Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
It is impossible to reduce the iconic complexity of Inferno to
a short list of important symbols. Because the poem is an overarching
allegory, it explores its themes using dozens, even hundreds, of
symbols, ranging from the minutely particular (the blank banner
chased by the Uncommitted in Canto III, symbolizing the meaninglessness
of their activity in life) to the hugely general (the entire story
of The Divine Comedy itself, symbolizing the spiritual
quest of human life). Many of the symbols in Inferno are
clear and easily interpretable, such as the beast Geryon—with the
head of an innocent man and the body of a foul serpent, he represents
dishonesty and fraud. Others are much more nuanced and difficult
to pin down, such as the trio of creatures that stops Dante from
climbing the sunlit mountain in Canto I. When reading Inferno,
it is extremely important to consider each element of the poem according
to how it fits into Dante’s larger system of symbolism—what it says
about the scene, story, and themes of the work and about human life.
Perhaps the most important local uses of symbolism in Inferno involve the punishments of the sinners, which are always
constructed so as to correspond allegorically to the sins that they
committed in life. The Lustful, for example, who were blown about
by passion in life, are now doomed to be blown about by a ferocious storm
for all of time. Other major types of symbols include figures who
represent human qualities, such as Virgil, representative of reason,
and Beatrice, representative of spiritual love; settings that represent
emotional states, such as the dark forest in Canto I, embodying
Dante’s confusion and fear; and figures among the damned who may
represent something more than merely their sins, such as Farinata,
who seems to represent qualities of leadership and political commitment
that transcend his identity as a Heretic in Hell.
