Dante’s Inferno: Canto 9-16

Out of all the Cantos read in Dante’s Inferno, 11 was my all time favorite. It didn’t have action or anything that one may usually find interesting; instead it focused more on story building and creating a better visual for the readers (and Dante). While in our version of the book we have a map of sorts of what Hell should look like in the text, there’s nothing better (in my opinion, at least) than having the chance to read out a descriptive version. For me, being able to read what Hell looked like made me imagine it clearly through the eyes of Dante, as if I were in his shoes. I could visualize the deep cliff, I could imagine the stench of the air surrounding them. Not only did this chapter help with visuals, it also helped me better understand the punishments within each circle as well as the severity of the varying sins. During the first chapter or so of reading, I thought every person who had sinned would be in the same place- that there were no specific levels to Hell, just one large flat area surrounded by flames. Though it was implied in other chapters that it was much more complex than just that, this chapter specifically made me grasp this concept a lot easier.