Guest Blogger - Maddy F.

Hi there. In my blogging for today I thought I would talk about the last few cantos. It's only been about a week since we finished the cantos so let's hope that everyone hasn't completely forgotten everything about this lovely poem. So first of all, did anyone else find it ironic that the deepest parts of hell were covered in ice? I certainly did, the first thought that came to my mind was the saying "when hell freezes over". So that's that. Secondly, maybe I’m just some sick masochistic lion like Edward Cullen – x) - but I was expecting way more brutal punishments for the deepest circles of hell. To refresh everyone’s memories the ninth circle is split into four regions. The inhabitants of this circle are all traitors, either against their kin, country, or God. In each of the four regions, the sinners are somehow immersed in ice. I mean yea, no one wants to be submerged in ice, but I thought that some of the earlier circles had punishments that were of equal value to those in the ninth circle of hell. For example, in the seventh “pouch” of the eighth circle where there are serpents running around that either bite the spirits to exchange forms with them or in some cases, squeeze the spirits so tight that the spirit and the serpent become combined, sounds pretty terrible to me. Or even in the first ring of circle seven where the blasphemers are condemned to lay on burning sand and have fire raining down on them constantly, so that they are burning from top to bottom. Granted yes, they’re not submerged in the flames, it seems like just the opposite of what is going on in the ninth circle. I was expecting more from the ninth circle I guess, maybe something along the lines of cutting your own limbs off with a weed wacker, having to eat them, and then somehow having this process be repeated over and over for forever. Something like that, but hey, what do I know? Any who, that’s just my thoughts on the last couple of Cantos, have a good weekend everyone! J