Skip to main content

The Long and Winding Road // Jackson Riddle

As a fan of mystery novels, I enjoy how Dante's Inferno begins with Dante waking up with no knowledge of how he got where he is, knowing only that he strayed from what he calls the "True Way". In Canto 1, I found it interesting that upon encountering the leopard, lion and she-wolf, Dante agrees to follow the shade of Virgil through the depths of hell. Virgil promises that once they have passed through some of hell a worthier guide with lead Dante to heaven, but it would seem that journeying through hell would be a more arduous decision than simply overcoming the animals and carrying on, attaining the right path by some other means. By placing the protagonist in the "Dark Wood" with the drive to get onto the "True Way", Dante symbolizes the spiritual journey of humanity. Dante realizes his own humanity and strives to attain greatness before God's eyes, and thus is willing to make the trek through the layers of hell to reach true goodness in heaven. Dante's encounter with the animals that block his path is symbolic of the worldly obstacles that block the path of Christians living an easy life. As Christians we are not called to live easy lives; in fact, Jesus himself says that serving him will not make this life any easier. He says so in 2 Timothy 3:12: "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Just as Dante is forced to make a journey through literal hell to reach goodness and eternity with Christ in heaven, so we must make the choice to follow the narrow path that Jesus promises will be much more challenging but will have everlasting rewards.

Edit: I commented on Clabo and Logan's posts

Comments

  1. ClaboMarch 15, 2021 at 11:43 PM

    I definitely agree with you man. This book so far has a lot of symbolism with what Christian life has looked like throughout time. It shows so much of the things people struggle with that cause them to stumble in their Christian walk.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word Painting in Vesta—Lily Caswell

  Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
4 comments
Read more

Welcome to Honors! (Please Read This)

     Welcome to Honors! My name is Abbie Hedden and I serve as President of Honors. Jamie Peters is our Vice President, and Caroline Tucker is our Secretary. I look forward to getting to know all of you in class during this upcoming year! There are a few things you need to know about Honors.      There are no quizzes or tests in Honors. Grades are provided based on attendance/class participation, blogs, explication papers, and the research paper. The papers will be addressed at a later date, as they aren't due until later in the semester. However, there is a blog post due every week. Bearing that in mind, here are the requirements! Criteria Blog posts are due Monday at 11:59PM , and comments are due Tuesday at 9:29AM . DO NOT BE LATE ON ASSIGNMENTS. Points WILL be deducted from late assignments! Be sure to have your name in your Blogger profile Blog posts should include at least one to two paragraphs on that week’s reading assignment.  Blog posts shoul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Topsy Turvy Day—Lily Caswell

  I cannot remember how old I was when I watched T he Hunchback of Notre Dame  but I was at least 8 or 9. I didn’t realize until probably a couple of years ago that the song  “Topsy Turvy” and the corresponding event was actually based on a real festival. The Feast of Fools was usually held on January 1 though it could have also been held on the 6 th  or the 13 th  of January. It was portrayed as a parody of Catholic feasts. Church bells were rung improperly, songs were sung out of tune, and the celebrants “wore strange garments and masks, and used puddings, sausages, and old shoes as censers.” (Seaton, p 77) In the song “Topsy Turvy”, it says “It’s the day the devil in us gets released / It’s the day we mock the prig and shock the priest / Everything is Topsy Turvy at the Feast of Fools… And it’s the day we do the things that we deplore ‘ On the other three hundred and sixty-four.”  I commented on Haylee Lynd’s and Jamie’s posts. Sources: https://www.brita...
1 comment
Read more