We talked about this a little bit in class, but you have now read some pieces of The Inferno. What do you think about the power Dante had as a writer to create this fictional hell and place people in it from his contemporary culture? Do you think it was ethically correct for him to do this? Would you enjoy a chance to have this sort of power in writing? What are your thoughts on this text?
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
35 comments:
I don't think Dante had the right to determine where people would end up in hell. Although it was a book and he was able to express his own opinions, I still find it wrong to judge people in this way. I find this morally wrong. Though, for readers, it allows them to connect more with the book and the writer. It allows them to think about what they would do if they were given the oppurtunity to do this. It wouldn't really care about be giving the opportunity to do this, because as I said earlier I do not feel that it is right to judge people based on how they act.
I think Dante had a right to speak his own opinion about this fictional place of wrong-doing and demons. Even though this was before the time of freedom of speech, I think it was right of him to do so since no one really ever spoke about this subject. It has been spoken about in the Bible and all, but I think his opinionated text tells and shows us that some people have their own aspects on what wrongs are the worst, and not so bad. To continue, I would have to turn down the chance to write and create my own hell, just because of my own morals and views. Lastly, my overall thoughts on this text is that it is good thorough text that needed to be voiced and subjected to criticism and praise.
-chuckDZ; fir name las name
Although there are probably a lot of disagreements with this book, of course he had a ton of power, because he could put whoever he wanted to wherever he wanted to in his Hell. Well I think it was ethically correct because its not like he made this a non-fiction book, its fiction, so I don't know if anyone cared a whole lot. I would love to have that sorta power, because I would like to see how everything ended up and what people thought about it. And, I liked this book a lot from what I have read and written notes on.
-Your dear friend William Conor Hale III
I think that Dante had power to influence minds in his culture by showing people what he really thought of them. I think Dante had a lot of critics, but I'm sure a lot of people agreed with him on some of the people who were imprisoned in his fantasy hell. I think Dante is a very opinionated person that has a very strict mind set of what is right and wrong. I think it is pretty accurate in what he said about some of the people. For example, when he said that Alexander the Great was violent towards his neighbors, that was a very accurate statement.
On the other hand, I do not think it was right to put the Pope in hell because the Pope is a very revered person. However, my overall view of Dante is that he is very judgmental and wrong to put people in hell when he doesn't really know their souls. Some people could have been saved before they perished or changed their ways. I would never want to have this sort of power because I would never want anyone to go to hell, and I hope no one else would want me to go either. Dante wrote a good book, but I don't agree with his morals of putting people in the ultimate torment; that is not his decision. Only the Divine Creator will decide that on Judgement Day.
Caleb Hiddleson-4th period
I believe that he had a right to speak what he wanted. This book is fiction and it is not like anyone was forced to read it. He did have a lot of power by putting people in hell, especially people from his life at the time. I believe there probably was controversy about the pope being there.
Yes, I would like to write a book now just to see how people reacted. I would like to also read people’s book in my class to see if I was in there. I believe that if I put people in it that are in my grade though it would cause a lot of problems at school and in the city of Cleveland.
~ Mary Kathryn 3rd Period
I believe that Dante had a huge amount of power and had the right to use it. Sure it may not have been the most ethically correct thing to do, but if i personally had that power I would have done the same thing. I would have the right to choosing who was in my hell and what there punishment was. I would greatly enjoy being able to do this. I like the story line of the book but, the rhyme scheme of every single sentence made understanding certain things kind of complicated. Overall it was a pretty good book.
-Sincerely B.C.
I think Dante had the power because he was able to make his version of Hell however he wanted it to be. However, I don't think it was ethically correct because even though it was a fiction book, I can still see where it could have brought up a lot of hoop-la back then considering he placed his own friends in the certain levels of Hell. I liked how you allowed us the chance to put the sins in our own perspective, but I don't think i would have ever made a book out of it because i feel that it's still wrong to judge people like that based on their actions.
-Callie S. 4th period
I think Dante as a writer had to be pretty brave (or just plain adamant in his beliefs) to write and describe his own insane version of hell and put people from his era, let alone religious figures, in the different levels of hell he had devised. Dante had a lot of power through his writing, and I think he used it to it's full extent to express his beliefs and ideas about what was going on around him, politically and religiously. Though it may have not been ethically correct at the time, I don't think it was necessarily all that wrong. Dante had his opinions, and he just chose to express them in a rather powerful way, through his writing. Although I love the idea of it, I don't think I'd have the guts to write something like this. I think I'd be too terrified of the reactions from people, especially those I had wrote into my own version of Hell. I really enjoyed what I read of The Inferno, and wouldn't mind reading Dante's other works.
Ryanne Ware, 3rd period
I personally don't think Dante should have put people in the book that he personally knew, but I guess its ok to put people from history and things in as a sort of reference so we'd know what he was going for. Even though I don't believe in it, I still think it would be fun to write something like this. You get to make your statement and have it read and studied hundreds of years after you were gone.
-Meghann B. - 3rd Period
I think that it was creative of Dante to make up all these things and places in hell, but I also though it was kind of freaky. If someone today wrote something like this about real people I would think that they were going to plan an attack on them. In my opinion I think Dante should have used different names instead of the real names of the people he knew and was writing about. I don't think that he had the right to judge how people lived their lives, because they might have different beleifs and it's not your place to tell someone they're wrong. It's also like telling those people that he wanted them in hell and that that's where they were going. That was the main thing that I didn't like about the book. I personally don't agree with how he placed the levels of hell, but then again it's just a book. Other than those two things, and the fact that it was hard to understand, it was a good book.
I think in this book Dante expressed many of his opinions. Although putting Popes in hell was extremely dangerous at this time, he was making a point or trying to express his opinions about these people. It might not have been morally correct, but he had the right. If I had this kind of chance I would put some people in hell that some people might say I was wrong, but I would just be expressing my opinion. Its not like these people are for sure in hell. It is God's decision on who will go to hell and who will not.
-Kylee R. 3rd period
I think that everyone has a right to their own opinion and this was Dante's way of expressing his opinion. My opinion is that acting like God and judging who should go to hell is wrong. That is what Dante did when he wrote the Inferno and placed people he knew, in Hell. Only God has the right to judge where people should go. Therefore I don't think it was ethnically correct for him to do this. I might enjoy a chance to have the power to create a fictional hell but I would try and base it more on my religious views and I would also refrain from placing people in Hell. I thought that the Inferno was a very creative way to picture Hell. Dante must have had a wild imagination to be able to create such a unique story. He was very opinionated with his morals. One thing i noticed was that If one had sinned then they ended up in hell. Every human that has ever lived has sinned except for Jesus Christ and his mother, Mary. If everyone other than them goes to hell, then who can go to heaven? One example is that Dante places popes in Hell. Now popes are very holy and chosen by God. But they are still human, so they sin. From this I assume that Dante does not believe in Reconciliation (forgiveness of sins by God) I believe In Reconciliation and therefore do not agree with Dante in this aspect. Overall this book was a very interesting book.
-Elizabeth Coyle 4th period
I think that Dante in a way was playing God with his book. I know he wasn't trying to but I don't think that a human could determine where anyone should go or how Hell should go for that matter. Some people might read this and think thats how Hell works. It probably offended some religions as well. I just don't think Dante had a right to put people in Hell. Even though it is a book and not real I'd feel afraid that I'd actually disappoint God by writing it. I'm sure it gave Dante a way to express his feelings but maybe he should've kept them private. I know if someone wrote that I was in Hell I'd be mad and afraid. This book is very interesting and entertaining even though it offends people. It is interesting to see Dante's point of view of Hell without actually visiting it. I think it was a bad idea to put people he knew in Hell but I think it was interesting that he wrote it since there really aren't any books on Hell.
- Jordan S. 4th period.
I think if I was in Dante's position, I would feel great power in writing a book about the Hell. It lets him have power over where the people he doesn't like or may not have liked to be placed in the hell he created. Though again, maybe today if somebody wrote a book about hell and placed other people in it, it would cause some problems. I don't exactly think it was right for him to do it, but it was a good way to vent I guess. I know I would do it too even though I don't think it is right. I would enjoy to have this power in writing because it would make me feel like I have power over all those people. I wouldn't want those things to really happen to those people in real life, but it would just be fun to pretend. Lastly, I would have liked the text alot better if he would have not tormented them so much.
-Hannah Ellis
Well I like the way Danted did this. I would like to know where the people around me would go. Like Jacob says he finds it wrong, but if your the judge, and you know people and what they've done, i'd like to put them where they belonged according to there actions..It's kinda like life, what you get is what you deserve. What im saying is CARMA I guess. What goes around comes around. Therefore why shouldnt you be able to judge where people go? How do you judge people now? By there actions right? For a first impression, you would try to impress someone by your actions, therefore you getting judge on your actions. So I definaetly like the way Dante choose his hell.
K.gash (:
4th period.
I think that "The Inferno" is a one of a kind kind of book. At that point in time, no one ever really talked about the subject of whether or not they'd end up in Hell and if so, where in Hell would they be. I think that it was fine that Dante wrote the book. He took a stand against the church to show how he felt about everything. Then again, I'm not sure how I'd feel if I lived back then and I read the book and found my name somewhere in the text. I think that this book opened up people's minds a bit, as well as firing them up.
~Courtney 4th period
I think Dante's power of being able to create his own hell was very unquie. I also thought that it was really creative of him. I didnt so much agree with him placing people in from his culture, because it probaly made a lot of people upset. I wouldn't enjoy having power to put people into their own levels of hell. It doesn't go along with my morals and views. I did like reading the Inferno just because seeing someone elses view on hell was very interesting to me.
-Jessica Davenport. 4th period
I think Dante as a writer has the right to speak his own opinion. I mean it is his book which means its his own world. I would love to see where some people that i know would be placed. To have the power to place who ever where ever would be awesome to me. To me this book was pretty good through the notes and parts I read. It was though a little confusing.
-Jacora P., 4th
In my opinion, the extreme details and references of Dante's writing are what allowed him to have such power. Even though society does change over time, I believe that Dante's book survived through time because of the fact that he judged those people back then on sin that is still present today. I believe that authors do have the freedom of writing and that he had every right to write his books. Even though I think that you shouldn't judge people, the things that those sinners to get there are things that the physically did. Even though I didn't agree that everything that Dante put in his hell were "sins", it was his fictional world that he got to judge people in. If I personally ever got the power to do the labeling and such that he did, I would probably be overwelmed since I believe that a human judging other human beings is morally wrong. I could probably argue with him on some of the things that he considered sin, but whether the sinners in those places did or did not commit those sins were not chosen by Dante. The people did it to themselves, and Dante merely, in my perspective, just stated the obvious. If the people who were referenced in his hell didn't commit those sins, Dante wouldn't have been able to write them into his book.
Becky H.
3rd Period
I think Dante most definitely had the right to choose who went in his "fictional hell." I mean, it is his book. At the time, I know that kind of writing would be looked down upon. Especially because he put popes and other members of the Catholic Church in there. But once again, its his book. He wouldn't have written it if he had to write the way society would label "okay."
If i could write a book that would include a fictional hell, i don't think i would want to. That is a lot of pressure. Every action has a reaction. If you put powerful people in your hell, the outcome might not play out to your favor. I would not like this responsibility, personally.
-Chad Voytik a.k.a. SeaVoyager
First of all, I don't think anyone can deny the fact that Dante had a great deal of power writing this book. I think as an author of a book you should be able to have the power to put just about anything you want in it. Dante creating a Hell was his choice.
In my opinion placing people in Hell is the wrong thing to do. Honestly I don't think I could sit there and just start naming off people I know and put them in Hell. Therefore I would not be able to write a book about Hell and place people I know in it.
In conclusion to this book, I think it was a little much for me. I had trouble understanding things and overall did not like the book. However it was assigned so I had to put up with it. Haha
Your Buddy, Blondey (B. Strickland)
Becky makes a good point about the book surviving over time and being considered a classic. We talk in AP about the criteria for a classic and what gives a work "staying power". She is right that our society is VASTLY different from Dante's, and yet the book still has meaning and importance. Excellent point.
In my opinion, I didn't think it was a bad thing that he wrote this book on his opinion about who belonged in hell. He knew more of the people and their characteristics. I thought it was like he was trying to play God and determine where people go. But, he obviously knew their personality to determine that. The book was extremely good, although I wish our class was able to have a closer connection with it and got along better to sit there and enjoy this book. If i had the chance to write something like this I wouldn't. Although I agreed that it wasn't bad, I think that it's not right to judge someone from my point of view on something like that and put them in Hell. I don't have the power and I am not God. I don't want to play that role. If I could everyone could be God. Finally, i just think that Dante wanted to speak his mind and wrote a book about the people in his generation.
Sandy H. 4th period :)
I think that Dante had the right to put people in his own hell, because it is his book to write and put people in. I also think that he was trying to make a point to these people that they are doing wrong. I think its wrong to judge people by simple things and put them in hell for them. Dante does make it his own hell by putting the sins in his order of how bad he thinks they are, and i think it would be cool to do that. Although in todays world if this book were writen and published with people of today in it, it could cause alot of talk. If i had the power to do this i don't think i would take it because it would cause to much drama. I'd rather keep the thoughts to myself.
Ali S.- 4th period
I think that piece of work was very interesting, and I think he had every right to write it. It's very interesting. I think it was correct, it's just his idea on what hell may be like. There is nothing wrong with that. I would love to have this power in writing. He's very good at explaining, and has an awesome imagination. He goes into detail about each cirlce, sin, and punishment. Which is what makes the story so interesting, in my opinion. Putting real people in the book wasn't such a good idea in my opinion. There's no telling what some people thought of this that liked the people he wrote about. I know that if I was famous, and was put into hell for a sin I comitted, I wouldn't be happy at all. It's just Dante's view on where he thought people deserve to go, and what the place would be like that they went. I think he had every right to do this.
-Trisha Johnson, 4th.
I don't think it's correct for him to create his own hell and put people in it. Maybe he just wrote the book in order to send a message out to those people in it. But, if he didn't, then I just don't think he has the right to do so. Writing is very powerful and it is one of the things that can send a message accross for years. As for the reader, I think the book just wasn't as good, and it really made no sence to me. But, hey, that's just me.
Ricardo W. 4th period.
I think relgiously no one should have that power other than God. But every christian is going to agree to that. As far as me making a Hell and putting actual living people in it I know I wouldn't be capable of doing this and publishing it cause of the guilt I'd have for bringing someone else's faults to the table. I dont think it was fair to the people he wrought about because now there ashamed because now everyone else looks down onthem for their sins. Also everyone now-a-days and back then knows Dante wasn't perfect himself cause no one is. It's kinda like the parable that Jesus said "Dont judge another man for having a spec in his eye when you have a plank in yours." Well theres the opinion.
Sabrina B.
Period 4!
I believe that it was right for Dante to have this power. It expresses how he feels about these people. I think this is a power every writer has when he writes a something. What you put in you work should directly say what you think about the topic. It is your imagination and your opinion.
Alex Migovich
I think that Dante did have the right to determine where people would end up in hell. Dante was just expressing his opinion and I mean it was a "fictional hell." Although I thought it was cruel to place the Pope in his hell it's his choice not mine. I think putting in the celebrities or famous people in this piece made it more interesting, but it also may have cause some problems. I would like too see a hell made by students and see if I know any people in there. I think that if i had to make my own hell it would definately take alot of time and thinking through!
-Leanne I. 4th Period :)
I don't think that Dante had the right to decide where people did or didn't go because he's a human just like us. He wrote the book and it's his but that still does not make it right to put people that are living in your time in hell. That would be like me saying I don't like english so I would put Mrs. Davis in hell. This is obviously not a right thing to do. Therefore, I believe this to be ethically wrong. If I ever had the chance to write a book about hell I probably wouldn't have done it. Because if you put certain people in hell then that makes them mad. Also, if you leave people out that would make the people that hate them mad. It would be impossible to get everybody happy. All in all I did not like this book at all. It was difficult to understand and the test was impossible. Ready for the next unit.
-Your best student you have ever had in the world, Deen Sanders from Flandersville aka Jake Moats
I think that Dante's creation of hell is very interesting. I also think he has the right to make up any kind of hell that he wants. Whether this is close to what hell is or not, it still opens up peoples minds to think that anything that happens in hell, isn't good. He definitely had the right to write whatever he wanted. This is what his imaginary hell looked like, so why not express his opinion? Just being able to let everybody see what sins they think are worse than others is awesome. This subject isn't spoken about very often and we don't pay much attention to which sins are worse than others, so i think it's good for everybody to be able to see what other people think about it.
I think Dante had the right to put the people wherever he wanted, it was his book and he was writing what he felt. I do however, think that it was really judgemental and I didn't completely agree with it, but it would be fun to be able to control where everyone went. Reading the story really showed how opinionated Dante was and that he wasn't afraid to say what he thought. I agreed, for the most part, with his ranking of the sins even though in real life all sins are equal. I did think that some of the punishments were pretty harsh but that just showed how passionatley he felt about them.
Callie Baggett- 4th period
I think dante did a good job on the book. Ok yeah maybe some of the punishments seemed a little harsh for the sin but I am ok with that because it isn't like he is claiming that this is deffinately what hell is. It is just a matter of oppinion and I think Dante does a good jobs detailing his descriptions of what punishment goes with what sin. I also think some of the stuff is a little strange like turning into a tree for committing suicide. I believe this was a good book and I liked it foe the most part.
*emma*
I think Dante had the right to say what he wants to say since it is his book, but I don't think that he should have put living people from his town and stuff in it. It seem a little wrong for him to judge them like that when they weren't even dead yet. It is his book though so he can do or say whatever he wants with it. I might enjoy the chance to be able to write down what I thought about people and get away with it, but I would feel guilty if someone read it and confronted me about it. This book was very strange. Throughout it all I was asking myself, "Why would he want to write a book about so much suffering and torcher?" It makes you stop and think though about the things people do every day. Like false flattery, people do that all the time and don't normally look at it as a sin.
Whitney Stephenson 4th
I find it an intriguing idea. Imagine regular people having the opportunity to place people in their eternal punishment. It's a scary idea to give people that kind of power. If you irritate a person, you're burned in Hell forever. I believe he had a right to express his own opinion and paint any picture he so chose because I strongly believe in freedom of speech. I, however, could never do this. Some of the things he did were so cruel that I can't comprehend doing that to another human being. I'm glad he did not actually have this power because I don't believe a sinner has any right to be controlling the fates of others. However, since it is merely a fictional story, I have no issue with what he did.
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