Symbolism In Canto Number 2

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Analysis

In canto number 3 people are not allowed into heaven or hell because they did not choose between following God or Lucifer. Their punishment its being stung by wasps and hornets. This punishment is symbolically fitting for their sin. Since the people could never make a decision in their life, stings from the bugs cause them to move. I think this punishment is a good metaphor for the crime they committed. However I believe the punishment lasts for too long. Should the souls spend an eternity being tortured for something they did that only affects their lifetime? Even if it did affect others they would be in punished for many years after their deaths. People that are considered neutrals feel the influence of their crime more than the people who they affected when they were alive. Although the metaphor for the crime is good I think the punishment lasts too long.

These people are also forced to stand in an endless line while following a banner. Making them follow a path is a great symbolic punishment for indecisiveness. Following the banner gives them no freedom to make their own choices because they wasted their lives being hesitant. In the neutral zone the banner is their conductor and they must follow it because they did not choose to follow heaven or hell when they were living. God would not accept them and neither would Lucifer. I believe this punishment is appropriate because forcing the souls to follow a banner in hell is the complete opposite of what they did on earth. Since the souls are lost the banner gives them a direction to follow. This punishment is a very one to one ratio for the crime they committed.

Icons
Charon is the ferryman of the dead. Hermes would take the dead souls and guide them to the riv...

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...opted to decline”(canto3, 59). This quote represents how the government is treating our people. When Dante says who chosen for greatness, those are the people voted in by the citizens of the United States. People we voted in are not representing the people that got them there in the first place. That is the opted to decline part. Our government never makes any decisions, which is why they are like the neutral people locked outside of hell. Capital building is split in half to show the government is not capable to agree on matters. They are too afraid to let one person have their way because they are concerned they will lose power. Indecisiveness also ties into the speech bubbles about what the government was fighting over. Since the government cannot make choices they are the perfect example of the neutral souls stuck outside the gates of hell never moving forward.

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