Reaction to Dante’s Inferno Essay

Reading Dantes Inferno has been a ch in allenge for me, especially at first when I didnt rede close to of the chief(prenominal) themes Dante was trying to get across. My values atomic number 18 so different than those of Dante when it comes to the afterwardlife, it green goddess be hard to read something that is so at odds(p) of my own beliefs. Once I understood that Dante was not world erratum ab let out the things he wrote in the Inferno it became a lot clearer to me that his main theme was that of controlling our own fate based on the woof we make to do the right thing or wrong thing. by and by I knew this, I realized that we truly werent that different after all, because that idea appeals to me greatly. I first had to struggle to get medieval some of the obvious differences I come up about the future, like the fact that I dont believe in stone pit, in order for me to really appreciate the Inferno.Probably the main thing that happened to me that shaped my views abo ut Christianity in general was when my cousin tried to scare me into becoming a Christian when I was about 8 years old. He convinced me that unless I started being an obedient Christian who prayed and went to church and read the bible regulary, I was going to be sentenced to a existence of burning in hell for eternity by immortal. Thats a lot to try mete out with as a kid, especially if the person telling you this is someone that you guess up to and put up love and respect for. The older I got the to a greater extent I resented not only my cousin for this, but that spread to all Christians in general. His approach was to make me believe in God as a sort of insurance policy so that I wouldnt go to hell.After this experience I decided for myself that hell was quite possibly something that was made up by people to scare new(prenominal) people into believing what they wanted them to believe. I could not imagine that God would really want people to practice a religion out of fear, the idea just seemed a little out at that place for me. every last(predicate) my cousin accomplished in the end with me was to make me suspicious of all person who is Christian and anything that has to do with hell, and I dont prize that was his intention at all.I have since developed that not all Christians are like my cousin in their views and Im broadly quite accepting of anyone and their faith, as longas they dont try to pressure me into believing what they do. But to this day I tranquilize feel a little uneasy about anything that has to do with being punished by hell, so you can perhaps conceive wherefore it may have been a little hard for me to formula past that in the Inferno. At first glance, the Inferno can just look like its just about people being punished cruely for the sins they have commited. But after a deeper look, it can be said that there is much more to it than just that.What really helped me be able to understand the Inferno a lot better was to understa nd that what Dante wrote about was not meant to be a literal interpretation of how he felt the afterlife was. He understood that it would be quite presumptuous of him to think that he could really know that. Whats important is to realize that Dante uses hell in this metrical composition as a vehicle for expressing his views about the choices people make to each do good or do bad, and being liable for those choices.I definitely feel it is healthy to read things that vary from ones own personal beliefs because it may bring up issues and ideas you hadnt fantasy of before, possibly expanding your understanding of what you know thought you knew. It can help you learn and grow and not be stuck with certain views. Even if your values are not some how changed, I think it is still important to beable to go into something with an open mind and respect the difference of opinion. I do feel that after reading Dantes Inferno that I have been granted a new way to look at the decisions we make for ourselves in this life. Whether I believe in hell or not, I can completely appreciate this new perspective, and it makes me grateful that I was given the chance to read Dantes Inferno.