Juxtaposition In Dante's Inferno

One of the largest punishments of being sent to hell is that one is then forgotten on earth. In this short passage from The Inferno of Dante, translated by Robert Pinsky, Pinsky and Dante the poet use vivid descriptions and line breaks to effectively juxtapose earth and hell—and therefore Dante and the souls—, and its content emphasizes Dante the pilgrim’s role as a savior.

In Canto VI, Dante encounters Ciacco, a gluttonous sinner who reveals to Dante that the “good” (49, 71 & 72) men who Dante knew on earth now are now deep in the pit of “Hell” (49, 76). This contrast between how these men appeared on earth and where there are now, in hell, is also illustrated by Ciacco’s strong juxtaposition of Hell and earth through vibrant phrases such as “Their souls are among the blackest in Hell” (49, 76) and “earth’s sweet light” (49, 79). Through Ciacco’s dialogue, Dante the poet engrosses Dante the pilgrim in the horrors of hell while simultaneously reminding the him—and the audience—that he does not belong there. Dante is the only individual in hell who can return to earth, and the souls recognize that.

The line breaks between the tercets of this short passage are also used to portray this juxtaposition between earth and hell.

For the first tercet, there is a final pause before the line break which separates the image of Dante traveling deeper and deeper into hell’s “pit” (49, 77) and his eventual return to earth. This pause created through using “—” (49, 78), also intensifies the evil and goodness of these two locations, respectfully, and emphasizes how fortunate Dante is to be able to continue his journey past the normal barrier of the bottom of the pit. The second tercet also ends with a pause— “With that,” (49, 81)—, which represents the divide between Ciacco’s dream to return to earth and his harsh reality— “His eyes went crooked and squinted, his head rolled” (49, 82). This divide also symbolizes Ciacco’s final breath before he sinks back down into the mass of

souls.
In the second tercet, Ciacco asks Dante to “Recall [his] memory there to the human world” (49, 80). This longing to be remembered and to redeem oneself is evident not only in this short encounter with Ciacco but also, throughout Dante’s epic as a whole. Like in the circle of lust, where Dante feels guilty for writing poetry after Francesca and Paolo blame Lancelot for making them sin, this passage shows a general recognition of the power of stories. Ciacco begs Dante to return to earth and to revive him through sharing his memory—which Dante ultimately does through this collection of poems. By providing Ciacco with a way to be remembered, Dante removing one of hell’s punishments and bringing Ciacco one step closer to the divine experience he could have had.
The third tercet ends with the startling image of Ciacco falling back with the other shades, “blind and quelled.” (49, 84). This imagery, including the final period, shows the suppression, lack of individuality, and absoluteness in destiny of the souls. The idea of blindness is prevalent throughout the epic; Dante too is blind in many regards, and he relies on Virgil to enlighten him about hell by asking a steady stream of questions. Moreover, Dante and Virgil are literally stepping on a mass of indistinguishable souls; when Ciacco falls back, he becomes another generic soul in the mass, leaving the only thing that made him unique—that little bit of his story—with Dante: “He regarded me a moment, then bent his head/ And fell back down with the others” (49, 83-84). This connection between Dante and Ciacco depicts Dante as a savior.
In this short passage, Dante becomes Godlike in that he is the sole being who can revive these damned souls’ existences—through stories—on earth. His interaction with Ciacco strongly resembles when Jesus descended into hell to provide salvation for the souls in the old testament; in the same way that Jesus brought souls from hell to heaven, Dante has to power to revive these souls stories—and therefore their lives—on earth.