What Does Canto Xvi Symbolize Dante's Inferno

The appalling occurrences at Auschwitz concentration camp are infamous, and Primo Levi's memoir If This is a Man staggeringly illustrates the atrocities that took place. Within his memoir, Levi refers to “Canto XXVI” from Inferno of Dante's epic poem: The Divine Comedy. Intricately using the symbolism of Dante's circles of Hell, particularly the Eighth Circle of Hell, he represents his descent into his own Hell; Auschwitz and the horrifying conditions there. Likewise, Levi weaves in a parallel of the dynamic duo of Dante and Virgil, through Levi and Jean, the Alsatian 'Pikolo’, the Kapo's assistant in the chapter. It illustrates a moment in time where Levi briefly resurfaces from his misery of being Muselmänner; the drowned, as he recalls his

Levi associates the conditions of the environment through the imagery of Hell, establishing the setting as a place of constant suspicion, deceit and trickery. Dante’s Eighth Circle of Hell is divided into 10 'Bolgias' or 'evil ditches'. In parallel, Levi encounters circumstances that are similar. The ten Bolgias illustrate the abyss of torture and suffering that Auschwitz was for Levi and those imprisoned, and those described in Dante's Bolgias are representative of what the prisoners have become as a result of continuous agony. Bolgias 1 and 2 consist of panderers, seducers and flatterers, all of which allude to the minor character Henri. Of all the prisoners, Levi is irked by Henri the most, a man whom he brands as the "professional seducer" (P.133) due to his cunning and deceiving nature where "...there is no heart so hardened that Henri cannot breach it if he sets himself to it seriously" (P.111). Levi mistrusts Henri’s manipulation of others to benefit oneself. Through Levi's verb choice of “breach” to describe Henri's actions, he implies how he violates others for his own gain, no matter how “hardened” or protected they are. This evidently conveys the essence of the two Hells, which diminishes a man to such deeds, to such cynical

As Levi recalls the poem, it was "as if I also was hearing it for the first time: like the blast of a trumpet, like the voice of God." and this allowed Levi to "for a moment, forget who I am and where I am." (P.126). These two phrases clearly show how despite the agony in which he lives, Dante's words are like an epiphany which provides the ultimate relief, a reminder of who he was before, and a catalyst which allows Levi to recover himself, as he is transported back to his Italian culture that had been extinguished upon entrance into Auschwitz. Yet, Dante's words not only lend comfort and a greater understanding of "all men who toil" (P.127), but gives the sense that it related "to us in particular", regenerating a personality and individualizing him. Nevertheless, as Levi and the Pikolo reach the soup queue, the final words of Dante’s Canto 26: "over [his] head the hollow seas closed up" (P.128), conveys that Levi's feelings of relief are now over. As they near the end of the queue, the others serve as a visual representation of the brutal reality he lives in. However, the true aspect that causes Levi's devastation owes to the fact that Levi was not able to complete the Canto Ulysses. Through Levi's attempt to "keep Pikolo back" as "it is vitally necessary and urgent that he listen"