The allegorical testimony of Dante’s quest to overcome sin and find God’s love is one that, by being an allegory itself, not only applies to Dante –the character– but is meant to represent the whole human race. Although we know little about Dante himself, as the story progresses, he must merge his sympathy towards God’s poetic justice in order to proceed to the next realms and find God’s love. “When I had journeyed half of our life’s way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray” (I. 1-3). Since the beginning Dante establishes the metaphorical dimension in which the reader is being immersed into. But most importantly, with the use of words such as “path”, “journey”, and “shadowed forest”, a contrast between Dante’s fear and confusion (being the shadowed forest), and Dante’s confidence in God (being the “path that does not stray”). With the use of “our life’s way”, the journey Dante is confronting is not solely of him but rather that of every individual, henceforth, never referring to his origin (How did we get here?) or his destiny (Where are we going?) because this “journey” every individual overtakes in life is to understand his or her sins and find its peace with God (Why are we here?).
As the journey of Dante through Hell progresses, his sympathy towards the punished soul undergoes a transformation which further symbolizes his spiritual quest of human life. As punishments become more insensitive, Dante becomes less inclined towards pity. “But now reach your hand; open my eyes. And yet I did not open them for him; and it was courtesy to show him rudeness” (XXXIII. 148-150). Dante’s decline of forgiveness towards the punished souls becomes evident at this height of his journey. Here he demonstrates the extent in which he learns not to pity the sinners and deride sin heartily. By opening his eyes, he would’ve showed understanding towards the sinner, but due to his refusal, Dante reveals his apathy towards the weeps of the punished sinner. This attitude attributes towards Dante’s first step toward overcoming sin in his own life and finding deliverance in God.
As the journey of Dante through Hell progresses, his sympathy towards the punished soul undergoes a transformation which further symbolizes his spiritual quest of human life. As punishments become more insensitive, Dante becomes less inclined towards pity. “But now reach your hand; open my eyes. And yet I did not open them for him; and it was courtesy to show him rudeness” (XXXIII. 148-150). Dante’s decline of forgiveness towards the punished souls becomes evident at this height of his journey. Here he demonstrates the extent in which he learns not to pity the sinners and deride sin heartily. By opening his eyes, he would’ve showed understanding towards the sinner, but due to his refusal, Dante reveals his apathy towards the weeps of the punished sinner. This attitude attributes towards Dante’s first step toward overcoming sin in his own life and finding deliverance in God.
The quest of finding God’s love is, according to Dante, his journey and therefore humanity’s. Through hell, the human soul undergoes the recognition and rejection of sin in order to achieve the quest of humankind. Unable to find the path that “does not stray” towards salvation, Dante enters to the “way into the suffering city … the way to eternal pain … the way that runs among the lost” (III. 1-3), in order to reencounter the right path towards his fate. By reading the final inscription of the Gate of Hell, “Abandon every hope, who enter here” (III. 9), the reader immediately infers that Hell is eternal and there’s supposed to be no escape. If indeed there’s no escape and Dante is condemned to live (or die) in Hell, the quest of humanity would never be achieved given the fact God’s love would never be encountered.
The “starless air” of Hell is a complete contrast of the sparkling sky of the Earth as Dante encounters the stars at the end of Inferno. “To make our way back into the bright world … until I saw, through a round opening, some of those things of beauty Heaven bears. It was from there that we emerged, to see-once more-the stars” (XXXIV. 134-139). The image itself symbolizes Dante's slow climb out of sin and a step toward God’s love, which after all, is hope. Therefore, after his journey through the circles of Hell, Dante doesn’t “abandon every hope”, but instead climbs out of his sin and achieves his transformation from confusion towards knowledge and guidance (stars). Being that Dante’s journey is “our” journey, his sight of the stars leaves the fate of humanity in the finding of God’s love.
The “starless air” of Hell is a complete contrast of the sparkling sky of the Earth as Dante encounters the stars at the end of Inferno. “To make our way back into the bright world … until I saw, through a round opening, some of those things of beauty Heaven bears. It was from there that we emerged, to see-once more-the stars” (XXXIV. 134-139). The image itself symbolizes Dante's slow climb out of sin and a step toward God’s love, which after all, is hope. Therefore, after his journey through the circles of Hell, Dante doesn’t “abandon every hope”, but instead climbs out of his sin and achieves his transformation from confusion towards knowledge and guidance (stars). Being that Dante’s journey is “our” journey, his sight of the stars leaves the fate of humanity in the finding of God’s love.
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