Dante's Inferno Reaction Paper- Imagery

From the very first canto of Dante’s Inferno, we see many animals and many characters compared to animals. Whether with sympathy or hatred toward the sinner, Dante is constantly showing that he is looking down upon the souls. Dante uses animal imagery to keep up with the common Christian archetypes for sin as well as to make the sinners seem inferior to the pilgrim Dante.

In the Canto 1, Dante approaches a point in his life where he is faced with three sins, all of which are symbolized as animals. The leopard represents lust and desire, the lion is violence, and the she-wolf is fraud. Throughout the Bible, especially in the book of Jeremiah, these three beasts are shown to be associated with these sins. Christianity shows animal characteristics such as these to employ moral lessons. These animals within the story represent the three sins that impede Dante’s path to righteousness.

            As he enters Hell with his guide, Dante begins to see how the souls are eternally punished for the sins that they committed in the mortal world. Each sinner has indulged in an impulse as if they could not control their primitive instincts. Throughout, Dante compares each group of souls to different animals. He shows that each sinner did not use their human senses to decide whether or not their actions were moral. He is also trying to show how Dante the pilgrim is superior to these depraved souls because he still has a chance to change his actions and, consequently, his fate.

            An example of this would be in Canto 21. As Dante is touring the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle, he sees a black devil carrying two souls back into the pitch and he compares the devil to a mastiff chasing after a thief. This shows the devils aggressiveness toward such disgraceful souls. In Canto 22, Dante is still in the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle and he compares the sinners to three different animals. First, as he watches a soul writhe in the pitch, he compares the way he arches his back to that of a dolphin, showing how pathetic and weak he is with such a punishment. Second, he compares the souls on the edge of ditch to bullfrogs, with their eyes and snouts poking out of the pitch, as to show how they cower in fear of being shoved back into the pitch. Third, Dante compares a soul that the devil hooked to an otter. This gives the reader the impression that the soul is small, harmless, and inferior to not only the devils, but also all mortal beings.

            There are many more bestial comparisons throughout the journey. Each new animal is shown to show a common archetype or to give the reader an impression of the lowly sinner. Dante shows that the pilgrim is superior to these souls and that he can change his fate by asking for forgiveness and rejecting these sinful behaviors.