The Genesis Myth Of The 'Angel Of Light'

“Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me!” Some pressed against the bars to see. There was nothing. Only the darkness of night.

Throughout the novel one can notice a constant reference to the darkness, as symbolizing a heaviness and resignation that afflicts deeply the characters and also the atmosphere of story.

When you think of Hell, what do you see, perhaps a burning pit full of criminals and crazed souls? Or maybe you’re like Dante and have a well organized system of levels in correspondence with each person’s sins. In Dante Alighieri’s epic The Inferno, Dante and his real life hero, Virgil, go on an adventure through a rather elaborate version of Hell. In this version of Hell numerous thoughts and ideals are brought to the attention of the readers. Through Dante’s use of both imaginative and artistic concepts one can receive a great visual impression of how Dante truly views Hell, and by analyzing his religious and philosophical concepts the reader can connect with the work to better understand how rewarding this work was for the time period.

When the man is being taken out of the cave he first sees the fire, when he looks at this fire “his eyes ache, so that he would try to escape and turn back to the things he could see distinctly” (Plato, 229) Now imagine the sun, it must be a million times brighter than a fire, the

The fire and the shadow provided the only reality for them. This was their source of knowledge and their source of contact with the world. For these people their “cave life” and their ignorance created a world worse than the blind man’s.

The presence of light and fire in the text brings to mind the title Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus, the Greek God who gave humans fire despite the wishes of the other gods was Prometheus. The natural word is a dark place but the presence of light symbolizes knowledge and learning. The monsters first experience was when he “found a fire that had been left by some wandering beggars” (pg 107). The monster discovered the way fire worked and learned by trial and error. “ I quickly collected some branches; but they were wet and would not burn” (pg 107). The monster also learned all that fire could do for him. Not only did the monster learn with the presence of light but so did his creator, Victor. Victor also says “darkness has no effect

All human expression can be broken down into four basic emotions- happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Of these emotions, none can contest with the influential effects of fear. Throughout history, we have seen the devastating impacts of fear in slavery, Stalin’s brutal reign over Russia, and most significantly, the Nazi party. Fear has constantly been shown to possess and control people to engender dire consequences, much like it does in Alan Paton’s novel Cry, the Beloved Country. In his novel, Paton examines the negative impacts of fear, namely prejudice and corruption. Set in South Africa, the main character, reverend Stephen Kumalo, observes the stark contrast between his poor village and the cosmopolitan city of Johannesburg. Throughout the story, he unearths the changes occurring in South Africa as a result of escalating racial tensions. His journey brings him to an understanding of the harsh struggle of his fellow Africans, and he too begins to experience the growing fear. Paton explicates that eradication of fear is of utmost importance in fashioning a unified country, and if we fail to set aside our fears, we must forever bear the scars of prejudice and corruption.

Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The

The concept of hell can be viewed as three distinct underworld concepts in the Old and New

The final level of Hell is treachery-- as in doing

Robert Herrick, an English poet, once said, “Hell is no other but a soundlesse pit, where no one beame of comfort peeps in it.” Picture any type of Hell with relief, happiness, or even the smallest crack of a smile. There is no place. In fact, one can only think of the complete opposite, whether it is a Hell filled with neglect, pain, disgust, or a never-ending life of horror. This is the place created by Dante Alighieri; The Inferno is exactly the type of Hell where no person would want to be. Even those who acted upon the lightest of sins suffered greatly. While each realm contained a different sinner, the punishment that each were forced to face was cruel, repulsive, and sometimes rather disgusting. Through grieving tears without an

In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the parallelism between Satan and Eve’s fall is strong in that they were once both the highest before pure perfection. Lucifer is associated with evil, which stems from his free will leading to his rebellion against God and, ultimately, his great fall. He is known as the one who introduces sin to Adam and Eve – the first humans to ever exist. His plan to go against God is the beginning of a whole new world to the universe and a whole new significance of himself as the one known for human error and evil. Eve, “the mother of human race,” is Satan’s target to pull her down to his world of sin because she also wishes to become independent of Adam making her susceptible to anything that can separate her from

Lucifer’s greed for God’s power over all creation causes his downfall from Heaven. After falling from Heaven, Lucifer becomes the devil, the one feared by many for being the most evil being to have existed. In lines 2004-6, Chaucer states “O Lucifer, angel brightest of all, / Now you are Satan, who may never win / From misery, to which has been your fall.” Consequently, the tale of the first man created by God is then examined. Adam is entrusted with God’s earth as stated in lines 2010-1, “He ruled all Paradise, except one tree. / No man on earth has held such high degree”. To God’s dismay, Adam allows the temptation of power make him betray God and be driven from his important duties. Although many details are not directly stated in the Monk’s tale, Biblical knowledge can fill the gaps left within these

Darkness makes a quick appearance in the literature because it’s in the title. Darkness is seen on the river. “And the river was there- fascinating— deadly—like a snake.”

Halifax, Nova Scotia. An estimate of the total population by census for 2011 was 390,090. The approximate number of population in the year of 2013 was 409,000. The forecast for 2014 is 410,000. (Greater Halifax Partnership, 2014)