In Circle 7, round 1 the Violent are punished based on the nature of their violence in sin. Like many other works of literature the use of archetypes are widely used to better explain and relate to the reader along with bringing a new dimension to the work. Dante uses archetypal symbols throughout Circle 7 to help better explain the contrapasso of the sin; such as the use of a minotaur, river of blood, or desert and fire. In round 1 in particular Dante uses the river of blood to explore the sin of the Violent and better explain the contrapasso of this part of Circle 7 in Hell.
Dante describes the river of blood being, "the river of boiling blood in which are steeped all who struck down their fellow men...I saw an arching fosse that was the bed of a winding river circling through the plain exactly as my Guide and Lord had said." (Inferno 94) The use of the archetypal symbol, river, is significant. A river is a use of "water" or flowing that is non ending. When a river is though of it flows and goes on constantly flowing and recycling or adding to itself. The river of blood is symbolic of a never ending flow of blood continuing to travel through this round of Circle 7. The sin of the Violent against their neighbors were people who murdered the the blood of their fellow men. They were war-makers, cruel tyrants, and highwaymen. Because of the blood they shed of their neighbors, they forever are drowned under the blood. The river symbols that is forever continuing and non ending. The blood that was shed was never ended. There was so much blood that they shed that it could flow through a river. A river is usually something that symbolizes a flow of never ending supply of something; continuing and going through many places.
The river of blood symbolizes Dante's belief of the amount of blood that these people have shed. He sees them as warmakers were many people are killed whom are of each other. A reader can see Dante as portraying this as a serious sin and that he believes the blood that is caused by war is continuously flowing; never ending, because of the proceeding wars in the world. The submerge of the "Violent" people shows that they are the cause of the turmoil of the world and should be punished for all the murders they have caused. The river can relate back to the river of blood in biblical sense of punishment for the sins the Israelites had done towards good. The Violent people may not have murdered physically but causing wars and situations that murder the people of their kind or in other words "neighbors".
This video portrays the violence of wars and is titled River of Blood from a song by a [I think] groupd named Battle Beast. It is a good visual image for the archetypal symbol a river of blood. Enjoy. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment