No Light on the Hill

One of the main theme's in the poem version of The Inferno is Dante's own personal quest for redemption and guidance in his life, which seems to be without purpose. Dante's Divine Comedy is a three part epic poem of which Inferno is only a small part of, the other two sections focus on purgatory and paradise. In Hell Dante what happens with sinners and those who do not repent their evil ways. But in the next two parts of the Divine Comedy, Dante begins to find his place in life and is set back on the true path to righteousness.

The Dante of the movie however, has no follow up to his time in Hell. In fact, Dante is immediately transported right back to Earth after traversing the Inferno. The Dante in the movie has his sins put on prominent display to the audience. When we first see Dante it is because he is unable to control his desire for alcohol and has passed out. Later when he actually traverses into the circles of Hell he takes far too much interest and satisfaction of the punishment of the lustful. Eventually Dante begins to see how much people truly suffer in Hell and how much an eternity lasts. Even though Dante does see the consequences of sin there is no sign that he actually makes any change for the better. For all we know Dante could immediately return to his sinful ways because his lack of a revelation on the nature of sin.

This failure of Dante to reach Heaven signifies two things. One is a pessimistic view of the afterlife, one in that Hell is the only option because everyone is guilty of sin. Dante's teacher is shown as a good person who Dante had no ill will to but he is in Hell nonetheless because he is gay. The gluttons are in Hell because they are overweight, a condition that is increasingly common in our modern world. Even Hitler who is evil personified is in Hell because he tried to look into the future. Hell seems to be a place where there are so many rules and technicalities that it is impossible to get into Heaven so there is no point in Dante having the ambition to go there. The other idea that a lack of a Heaven signifies is the destruction of the American dream. Many aspects of the film highlight how evil and corrupt America and the elite that run this country have become that no one, not even those who are not sinful like the lawyers, politicians, and bankers, can reach the Heaven that represents the American dream. Our country is so full of injustice and sin that the American dream is impossible to all even those who are good at heart, like Dante.