Dante's Inferno Canto 7-13

In Canto 7 verse 109, “And I, gazing intently, saw people muddied in that slough, all naked, with indignant expression. They kept striking each other, and not only with hands, but with head and breast and feet, tearing each other apart with their teeth, piece by piece.” The themes that I see in this quote are animals fighting to save their life, and also people fighting. They are all striking each other, biting, not wanting to know what comes next. They are acting like animals, biting, scratching, tearing everyone apart. They can’t help it, they don’t like where they are, and all they can do is fight. Humans wouldn’t usually do all this, but some do. I think this is important, because this reminds me of the beasts whom Dante met in the beginning. I think that Dante will meet these beasts later on in the story as well, so this scene I see foreshadows the animals as the beasts coming back in the future. I also see this quote as the people dying, and then rebirth. These people are all naked, scattered about, hitting everyone. They are all going to die, because they are attacking each other, trying not to see their future. They are reborn when they are naked, in the mud, hitting each other because babies can do that when they get out of control. This scene shows how the mud can affect the people in how they act, mostly with the fighting and scratching.

In Canto 9, verse 76, it said, “Like frogs before the enemy snake, who scatter themselves through the water until each huddles on the bottom: so saw I more than a thousand shattered souls fleeing before one who was walking across Styx with dry feet. From his face he was moving that greasy air, waving his left hand before him frequently, and only of that discomfort did he seem weary. Well did I perceive that he was sent from Heaven, and I turned to my master, who made a sign that I should stand still and bow to him.” When I first read this, I instantly thought of Moses raising his left hand and parting the water to cross. It said they were walking across with dry feet, so I thought of this as not getting wet because it had been divided. This is important to me because it foretells a well known point of history. It says that the animals were in the water, but the people walked through the water. It said that he was sent from Heaven, and should bow to him. I see this as being Moses again because he would be recognized as being a great leader, and we would show our appreciation. The theme I see in this quote is the crossing of the water, that ties back to Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. The author probably had another interpretation of this quote, but this is the first idea that came to mind, but I’m sure there are several interpretations.