Fire & Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
and would suffice.

In the Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, Dante travels through the nine  rings of hell and throughout these rings we see the symbols of fire and ice. The symbol of fire is used in the six, seventh, and eight circle of hell, while the symbol of ice is only used in the ninth. These two symbols are used in expression of god feelings toward the sinners, fire represents god’s anger while ice represents god’s love toward them. This shows that Dante’s plan for hell is that even though god is angry at you he still loves you in the end.

            As Dante travels through hell he sees the elements of fire and ice as punishments for the sinners. Even though they are involved with the punishments each element is a symbol of gods feelings. Fire is the symbol of gods anger toward the sinners, and it is used in the six, seventh, and eight circle of hell. In the six circle of hell the sinners are the ones that did not believe in the afterlife and god. The sinners of circle seven are the ones that had committed violence against god, god’s nature, and other men. The sinners of circle eight are the ones that have committed fraud using gods free will. Fire is used in these circles because god was angry at the sinners who didn’t believe or committed violence in god’s name. However in circle nine we see the symbol of ice.

            In the ninth circle of hell we see the only use of ice. The sinners that reside in this circle are the ones that did not accept god’s love in their lifetime. God had put ice here as a punishment to the sinners, but also to show that god still loves them even though they did not accept god into their hearts. In this circle resides Satan, who was an angel of god but eventually betrayed him and god sent him to hell, but he is frozen into the ice which shows that even if you betray god he still loves you.

            The symbols of fire and ice relate to Dante’s overall plan for hell. As he traveled through hell Dante saw the sinners that god was angry with and made them punish for it. However as he went deeper into hell he saw that everything ends in ice, or god’s love.