Dante's Inferno Today?

I think after reading both of these pieces, the decision as to what book I was going to choose as more applicable to modern day society became painfully obvious. Beowulf despite demonstrating wonderful character traits of courage, bravery, friendship, loyalty; and heroism, is not something I feel applies to our everyday lives as much as the lessons in Dante's Inferno. I say this because although the inferno doesn't reference karma directly, it reflects the principal of karma almost perfectly. It is the belief that for every action, there will be an equal, and opposing reaction. However karma doesn't just stop there it takes the idea one step further, by adding the fact that for every bad deed we commit in this life, we will pay for it in the next life.

This idea of being accountable for our actions presently, so as not to suffer the repercussions in the after life is a very old Principal indeed. We see modern examples of karma in society, in a much more severe degree in countries that have adopted an eye for an eye justice system, such as Saudi Arabia, or Singapore. Such as if a man steals, whatever hand he stole said item with gets cut off as a form of justice. This is a stretch of an example, but not without merit.

Consequently, countries that have such harsh laws record a dramatically lower crime rate, than other thriving economies worldwide. Why do these countries boast lower crime rates you ask? Well it's quite simple, and goes right back to this age old idea of karma, being held responsible for your actions whether they be noble endeavors, or evil acts of violence. Despite the overwhelming examples of the same principals in Dante's Inferno being reflected worldwide, I believe there is more to this story then simple parallels between crime, and punishment.

I believe justice systems around the world try and come up with some form of crime vs. punishment system, where the punishment fits the crime/crime fits the punisment..In my final essay I want to examine the circles of hell, which sort of people are each section of hell, and why theyre there. I then would like to compare, and analyze modern days figures such as Saddam Huessein, Adolf Hitler, Lee harvey Oswald, Richard Nixon, Frank Lucas, and compare them to characters in Dantes Inferno. I think would like to classify them to a specific circle of hell represented in Dantes Inferno. This is a simple version of my idea, but I think it would be a very intresting one to explore, and expand upon in my final essay.