Sunday, April 26, 2015

Paradiso

All of the souls left in the inferno are left there for all of eternity to regret the sins they made in their lives and hate themselves for being in the position that they are in while the souls that are put in paradise live and are content with where they are even if their situation isn't the best.  We see this when Dante meets up with Piccarda.  She says that she is perfectly fine with the sphere she is in because she has love for God.  This shows that Dante is writing saying that people should follow God blindly even if you aren't given the best situation.  Though she is in heaven, she isn't at the best sphere, but she trusts God enough.  This is a good sentiment, having faith that God will guide you right, but it seems like like blind faith.  It's a lot like in the book of Job in the old testament.  God hit Job with terrible tragedies, but Job kept his faith the whole time.  Job would certainly be put in a good sphere of paradise, but it is encouraging people to follow the bible strictly literally and put all of your faith in something that you can't be sure of.  If you lived in this time, and could remember your time in paradise when you returned to earth, would you choose the "right path" that Dante was trying to inspire in us, or would continue living your life as you had?

1 comment:

  1. I disagree that Dante is inferring that individuals should blindly follow God. The souls that reside in Paradise are content with their position, even if it is a low one, because they are in God's domain and therefore experience His perfection. If Dante had wanted people to blindly follow God, he would have probable not given explanations to why each sin of the Inferno are bad. This would have caused people to follow God's rules without knowing why they were supposed to follow them, which is what following blindly is. I also do not fully understand the question, but to answer it I would probably try to follow this "right path". By doing so I would re-enter Paradise are a higher level, so I would be even closer to God, which is the ultimate goal of most living people.

    ReplyDelete