Canto XVIII

After reading Canto I and then Canto XVIII, I started to see how well thought out the punishments for the sins are. In Circle 8, the panderers and seducers are forced in an endless fast walk by horned demons with huge whips. This punishment represents how these people forced others on to do their dirty work. The flatterers are sunk in a river of feces, which represents the falsity of their flattery and lies on Earth (quite literally their B.S.). A passage describing this Bolgia caught my attention:

Once there, I peered down; and I saw long lines
of people in a river of excrement
that seemed the overflow of the world's latrines.

This did not stick out at me at first but after rereading the Canto I noticed the symbolism Dante uses with the river of excrement. The people in the chasm are the flatterers. They are sunk in feces because in their life on Earth they sunk other people in their lies and flattery for their own benefit. The "overflow of the world's latrines" could refer to the sinners in the river who are the world's excrement for their sin of flattery.
A modern sinner that I would put into Circle Eight would be McCarthy, as he drove others on to serve in his witch hunt. Pimps belong in the First Bolgia as panderers. I would also put the scientology recruiters in the First Bolgia as seducers.
Upon reading this Canto, I began to see less of the satire and more of Dante's personal beliefs. Clearly, he believes that those who lie and betray their fellow humans truly belong in Hell. If he thought the panderers, seducers, and flatterers should have the opportunity of redemtion he would have put them in purgatory. Instead, he puts them in the circle right before Lucifer himself. Many would probably disagree with this and say that the murderers, rapists, etc. belong deeper in Hell. However, I feel that Circle Eight is appropriate for the malicious and fraudulent. Their sin has much more of a ripple effect and is much more deliberate than a sin committed in a moment of extreme passion. The sinners in Circle Eight poison and corrupt other people who probably did them no wrong and lead their entire lives lying and deceiving. From an existential point of view, these people definitely belong in this cirlce because they are not true to themselves.

Reaction up to page 17

What really caught my attention is how Sartre portrays Hell in No Exit. It matches up with one of my own visions of Hell. Everything seems pretty subtle, the room is hideous, the furniture is arranged in uncomfortable ways, and the lights cannot be turned off. What also interests me is how everything is man made. The valet may be foreshadowing Garcin's future. He is there to show the new "absentee" that he is to become indifferent, have no personality or even eyelids. Garcin, Inez, and Estelle all notice that there is no "torturer" or any instruments of torture present in the room, as they all would have expected. Estelle does not even seem to realize, or want to acknowledge, that she is in Hell. Inez is the only one who seems to understand that they are damned for all time with each other in that room. She is the first to realize that they are all put together for the purpose of tormenting each other and the room and everything in it is predetermined for them. All three of them are incredibly fake and what they say cannot be trusted. None of them will openly admit why they are there or that they did anything wrong in the first place. Inez is the only one to acknowledge that they had to have done something wrong be damned in Hell but none of them have the spine to tell the others what it is they did. Something that seems to be torturing all of them is how they can see what is happening on Earth. Everyone they knew is living their lives and they are stuck in one room as they watch life on Earth carry on. Sartre's version of Hell might not be pain, completely darkness, and physical torture but it is certainly Hell.

Various Cultures' Views of Hell

Islam: The Quran has over 200 verses mentioning hell. Those who do not believe in what Allah has revealed will be sent to their doom.

Islam: not only will the nonbeliever be sent to hell but his family as well.

Islam: Similar to Christian hell; those sent to Islamic hell will be burned in the fires. Their souls becoming the fuel that keep them are burning.

Islam: some of the torments include: force drinking of festering water, branding, and submerging in boiling water.

Buddhism: When someone dies they enter the first of three Bardo states, which is an after-death plane. (Craig)

Buddhism: The second Bardo state, known as Chonyid Bardo, is where someone may experience a personal hell. (Craig)

Buddhism: Evil karma decides whether or not someone experiences this. (Craig)

Buddhism: The person thinks they have a physical body and that demons are eating them alive. However, these are just thought forms. (Craig)

Judaism: Evildoers await their judgment from God and their punishment, but a specific Hell is not elaborated on (Craig)

Christianity: Gehenna or Tartarus are the names of hell for condemned spirits and is a place of wickedness.

Christianity: Differs from the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades as a place of eternal punishment, not merely a underworld for the deceased souls

Christianity: People who refuse to repent are stuck in hell even, even after the millennium. (according to Latter-Day revelations they would have been given to chance to repent)

Christianity: Many people commonly perceive hell as having a lake of fire that consumes of utterly destroys those who are sentenced their.

What the Hell...

I have two distinct versions of Hell.

Version 1 (classic Hell): This version of Hell is a vast, barren wasteland covered with ruined buildings and debris. There is a constant wind blowing ash and dust and the sky is a dusty orange with black, smog-like clouds. There are caves that lead into endless passageways and catacombs filled with prowling, humanoid demons. At the heart of the wasteland there is an enormous atrium that seems to go endlessly underground. The atrium is lined with spiral stairs and jail cells. At the bottom of the atrium is a massive flame deluge and across it is the throne of the devil.

Version 2 (sadistic Hell): This version of Hell is not entirely clear to me but I envision it as not terribly different (as far as appearance goes) from Earth. The days never change. It is always the same temperature and the days are always grayish and night has no features such as moon or stars. Everything appears to be pretty normal and people go about their daily routines, whatever they might be. Everything is almost colorless. When you arrive, you discover that everyone is completely indifferent and apathetic, almost zombie-like. Everyone is extremely self-absorbed and politeness is virtually non-existent. You never grow old and you slowly become like everyone else around you. Every little thing that annoyed you or made you sad in your life on Earth happens all the time. 

So there you have it. Really cheerful, I know :)

Greetings!

Hey everyone I'm Craig as I'm sure you all know. Humanities is pretty much my favorite class right now, especially with this new unit we're doing. Some of my favorite books are Fight Club (and pretty much anything else by my man Chuck), Ender's Game, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (including The Hobbit!!). I've recently become a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's anime films which include Spirited Away (friggen amazing movie!!) and Castle in the Sky. Some of my other favorite movies are Fight Club (of course), Snatch, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, the first Matrix, and many others which I can't think of/don't want to keep listing.

I'm sure most of you know that I'm a very musical person. I've been playing guitar for over 3 years now, I play both electric and acoustic, and I play in a rock band. Music is a huge part of my life and it's one of the main things that I do in my spare time. I'm also an active member in the AHS Gay Straight Alliance. Something you probably didn't know about me, except Evan because he was on my team, is that I played hockey for about 7 years. I'm also a very distant relative of Abe Lincoln which is pretty cool. I work at the DQ in North Reading and let me tell you, I make some quality blizzards! So yeah I guess that's about it. Humanities rules!