ment is not consciously devoted to morals and righteousness.The Inferno is probably the most realistic section of the DivineComedy because itcomes closer to fitting the people's perception of what Hell is reallylike then thanPurgatory and Paradise do. People's mental image of Hell is an evil,dark, and scary placethat is full of fire and that is exactly the way Dante depicts it. Peopleare eager to see, hear,and read about violence, blood, and gore and the Inferno is full of itwhich helps the readerto pay closer attention to it. In a sense Dante is trying to scare therighteousness intopeople. Dante himself became scared when he read the inscription abovethe gate of Hellthat read "ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER HERE" (1424) because hedid not realize that the inscription was only intended for those who hadalready died. Theinscription implies the horror of total despair. It suggests that anyonethat enters Hell atanytime must abandon all hope, so Dante thought he was included in this.Hell is the placefor those who deliberately and consciously chose an evil way of life.There is a place inHell called the Vestibule for people who did not make a conscious choicebetween Heavenand Hell. Dante emphasizes that Hell is for those who chose it and thatchoice isirrevocable. If you commit an act of sin you will be automaticallycondemned to Hell. Theentire basis of Hell is that it is for those who died unrepentant of theirsins. Hell is filledwith people whom at the moment of death were either unrepentant or weresaved but werestill committing the same sins. In Hell you get exactly what you giveforever.Purgatory is a place that not many protestants know about or thinkabout so it is notas familiar to people as Heaven and Hell are. All our lives people aretaught that if you sinyou will go to Hell and if you don't sin you will go to Heaven; there hasnever been any inbetween. Purgatory is a place for people whom either repented shortlybefore they...
