Lessons on Good and Evil in Hell In Hell, Dante explores the ideas of Good and Evil. It expands the possibilities of life and death and makes clear that consequences follow actions. Like a little generator moving a little wheel, Dante uses a single character to move through the entire eternity of Hell. Yet, like a clock, that small wheel is essential to turning many others. This single character, Dante himself, reveals in himself the most important abstract meaning: A message to man; a warning about the fate of humanity. Through his adventures, Dante is able to reveal many global concepts of good and evil in humanity. Dante represents the potential of humanity. He falls into the temptations of this world and then, through the Grace of God, human reason and the depths of Hell, he manages to regain the Light he had lost. Each stage of his journey represents a warning to man about the possible outcomes of his actions. The journey itself and the situation Dante finds himself in represent humanity's current position. And his exit from Hell gives hope to all those who "enter here" and turn away from the Narrow Way. As Dante went through Hell, so must humanity, just as Dante had Virgil as his guide, so humanity now has the reason and Faith to guide it. Reason and Faith are not guides that need to be followed. Nor are they very loud in expressing their opinions. For this reason, humanity is now lost in that same "Dark Sign of Error" in which Dante finds himself at the beginning of Hell. Too often we try to amend our mistakes by aiming for the high goal of the Mount of Joy that Dante also aimed for, but just as Dante could not reach it alone, so we are discovering that our human effort... of paper... is the symbol of modern society and its potential to do the same. We were founded as a people on faith, now, like Dante, we must turn to the greater reason and to that same faith to have the strength to travel through the Hell we have created to reach the Mount of Joy again. Works Cited Western World Literature, Volume 2. 4th Edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997. Works consulted Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry. Hell. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.MacAllister, Archibald T. Introduction. Hell. By Dante. New York: Mentor, 1954.Pinsky, Robert. Dante's Inferno. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Shippey, T. A. "To Hell and Out Again." Times Literary Supplement, 8 July 1977, .820.Spinrad, Norman. Introduction to Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979.