Door Two
"This is the door to the second room of Hell. In this room are the murderers, both physical and physiological murderers." She finishes and turns back to the door. She unlocks the last bolt and pushes open the door. Cold rushes out at them. Dante steps in and she closes the door behind him. The light in this room is dull and there are flickering areas, almost as if there is a lighted candle in a draft. The dammed are split into two large groups the psychological murderers and the physical ones, an iron fence between the two. These two groups are then subdivided by the people themselves making small huddled groups around flickering lights. Dante walks closer to one of the groups and looks carefully at the flickering light. Jumping back in surprise he falls over another group of people and lands on his back near the wall. The girl, as she suppresses a grin, walks over to Dante and helps him to his feet.
"What are those things?" Dante asks pointing a trembling finger at one of the flickering objects.
"Those are holograms. They are three dimensional images of an object or person that can move around. They are part of these people's punishments," The girl answers walking over to one of the groups and gesturing for Dante to join her. Dante does so and watches with amazement as the image of a baby crawls around seemingly suspended in midair.
"How is watching a baby punishment?" Dante asks furrowing his forehead. "In the Hell Virgil lead me through the murderers were 'immersed in the boiling blood forever, each according to the degree of his guilt'i"
"Hell has progressed. Today some believe that Hell is worse if it is a state of mind. These sinners are forced to watch the lives of the people they murdered from beginning to end, constantly. Their eyelids are held open and they cannot turn away from the image. They must be constantly be reminded of their guilt. Psychological pain can be worse than physical. However if this punishment becomes ineffective on a resident they are punished in the pit." With the last sentence the girl gestures to the center of the floor where there is a large ravine. Dante crosses over to the pit and stares down.
"They are encased in fire, but yet they do not disintegrate." He said walking back to his guide.
"They must suffer the pain of being burned to death but they do not have the comfort of dying left to them," answers the girl beckoning Dante to follow her to the opposite side of the room where they find a door made of gold coins. There are no locks or doorknobs on the door to this room and Dante looks at his guide expectantly.
i Alighieri, Dante. The Inferno, Signet Classic, NYNY c.1982 P. 110