Inferno Canti 14-20

In Canto 15, Verse 46, it says, “What fortune or destiny leads you down here before your last day? And who is this showing you the way”? “Up there above, under the clear sky,” I replied, “I lost myself in a valley, before my age was full.” “Only yesterday morning did I turn my back on it: he appeared to me as I was returning there again, and is leading me back home by this road.” And he to me, “If you follow your star, you cannot fail to reach a glorious port, if I perceived well during sweet life; and if I had not died so early, seeing the heavens so kindly toward you I would have given you strength for the work.” The theme I see here is Dante being a great leader. The shade was foretelling Dante’s future, saying that he will be rewarded for Dante’s heroism. Dante didn’t think much of this, and said whatever will come will come. By the star, Brunetto meant the astrological sign Gemini. In the Gemini sign, it is shown as the people being versatile and flightiness. I can see Dante as being both of these, versatile and have flightiness. I can see him as being versatile because he is able to go to these different circles, and try to adapt to the situation there. Some situations are easier for Dante to adapt to than others, because some he feels pity for. I can see him as having flightiness later on because he may start to become irresponsible later on, because he may not want to listen to his next guide.



In Canto 20, in Verse 10, it said, “As my gaze went lower on them, I saw that each was marvelously twisted between the chin and the beginning of the chest, for the face was turned toward the kidneys, and they were forced to walk backwards, since seeing forward was taken from them.” Later on verse 37 it said, “Look how he has made his breast his back; because he wished to see too far ahead, now he looks backward and treads a backward path.” This was a pretty frightening sight, trying to imagine the shades with their heads in the wrong direction. I can see a theme here of not looking into the future, but only looking into the past, and how they had sinned wrongfully, that they got to where they were today. They are only allowed to look in their backward path, for what they have done wrong. If they had been able to see into the future, then they would not have had their faces facing in the opposite direction, which symbolizes to me that they can only see into their past. One of those who wanted to see ahead in life, has been forced to look backward for all of time.