Alienation Review of Related Studies

Florence. Out of his desperation, Dante finds that the only place he can travel is the next life, the paradise. However, in order to be able to visit the “paradise” he needs to pass the beasts, the inferno and the purgatory 83 . Dante’s lines about men with no faith become the opening line in Brown’s Inferno. This line is the one that became the base of the whole story. The antagonist character, Bertrand Zobrist, sees the world through Dante’s eyes. He sees the world as a destructed place where there is no hope and the only way to solve that problem is to make a significant alteration. He is Dante’s biggest fan. Therefore, he uses Dante’s description of Hell as the parameter of the world he lives in. Of the Comedy’s three sections —Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—Inferno was by far the most widely read and memorable. Before Inferno, there is no clear description of hell and its horror. The quality of this work effects most people who read it. Overnight, Inferno becomes the inspiration for other artists, church, and people. After its release, “the Catholic Church enjoyed an enormous uptick in attendance from terrified sinners looking to avoid Dante’s updated version of the underworld” 84 . Dante’s Inferno plays an important role in Zobrist’s life. He uses Dante’s Inferno as his “manual”. Therefore his actions need to be contextualized with the Inferno. Bertrand Zobrist is a scientist and billionaire who devote his life to Dante. His fanaticism appears on several occasions. There are two events that describe him as a 83 John Ciardi, The Inferno; Dante’s Immortal Drama of a Journey Through Hell. New York: Mentor Book, 1982 27 84 J. Ciardi, The Inferno; Dante’s Immortal Drama of a Journey Through Hell, 54 fanatic. The first event is when Martha, the curator of Florence museum, states that “A genuine scholar of Dante and yet a bit…how do you say…fanatico?” 85 . The short description that is given by Martha shows Bertrand Zobrist’s special feeling to Dante’s Inferno. His fanaticism is, in some points, understandable for Dante’s work is considered as one of the most beautiful poems of all time. Aside from its beautiful form and story, Dante’s poem is well known for its strong political message. Dante creates this poem in the exile when he was poor and far from his family, friends, and the city he loves so much, Florence. For Dante, the poem is the journal of his hatred. Seven centuries after its creation, The Divine Comedy becomes one of the biggest masterpieces in the world. Brown’s states that: Dante’s enduring vision of hell had inspired tributes, translations, and variations by some of history ’s greatest creative minds. Longfellow, Chaucer, Marx, Milton, Balzac, Borges, and even several popes had all written pieces based on Dante’s Inferno. Monteverdi, Liszt, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini composed pieces based on Dante’s work, as had one of Langdon’s favorite living recording artists— LoreenaMcKennitt. Even the modern world of video games and iPad apps had no shortage of Dante-related offerings 86 . Dante’s Inferno is undeniably one of the greatest works of all time. Dante’s work has been used by so many prominent names in various fields. The greatness of Dante’s piece explains Zobrist’s fanaticism. His fanaticism is, in some points, understandable. Furthermore, John Ciardi states that: 85 D. Brown, Inferno, 130 86 D. Brown, Inferno, 54 It treats one of the most universal values – good and evil, man’s responsibility, free will and predestination; yet it is intensely personal and political, for it was written out of the anguish of a man who saw his life blighted by the injustice and corruption of his times 87 . The Divine Comedy is the ultimate expression of Middle Age era when law and humanity are degraded by most people at that time. Dante is trapped in the age where humanity falls into its lowest point and his poem strongly criticizes that condition. From the beginning of the poem, Dante expresses his anguish of life 88 . Dante uses afterlife as the theme of his piece. It portrays the desperation of life, Dante’s world is shattered. He travels with Virgil, one of the poets that he is very fond of. The fact that Virgil is already dead is another symbol for Dante’s hopelessness towards the world. He has no more expectation to the world. His anguish comes from his experience when he fails to take his problem to the court. His defeat in the legal dispute against his political opponent makes him think that there are no more roads for him to walk. Dante’s failure to resolve his problem is one of the reasons for Zobrist’sendeavor. He does not want to repeat Dante’s failure, which is why he takes this matter to his own hand. Another event that shows Zobrist fanaticism is when he meets Elisabeth Sinsky, the head of World Health Organization. In this event, Zobrist shows a painting with strange and horrific visual – “a painting depicting a vast sea of humanity, throngs of 87 J. Ciardi, The Inferno; Dante’s Immortal Drama of a Journey Through Hell, xiv 88 J. Ciardi, The Inferno; Dante’s Immortal Drama of a Journey Through Hell, xv sickly people, all climbing over one an other in a dense tangle of naked bodies” 89 – the picture makes Sinskey feels uneasy. Zobrist uses a painting from Dore to show the horror of Dante’s inferno to her. Those two events show that Zobrist is a man who devotes his life to Dante’s work. His ideology is energized by his fanaticism. He hates the world as Dante hates it. He loves hell as Dante embraces it. Zobrist is Dante’s child. Zobrist considers himself as a true admirer of the master. Dante teaches Zobrist about desperation. Therefore, Zobrist believes that this world has no value for he wants to create a new world. Furthermore, Dante believes that the cruelest man is a man with no side. Dante’s Inferno exposes Dante’s rage and anger towards his political enemy. In canto II, after Dante and Virgil pass the Hell Gate, Dante hears cries from men who suffer because of their selfishness, they are the opportunist. They live neither for good nor evil. They only think about themselves. Therefore, those are men are the group that has no place, even in hell. Dante writes: What souls are these who run through this black haze? And He to me: “these are the nearly soulless whose lives concluded neither blame nor praise. They are mixed here with that despicable corps of angels were neither for God nor Satan, but only for themselves. The high Creator scourged them from Heaven for its perfect beauty, and Hell will not receive them since the wicked might feel some glory over them”. And I 89 D. Brown, Inferno, 79