with our actions or else we may end up in a place like this. I think he also wants us to know that no matter how small the sin, we can still end up with a huge and excruciating punsihment. I would also like to say that I agree with James Raymond novel response.

sep said...

alex sepkowski

I think the message Dante is giving us is to be careful about what we do. also to remember that every action you make has a consequence.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Daute is trying to warn people that hell may really be like this nobody really knows how our second life is going to be. Personally i dont believe that hell is like this because if this were true i think that everyone would be there.

iThRoWdAhEaDoVv said...

Like any writer would do, dante made his hell like he saw fit. but I belive he was trying not to tell us how heaven looks and smells and how we will be opunished but let us know that there will be a different punishment for everyone and he or she shall be punished differently to a certain degree.

rob nicholl said...

I think Dante is trying to tell us that are actions reflect on what happens to us in the future. I agree with Ackerman because everyone lies, but it is whether or not the lie can harm someone that determines if we go in the 8th circle. Dante is also trying to tell us that if we just follow the 10 Commandments, then we will live a good and painless life.

Leroy B.III NFL32 said...

Dante is giving us a message to think before we do something. He is trying to tell us that doing something is easy but facing it is another.

Vincent Peck said...

I think the deeper message Dante is giving us is that he is also telling us about his life, and who is in his life. The reason I think this is because talks to alot of people in hell that he knew from his time and that were in his generation.

ttk said...

I think the allegory in Dante’s Inferno is that Dante the poet is trying to scare people into Christianity. There is a clear sense of religion in symbols as well as in the sins. Some examples of this are that Lucifer has three mouths which are used to ridicule the trinity. Also, it appears that punishments for sins against God are worse than punishment for sins against humanity.

Drew B. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julian Jimenez said...

I think that Dante is trying to say that there are going to be consequences for what we are doing on earth. He gives us examples of the people and their sins on earth and their punishment in hell. I think that it is a warning about what we do on Earth because our second life will deal with the consequences.

Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike said...

The deeper meaning of the story is to frighten people into thinking that if you don't follow the rules of Christianity, then you are going to end up in Hell. I believe he wrote the poem in an attempt to show how unforgiving and cruel God can be towards people who may have committed sins in their life. These aren't my personal opinions, but I think that was what Dante was getting at.

Cody Steward said...

I believe that Dante's second underlying message is to watch what you do in life, or you might end up in Hell. If this was more than a tale of visiting hell, then you could say that it's a guideline to help us live a better life, and inform us of what will happen if we do a certain crime.

floridaboycraig said...

I think the message that Dante was trying to tell us was to look at the inferno as a warning or a sign to all those who are deadly sinners in the world. I think this is also telling us the different possibilities that can happen to us, such as the consequences the souls suffered in hell. This was more than a tale to Donte because as he wrote what he thought happened, he knew that he had been in those events as he wrote them. To me I think the message was originally meant for Dante, and Dante delivered the same message as his dream.

IMPERATOR said...

I think Dante was attempting to show us our ways, and what could happen. Dante's story of Hell is trying to not put a fear in you but make you see wha will happen and what could happen to you. Its like Charles Dickens' story A Christmas Carol. Scrooge saw all his past, the present and yet to come. It made him realize he needed to change. I believe Dante was trying the same thing.

RJ Schmitz said...

The message that Dante was trying to put across in the Inferno, was that we should make sure we follow God's word. As Zach Ackerman said earlier in this blogthe circle of liars is pretty far down in this portrayal of Hell, and that betraying someone is worse than killing somemone. So he trying to lead us to a path where we can be faithful to God and the other people around us.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Dante is trying to show us what not to do during our lifetime and that more severe the sin that you commit the deeper in Hell you will be placed in. Dante is trying to explain the different stages of Hell and what the sin is for each different circle in Hell.

Kirby Riehl said...

There is a very clear message in in the Inferno. Dante puts in detail on what people on earth should not do, people need to watch what they do. If the person does something like that they need to repent. Do not let any one else say they will do that for you either. Repent your sins people.

zach schwartzman said...

I do think that Dante is trying to give us a much deeper meaning then just the images he depicts of Hell in this story for us. I think that message is to enjoy life and never take it for granted, but obviously we are human and we make mistakes, but the key is to learn from those mistakes and to repent for the sins that you commit.

Todd Ferguson said...

The deeper message that Dante is trying to show us is that even though you might not think of a simple sin to be harmful. Dante shows that there is still a place in hell for those who commit simple sins. Even though the simple sins punishments aren't as bad as the more serious sins, it is still going to hell.

Andrew Cosgrove said...

I think Dante is trying to give us the fact that what you do in live will reflect you in the next. Dante is trying to show us that our punishments will fit the crime of what we did on earth and that we need to change for the better or suffer.

Kevin Gorman said...

I think Donte's message is be the best we can while were on earth. No one wants to spend iternity in this hell. If we have faith and ask God to forgive us of our sins, and we truely mean it, then we can go to heaven and never have to deal with hell.

09dparker said...

The message that Dante is trying to get to humans still living on earth is don't do anything that can get you into hell. Or really to just get saved and right with god because you still don't want to be in limbo. He's trying to stay that god is always better than Satan so get right with the Lord and you will rest peacefully in heaven.

Joe Dingle-EL said...

I think the message that dante is trying to give us is that is somthing that follow your every action.Like for example as we read the book in class and were going through the different levels of hell alot of poeple were thinking of thing they did through out life.You would hear people say i didnt know you could go to hell for that. I think he is also trying to tell us that god is always watching us.

Jake Hulsey said...

I do not think the Inferno has a hidden message exactly. I believe it is plain and simply showing how hell is a very rough and scary place you don't want to end up in. Dante went to hell on his journey so he would realize he needed to turn his life around, and that is the message being portrayed to the reader as well.

Babdo said...

I think what Dante was attempting at doing when he decided to tell all about his vision was to prepare us for what is to come. Back in those days many people would believe a story if it seemed real enough. This is clearly seen even today when the novel “Da Vinci Code” came out many people believed that this author was telling the truth of Jesus' divinity. Yet unlike the “Da Vinci Code”, the Inferno doesn’t have anywhere on it "a Fiction story." So in conclusion I think that the Inferno is a clever and well written story but, a story, that’s all.

Brian Petroski said...

I believe Dante was trying to tell us that this is not a place that you want to spend enterntey. That it is a horrible place and heaven is so much better then hell. If people do not start living there life as good as the possibily can then this is where your going to end and be miserable. Also he is trying to tell us that if you kept making the mistakes then this is where your going to end up. So learn from your mistakes your not going to be seeing heaven your gonna go have some fun in hell

tabbannister8 said...

I think that Dante's Inferno has a deeper meaning. That meaning is that people on earth should watch what they do. People should think about their actions before the act. Dante should us all the wrongs that have been commited by people and how they are punished. We should learn to live a good life and not one of hatred or violence. This meaning was somewhat shown in the book by Beatrice sending Dante down to hell.

Corey Landon-09 said...

There diffenetly there is a deeper message for sure i mean there are so called crimes in these so called circles. That many people today are victims of. Therefore people need to watch what they do everyday every second because before you know you will be in hell according to dante . So he is trying to tell us that we need to watch what we do at all times.

kicker said...

I think Dante was just trying to show us how bad Hell really is. Dante does not want any of us to wind up going there so he told us about how bad it is. Dante made the punishments so bad and painful that is will scare us from doing crimes that will get us to Hell.

Kwells09 said...

I think Dante wants people to start to make good decisions on their own. By threatneing people he's detering people from sinning. This is what he intendes to do.

Kwells09 said...

I think Dante wants people to start to make good decisions on their own. By threatneing people he's detering people from sinning. This is what he intendes to do.

RyanSmith said...

Dante was attempting to tell us that in hell there are alot of punishments besides burning for eternity. He showed a type of punishment that was right for the crime. A long poem of what it's like for people on every level of hell.

Anonymous said...

The deeper meaning of Dante's Inferno was to frighten people into thinking that if you didn't follow the rules of Christianity, then God was to send you to Hell. I also believe he wrote this poem in an attempt to show how unforgiving and cruel God can really be towards people who may have committed sins in their life through his own beliefs.

jakob marshall said...

this is a difficult question to answer. First, Dante is telling us not to live lives of sin that would lead to us going to hell. But also, he is using his power as an author to mock the people he disliked in his life. His delusion that this narrative actually happened makes this story even more intersting. But the main purpose is to "scare us Holy".

ryankwasnik said...

I think that Dantes message was to make sure that wea are on the right path in life. Every decision that we make is important, and we need to make the right one before we end up in the vestibule. I Also, think that he was trying to scare Christians into becoming somthing that they are not,constant sinners.

Chris Bodan said...

Every comment that I read so far (which was not all of them) has simply pointed out the obvious point Dante puts across. He tries to tell you not to do wrong and no to offend your God, but there is a large prejudice that many have failed to point out. Many of his most serious punishments were reserved for those that had betrayed the country of Italy or had done something dishonorable. I see this as a subtle statement that honor and integrity is most important in God's eyes. Though this is the message he portrays, it is only showing how Dante feels towards these subjects. It seems that he is a man that despises lies and deceit. On top of this any offense to his country or political view has been crushed by God. This shows that God is on Italy's side. It tells that Italy, according to Dante, is a favored country by God.

Owen Doane said...

Throughout the Inferno there can be seen a number of different secondary or deeper meanings beneath the words of Dante. In my opinion the biggest and most important of these deeper lessons that we as readers can take away are that acknowledging and repenting for your sins is important. We do not ask for forgiveness for no reason; also we can see that life itself is a precious thing that cannot be taken back once it is over so we as people should use our life to do what will make, first of all ourselves happy and secondly those that surround us meaning both family and friends happy. Do not take for granted life itself because it is something special.

Dirty Pete said...

A lot of tradition men in the clergy hundereds of years ago would try to scare their parisheners into doing good. Stories about the firey depths of Hell would always arise in their lectures. I think Dante is doing the same thing. He is just trying to scare people into doing good.