rvanderwende

The quote “If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought. (The Divine Comedy)” is highly evident I cantos 6-10 of The Inferno by Dante. This quote simply means that if you go off course the reason is because it is within your nature not to be perfect and to go astray. This quote is the reason why the Souls in The Inferno are in hell.

“I see new torments and new souls in pain about me everywhere. Wherever I turn away from grief, I turn to grief again. (Canto VI, Lines 1-3)” This is when the main character is in hell and looking about him. It directly relates to the main quote in that the reason for hell is to punish sinners and the sin is within us. Adam was the first man created and he was created with sin within him. The sin was the reason why he was thrown out of the Garden of Eden and why mankind was in need of a Savior. It is evident in The Inferno that the souls had sin within them.

“And he: ‘in the first life beneath the sun they were so skewed and squint-eyed in their minds their misering or extravagance mocked all reason.’ (Canto VII, Lines 40-43) This is Virgil speaking to the main character about the souls in hell. It was in them to mock all reason and due to this, they were damned to hell. Not only did the souls of mortals had nature planted within them.

“‘Outcasts of Heaven, you twice-loathsome crew,’ he cried upon that terrible sill of Hell, ‘how does this insolence still live in you?’ ( Cantos IX, Lines 88-90)” This is Virgil speaking to the angels that are in hell rebelling against God. The rebellious nature is within them. An apple tree is an apple tree regardless if it bears fruit or not. Once an apple tree, always an apple tree. This is how the quote “If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought. (The Divine Comedy)” is directly related to cantos 6-10 of The Inferno by Dante.