The Snowball Effect

After our intense discussions over the past two class meetings, I have realized that their seems to be a pattern in Dante's journey through Hell.  Along the outer rims were those who had committed somewhat simple sins, while the inner circles contain those who committed much more complex sins.  It seems as if the deeper that Dante descends into the depths of Hell, the more complexity he seems to find in the various punishments that he witnesses.  I gathered this from the fact that most of the latter sins mentioned are quite similar to the first few levels, but there seems to be more significance embedded within the sins of the inner circles.

An easy example is Dido because she doesn't exist in the realm of the suicides; instead, she remains with the lustful.  Her sin (lust) was much more simple than the sins of those in the Woods of the Suicides.  Those who become trees in the Woods are being punished for far more than any of their lustful or selfish desires.  They are punished for sinning against their own God-given bodies despite any other sins that led to the act of suicide.

The ongoing complexity continues as Dante travels deeper, and some of the most complex punishments are reserved for those in Lower Hell (or the Sins of the Leopard.)  While these people committed sins that could be punished in many previous levels, their sins were far more significant.  As a result, their varying punishments exist in the deeper depths of Hell.

All of this is not to say that any of the punishments are more just than the others.  God's judgment is pure and His justice is supposed to be delivered in perfection.  I suppose the best way to elaborate on this is to apply it to the concept of "the deeper into Hell we go, the less like God the people become."  Upper Hell punishes for normal sins that most people commit daily, while Lower Hell is reserved for some of the most vile or rogue beings.