For In That Sleep Of Death...

What Dreams May Come pulls a lot of inspiration from Dante's Inferno. Hell itself is very similar to how Dante described it. Everything is dark and fiery and highly unpleasant. It's also a similar story, how someone goes into hell with every intention and ability to get back out, who has a soulmate to find and has a guide to lead him and explain how everything works. The movie has some very clever allusions to Dante, like the gate of hell. The gate has a big boat marooned outside, and a river they have to cross to reach hell itself. The big boat is a gigantic destroyed battleship, with everything on fire and lots of people strewn about around it. They're not dead, but it seems that they can't get up. There is also a blank banner, like how it is in the vestibule of Dante's hell. Back to the ship. The giant boat is called "Cerberus", and like in Inferno, it guards the gates. Another clever way to bring in some of Dante's ideas is the way that there is a specific place for everyone in hell, but the punishments are varied and quite personalized. When Chris finds his wife, she is stuck face-up in the dirt, in a sea of faces. This is like the punishment in Canto XIX, where Simoniacs are buried head first in the ground with only their feet sticking out. In the movie, the punishment is reversed, but it was very similar to Inferno.

Something done very well in What Dreams May Come but not as well done in Inferno is symbolism. Now, hold on. In Inferno there is a TON of symbolism. It was just a bit heavy-handed. Like, the Pope is mentioned twelve kajillion times in hell because Dante didn't like him. And there are all these famous people in hell, also because Dante had issues with them. And he talks to all of them to prove how much better he is, and that he can get out of hell. Cos he's just too cool.  In What Dreams May Come, everything was more subtle and subdued. It was all about the colors, that quick shot, the feelings from the scenes. For example, everything with death had purple. When the children were killed, their dad waved goodbye surrounded by purple flowers. Before Chris died, he had a purple painting with him. In heaven and in hell, all of the flashbacks were accompanied by a flash of white and purplish light. And when Annie commits suicide, she is wearing purple pajamas. Everything in hell is dark, red and black and brown. Everything in heaven is bright and happy, golds and blues and reds. Especially when Chris is in the painting. Everything is gorgeous there. Every single shot of the movie has symbols and meaning to it, but it was done tastefully, unlike Inferno. But that is just personal opinion.

Still in Hell

Second week of Canto presentations. This week we went over Cantos 19-32. Anyway, I went this week. My Canto is the second half of the fraudulent counselors area, which is circle 8, malebolge 8, Canto 27. Anyway, it was actually a really...well, not fun per se, but it wasn't as terrible as it could have been. And...dare I say...I actually enjoyed it just a little? I feel like I'll lose my teenager card if I admit to enjoying a school project. So, anyway. My Canto is fraudulent counselors, and their punishment is to burn for eternity in a flame that fits perfectly to their body. The contrapasso is that they are being literally burned, just like they burned others figuratively in life. In my Canto, there were a TON of places mentioned. Like, the entire thing was basically cities and the current news about them. It was a bit boring, especially for somewhere that people were on fire. Guido da Montefeltro was in this Canto for giving bad advice to the Pope, and what's sad is that he only did it because the Pope said that he would be absolved of that sin and could go to heaven, but the a dark angel said that since he couldn't repent for something he wasn't sorry for he was going to hell. I feel really bad for Guido, but he did do something wrong, so he did sort of deserve to go to hell and burn for eternity. Sort of. Also, I am very proud of my visual for my project. I digitally drew a picture of a hand holding a burning match, and that represented how by giving someone bad advice you strike a match to burn them, but then the firs reaches your hand and it burns you later as well.

The other Cantos that were this week happened to be my friends' Cantos, so I'll talk about those next. Emily did Canto 18, which was panderers and flatterers (AKA pimps and seducers). The panderers were forced to run back and forth while being lashed by horned demons on either side of them and the flatterers were immersed in a pool of human excrement representing their words. Ew, in a word. That seems quite horrific, and I find that to be fitting for the crime. I can't stand people who lie and suck up to people to make them better liked. So they deserve to sit in a bunch of waste forever. Lydia's Canto sort of goes with this in that the punishment fits the crime. She had Canto 24, and in her Canto were thieves. They were bitten by snakes, and wherever they were bitten they burst into flames. Again, ew. That just sounds really gross. I don't really see the contrapasso here, except that maybe thieves get their bodies stolen from them over and over as they regenerate from the snake bites only to die again...? I don't know. There weren't really any interesting people in the Canto either. Well, I'm sure they were interesting, I've just never heard of them before this, so I personally don't care all that much about them. The only exciting thing that happens is that Dante freaks out because he doesn't like snakes and then he doesn't want to walk anymore because things are getting truly horrific. Which brings us to Canto 28, Sarah Fowle's Canto. In her Canto, people who split others apart get their just deserts and are split in various ways themselves, depending on the extremity of their crime. And sheesh, why is everything so disgusting? Like seriously, one dude got his head cut off because he was such a bad person. Others lost their hands or maybe just got themselves cut open but not completely disembowled. Lucky them! Anyway, I didn't really have a good idea of what "schism" was before seeing this Canto presented, and now I think I sort of do. Her visual was really cool. It was a Ferris wheel with popsicle sticks colored in various degrees of black to represent how the sinners walked around in a big circle, got attacked by the demon, and then slowly healed only to be sliced apart again. This project was overall very interesting to say the least, and I am looking forward to seeing the last few Cantos tomorrow.

Reflection of Hell

Over the past week, we've had to sit through presentations on different Cantos of hell. We've gotten through Cantos 1-18. The first few were fairly straightforward; Dante is feeling lost, and then he enters hell itself. This combined with the overall feeling of winter and exhaustion probably contributed to my feeling a bit like I am drowning, but that's okay. We are in hell, after all. Anyway, Canto 5 was pretty interesting due to the people in it, and someone in that Canto's son was referenced in my Canto, so that's pretty cool. It's a bit of a stretch, but there's still a connection. Also, we had two absences, so the class did not see either Canto 8 or 13. But it was really interesting to learn about all of the different Cantos and what was in them

Today we talked about Cantos 14 through 18. 14, 15, 16, and 17 were all in basically the same part of hell, and then 18 was the first one in the 8th circle. 14 was a transition one and also kind of an overview Canto, and then 15, 16, and 17 were the three different sins in the area that was gone over in 14. Those three sins were blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers. Then Geryon arrives and takes Virgil and Dante into the 8th circle, which is at the end of Canto 17. It is getting to the point where it is almost difficult to listen to what the punishments are for the people in the lower circles of hell. What is happening to them is truly terrible, and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone for eternity. Even the people that deserve to be punished like that should serve their time and then get out of there once they have repented. I can only imagine how horrible the rest of the Cantos are going to be. Mine is one of the lowest, and it's not that bad. So maybe it won't be overly awful.

Hello From Hell

Metaphorically, of course.

We started our Inferno unit this week. I actually am enjoying it, and my canto is fortunately not very gory or particularly exciting. Well, it's pretty cool. It's the one with false counselors, like Ulysses and Diomedes. It's a little funny, because Dante put these two myths (AKA fictional characters) in hell, when he doesn't even know if they're real. Much of his hell is Greek mythology, but still. It doesn't seem right to put possibly nonexistent characters into hell, but since his hell is also fictional, maybe it makes more sense that way. If the place is fictional, then why not use pre-made fictional characters to go in it? Although one might also argue that if it is your fictional realm, then you should populate it with your own fictional characters. But in order to make it seem universal and be more relatable to everyone who read it in his time, then using familiar legends and even real people would help get the message across better. Who knows. It was a very long time ago, and Dante himself is not alive to tell us what he was going for.

The project is going fairly well. I don't have to present until March 7th, which I am very thankful for, and I'm kind of hoping I get pushed back so I have more time to work on it, but that probably won't happen. I'm not overly concerned, I've still got a lot of time to work...but I have projects due fairly soon in every single one of my classes except History, which is plenty time-consuming on its own. I'm getting very stressed about all of them, but hopefully I will be able to manage my time well enough to still be okay...sigh. Anyway, I am Canto 27, and basically the entire thing is Dante listening to this guy in a flame complain about how he doesn't belong there and someone else was the one who condemned him. Also, this guy in the flame has no idea what's going on in the outside world since he's been burning in hell for quite some time. To be honest, I'm glad I got one of the actual "burning" cantos, since there will be plenty of images for that. It's also kind of fun to have the canto that is as stereotypical "hell" as it's going to get, what with the burning and the fraudulent counselors and whatnot. So I'm hopeful for the project. I think I'm gonna make it. Maybe.

I Guess I'm A Pretty Good Mirror

I do a reflection post every week. And apparently it's not actually supposed to be random thoughts or about the past week, but rather an in-depth reflective analysis thing for the coming week in Language Arts. My apologies for my earlier confusion on that.

Anyway...we are starting a new unit this week. Dante's Inferno. Should be interesting, if not fun. Fortunately my mom purchased a large supply of jellybeans, so I will have a rainbow of colors and flavors to get me through hell. But actually, the idea of the afterlife and different beliefs regarding what happens after death has always fascinated me. It probably shouldn't. After all, you only find out what happens after death when you die, and I definitely don't want to die anytime soon. I just think it's very interesting to see what different religions and beliefs think. In Judaism, there is only heaven. In Christianity, there is most definitely a heaven and a hell, but different sects believe slightly different things. In Greek mythology, there are the Fields of Asphodel, which is where everyone who wasn't extraordinarily good or bad goes. I personally think that's a bit unfair, to be cursed to wander an infinite Kansas wheat field just because you weren't exceptional. So few people are truly good or bad that very few people would actually get special treatment. And, hey, you're already dead. Whoever is running all that, who I suppose would be Hades in this scenario, should cut them a break.

But actually, I'm excited for the new book not only because of the interesting point of view but also because it connects to History class. About a month ago, so fairly recently, we went through the Renaissance and then Dante was mentioned because he wrote in the vernacular. I think. Like I said it was kind of a while ago. Anyway, it connects to one of my other classes, which made me realize that this book is old. I had no idea how old this book was. And it was originally Italian. Italy is just really cool in general. Yes, they tend to surrender in wars and whatnot, but pasta. And art. Come on. I'm very excited to read Inferno, and I do believe that I will like it. I don't doubt that I will be offended at some point, but now that we are out of the satire unit to a point I think I'll survive. I also think that I have been gifted with the ability to laugh at myself, which would explain quite a few personality traits of mine. But that's off-topic. My point is simply that I'm excited for this book and I'm glad I am getting the opportunity to read it.

Welcome to My Personal Hell

Hell, to me, doesn't really exist. Since I am Jewish, I do not believe that there is a hell because that is what my religion says. However, I do believe that torture exists, especially of the mental kind, and that any one person could suffer the same amount of pain as any level of hell simply by thinking too hard. So hell does sort of exist, but it is all internal. Within each of us, there is a hell. But as a whole, I don't really think there is anything.

To get into my hell, you don't have to be truly terrible. It's a bit like jail, except that nobody is capable of escaping the prosecution and it's not actually possible to weasel your way out of a sentence. Everything about your existence is basically projected up onto a big screen. Like, absolutely everything. All the good and all the bad. Then you are judged and sent to hell for a certain amount of time. Since nobody is perfect, everybody will go to hell, but the nearly perfect people will only be there for a short amount of time. I forget which mythology it is exactly, but in one of the Greek stories (I think) you can work off your time depending on how terrible you were, and your punishment depends on that. But in my hell, nobody gets off scot-free if you were bad at any point. I wish I could be more specific, but everyone has done something, therefore there are no specifics. Everyone who deserves a punishment gets it.

The punishments depend on the crime and, of course, the person. For everyone is would start by being humiliated and embarrassed by their entire lives played out on the giant screen in front of everyone else. But it would mostly be a highlight reel of all the worst things, and then everyone would laugh at you. The next thing would be utter isolation. Not just being put in a room, but basically being dropped into black hole. You won't know which way is up and which way is down, if you're ever going to land, where anything is in relation to you. Utter blackness and disorientation, like Tartarus. The Greeks had the right idea with that one. Then there's the real torture. Not pain necessarily, because people can get used to pain, even though that would still be up there. For me personally, it would be the sound of hundreds of keyboards typing away irregularly, and dozens of nails tapping a plastic table, the scratching and tapping of pencils writing away, and the sensation of fingernails bending backwards, feelings so awful they send shivers up your spine and layers upon layers of pure asymmetric noise with no way to block it out and no white noise to wash over it. For everyone, it would be facing their worst fear combined with their worst nightmare.

Hell's appearance would be as customized as the punishments. For some, it would be teetering on the edge of a railing, adrenaline surging as they almost fall again and again. For others, it would be creeping away from something they can never quite see but are sure is there. Maybe standing in line forever, inching forwards but never quite reaching the front. Or perhaps slowly crawling along in bumper to bumper traffic, or following a clump of slow-moving people that are impossible to move around. The reason why all of these are mobile is because you would only really get the chance to look around and appreciate (or curse) the interior decorating is between punishments. Almost like school, you would be punished for an amount of time that you know and can only hope to make it through (which would likely be somewhere in the dozens of years range for an average person) and then brave the hallways to get to your next class...or, um, punishment.

Everyone escapes eventually. Hell is just a cleansing process, and there are obviously no relapses. Who would want to face all that again? Almost as a reward for all the good things in your life, you spend your time in hell and then are rewarded by spending the rest of eternity in heaven. It's only fair, after all. And even the worst of people can change. I truly believe that. After being subjected to the worst thing there is, the absolute worst, there will be no relapse. And eternity is a really, really long time. Though someone may spend most of eternity in hell, they still can make it to heaven eventually. It doesn't matter if you're in hell for 148,025,797,359,720,957,280,197,648,021,605,812,604 squillion years, you still get to go to heaven after that. After that long, though, time might have ended. So if time ends and you're in hell, it basically just sucks to be you. Sorry. I didn't say it was a perfect system. Time is relative, anyway. So it kinda can't just end. But anyway, once you are cleansed by hell, you get to go to heaven. Because just like everyone has something bad they've done, everyone has something good they've done as well. And if you have one good thing, then you have the potential and the ability to be good for the rest of forever.

                            


A symbol to represent my hell would be a maze. A really hard maze. It takes you ages, you hate doing it, it's really dangerous, but eventually you make it out. Like the Harry Potter maze. Except you don't get zapped to Voldemort instead of making it out. You actually just get out. And after getting through the maze, even though you feel awful and like you died again (which you already did once, how else would you get to hell in the first place?) you still get the satisfaction of making it all the way to heaven. Everyone can make it to heaven, and that is a good thing, just like everyone can solve a maze even if they hit some dead ends. My hell would be something deceptively simple like a maze but actually be really difficult to solve, even though everyone can do it and has to do it.

Who is in my hell? Everyone. Everyone is going to my hell. Most people I know personally would make it out fairly quickly though. Some people wouldn't. You know, like molesters and mass murderers and serial killers and stuff. Something interesting about my hell, though, is that good deeds don't get you out any faster. You still have to repent for all of the bad things. There is none of this bail-bond nonsense in hell. Everyone pays with time. Once you get to heaven, the good deeds matter. The best people get to become angels and help run heaven and all that good stuff, and everyone else still gets to go to heaven, which is their personal paradise, so they can't really complain. And this isn't about heaven. It's about hell. But those two are kind of intertwined. Anyway, my point is that everyone goes to hell. But everyone also goes to heaven.

Captain Hammer and Oedipus Rex

Captain Hammer and Oedipus are very similar in terms of being tragic heroes. One of them falls by being overly arrogant, saving and getting a girl, and then killing said girl as well as hopelessly putting himself out of commission. The other...oh, wait. It is hard to discuss "unity of action" without simply summarizing the stories, since unity of action is about how everything in the stories is cause and effect. So instead most of what's here will be about the place of status that the two tragic heroes fell from. But first is a little summarizing. Captain Hammer starts by being the town superhero, almost like Superman, but with no civilian alter ego. Oedipus starts as the prince, and then becomes the king of the neighboring kingdom. Captain Hammer saves the girl, and in saving the girl he gets the girl. Oedipus does the same, but he saves the whole city as opposed to a single person. Actually, Captain Hammer does that as well, but not in this particular instance. Anyway, once he has the girl, Captain Hammer flaunts said girl in front of his nemesis, and that makes the nemesis want to kill him. Oedipus just starts to find out more about how his life is actually organized and also how his prophecy did come true. Then Captain Hammer's annoyed antagonist tries to kill the Captain, and when Captain Hammer tries to fix everything he winds up killing his girlfriend and hurting himself, allowing the villain to run rampant. Oedipus, when he finds out the truth, causes his mother/wife to commit suicide and then scratches his eyes out at what he's done. And those are the very sad stories of Captain Hammer and Oedipus.

Now, the places of status. Captain Hammer is basically the biggest deal. He is the town superhero, everybody loves him, he's fabulous and he knows it. He thinks very highly of himself, but he thinks it's with good reason. He saves people every day, and he prevents the supervillains from overrunning everyone. Oedipus is also a very big deal. Not only is he the king, and well-liked for being a good king, he is the ex-prince of the neighboring kingdom, he saved everyone from the big bad Sphinx and won the queen's hand and the throne that way. So then he is the prince as well as the king. Captain Hammer basically stays the same arrogant person the whole time, but he does sort of start to realize he has problems at the very end when he goes to the psychiatrist. This all connects back to the poster because this is what was portrayed there, the gradual falling of Captain Hammer.