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Allison Culp

UHON 1020

Professor Baker

6 March 2017

Dantes Inferno: The Overlooked Effects of Psychological Torture

Dantes epic poem Inferno is widely renowned for the gruesome physical punishments

souls receive for their mortal sins. Souls are burned eternally, drowned in blood, and beaten

constantly in order to pay for their sins. Due to the lack of articles written about psychological

torture in Inferno it appears as though critics often only focus on the physiological torture sinners

in Dantes hell suffer, but perhaps the worst punishment is psychological. Psychological torture

is found in the ninth circle, the very pit of hell where souls who have committed the most severe

sin are punished. In addition to freezing temperatures, souls guilty of betrayal suffer from a form

of isolation as most are fully submerged under a lake of ice, immobilized and helpless. Similar to

the sinners in the Inferno, veterans of World War II often suffer from physical and psychological

torture; I will show how the tortures in the Inferno are mirrored in Laura Hillenbrands war

biography Unbroken in this paper. I have chosen to focus on World War II veterans due to the

prevalence of PTSD after this war and Hillenbrands truthful and extensive biography about a

specific veteran: Louis Zamperini. Several studies are also incorporated to show how mental

trauma leads to severe long-lasting effects, resulting in physiological issues and post-traumatic

stress disorder (PTSD) in war veterans. Through these similarities and the issues that arise from

psychological torture seen in war veterans, I argue that psychological torture is more detrimental

to ones well-being and the effects longer-lasting than those produced by physical torture.
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In order to discuss the punishments in Dantes Inferno, one most first understand the

concept of contrapasso because it dictates how one will be punished. Through contrapasso, a

soul will receive a punishment that cleverly matches the offense he or she committed in life.

Contrapasso thus functions not merely as a form of divine revenge, but rather as the fulfillment

of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life (Brand). For example, in the fifth

circle of hell the wrathful relentlessly tear each other apart and in the seventh circle the violent

boil in the blood caused by their bloodshed. The most gruesome punishment in the epic poem

comes from the ninth chasm of the eighth circle of hell. Here the sinners bodies are mutilated,

wounds gaping and organs hanging out as a devil waits with a sword to carve / each of us

afresh each time weve gone / our circuit round this road, where while we grieve / our wounds

close up before we pass him again (Dante 28.37-40). The souls in this circle of hell caused

schism and discord in life and are physically divided in half for this. The endless physical

torment the souls suffer forces them to break down and grieve for their sins. An atmosphere of

dread fills this circle as the souls walk in a defeated, sad promenade, knowing that only more

torment lies ahead of them for eternity.

However, some defiant souls refuse to accept their punishment or lament for what they

have done. One example comes from the third circle of the seventh layer as Capaneus angrily

calls out, Though Jove may wear / His smith out, from whom anger made him seize / the

sharpened bolt that smote me my last day / he still will not have had / the pleasure of his

vengeance (Dante 14. 42-50). While one may believe that his punishment is futile, psychologist

John Alcorn states that yet Capaneus scorns Gods revenge and therein lies his deeper,

emotional suffering Capaneuss greatest suffering an inner torment- is to remain in the grip

of pride, contempt, anger: the emotions that undid him in life. Psychological punishment stems
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from his physical punishment and it is this mental suffering that affects Capaneus most. He can

ignore the fiery desert that scars his body, but he cannot ignore the negative emotions he must

endure for the rest of his existence.

Veterans of war often suffer similar physiological torture during combat. The biography

Unbroken details the horrible physical punishments World War II veteran Louis Zamperini

endured as a prisoner of war. Targeted by a Japanese army sergeant named Mutsuhiro

Wantanabe, Zamperini is continuously tortured by being punched, kicked, and forced to hold a

heavy wooden beam above his head for close to an hour. This is only a glimpse at the inhumane

treatment prisoners of war experienced in World War II. The following is an account of what

Zamperini himself suffered in this prisoner of war camp in a CBN interview:

[]every one of them [generals] is either swearing at ya, throwing rocks at ya, or jabbing

ya with sticks, spitting on ya. You know, and here you are 65 pounds, you got constant

diarrhea, youre starved, they throw a rice ball, they don't give it to ya. It falls on the

floor. You have to spend hours picking up every grain of rice mixed in with the dirt. It

just seemed like that line would never end.

These horrific living conditions and physical torture methods mirror what the souls in Dantes

Inferno feel. Just as the veteran Zamperini felt that this torment would never end, the souls are

condemned to their suffering eternally. While the punishments described in Inferno are extreme

in comparison to what is observed in Unbroken (souls burning in flames, drowning in blood, and

begin ripped open by devils) its comparable in how inhumane the punishments are in the

Japanese POW camps.

It is evident that the souls in Dantes Inferno suffer a great deal of physical punishment,

but those guilty of the worst crime, betrayal, endure a more psychological punishment. As Virgil
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and Dante approach the ninth circle, Dante is at a loss for words when he sees the sinners trapped

and frozen beneath a lake of ice. This may appear as a physical punishment, but Hernan Reyes,

MD on the International Committee of the Red Cross, defines psychological methods as those

that cause disruptions of the senses or per, without causing physical pain or leaving any visible

physical sequelae. These non-physical methods include sleep deprivation; solitary

confinement; fear and humiliation; severe sexual and cultural humiliations; the use of threats and

phobias to induce fear of death or injury; use of other techniques such as forced nudity,

exposure to cold temperatures, light deprivation, etc. (Reyes). I argue that the souls in this circle

are suffering both from solitary confinement as they are unable to speak or interact with the

others at all, and from freezing temperatures as the spirits livid to where the cheeks / Turn color

with shame were locked inside the ice, / Teeth chattering the note a storks beak makes (Dante

32.33-34). The scars are inflicted on the mind, not the body. This severe isolation goes against

the inherent need for human interaction. University of Chicago Professor John Cacioppo argues

that there are negative physical and mental effects on those who experience isolation and that this

is driven by ancestral roots (The University of Chicago). That is, human beings feel an

instinctual need to be near others. To separate people and keep them in isolation is to deprive

them of a basic necessity that could have negative physical and psychological effects. As

mentioned, the sinners in the ninth chasm of the eighth circle of hell suffer a horrific physical

punishment as their bodies are relentlessly mutilated. However, they seem to find temporary

solace in Dante as they stop to stare, forgetting their torment in wonder for a time (Dante

28.52). This shows how essential interpersonal relationships are to the development and well-

being of a person and how pain can be eased by human interaction. This therefore suggests that

physical punishment alone is not as detrimental as psychological torture.

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Isolation also has profound effects on mental health and can actually be attributed to

physical ailments such as basic vegetative functions. In Rona M. Fields study The

Neurobiological Consequences of Psychological Torture she states that in 1971, findings

reported in a series of articles indicated that prolonged stress through time disorientation, sensory

deprivation and overcrowding cage-like confinement resulted in measurable organic

damage. Out of the 125 participants, two-thirds were found to have measurable brain damage

two years after their release (Fields). This shows the longevity psychological torture has on the

entire body and how it is more detrimental to the person overall. The body is generally able to

correct any injuries through a variety of immune responses, but severe mental distress is unlikely

to be reversed and more likely to persist years after the trauma has occurred.

Veterans of war may also be victims of psychological torture, particularly if they are held

as prisoners of war. In this paper I am focusing particularly on veterans of World War II. The

United States Code defines psychological torture as severe mental pain or suffering caused by

the threat of, or actual, administration of procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses

or personality (Reyes). The torture methods used on Zamperini and other American soldiers in

World War II are very similar to what the souls in the ninth layer of hell suffer; solitary

confinement, humiliation, cruel and unusual living conditions, and more that have greater effects

on the mind than on the body. This is represented in Unbroken as Zamperini is forced to state

false facts on a radio station in the prisoner of war camp in Japan that will be broadcasted to

America, terrorized by the Japanese sergeants on Execution Island, and exposed to extremely

high temperatures. Though the physical torture took a large toll on Zamperini in the prisoner of

war camp, his biggest and most devastating loss was his dignity: This self-respect and sense of
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self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of

it is to be dehumanized Without dignity, identity is erased (Hillenbrand 182).

These traumatic events may result in post-traumatic stress disorder to develop after a

soldiers service in the war which is characterized by symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks,

negative changes and beliefs, and hyperarousal per the National Center for PTSD. In Unbroken,

Hillenbrand includes that the emotional injuries were much more insidious, widespread, and

enduringNearly forty years after the war, more than eighty-five percent of former Pacific

POWs in one study suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (Hillenbrand 347). The fact that

war veterans often suffer from this long-lasting mental disorder suggests that psychological

torture is more devastating to the well-being of an individual, even after many years. While

veterans may still experience flashbacks from their physical punishments, most of the scars on

the body will heal while the scars on the mind may not.

To strengthen the argument that psychological torture is more effective than physical

torture, it was found in the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual that the CIA has

carried out several behavioral and mind control experiments. Many of these experiments

included psychological torture methods that were aimed at inducing psychological regression

(Ojeda). In his book The Trauma of Psychological Torture Almerindo E. Ojeda states that the

researchers had discovered that psychological torture was more effective than physical torture

because the detainee suffered much more rapid deterioration if the pain seemed self-inflicted

The KUBARK Manual quoted When the individual is told to stand at attention for long

periods the immediate source of pain is not the interrogator but the victim himself (p.27).

This can be observed in Unbroken as Zamperini is forced to hold a heavy wooden beam for as

long as possible, knowing that the threat of physical punishment awaited him otherwise. He
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therefore is torturing himself mentally, causing his own pain rather than it being inflicted upon

him by others. This can also be observed in Dantes Inferno in the ninth layer of hell when Dante

talks to Count Ugolino. He has been sent to this layer because of his betrayal to his city, but after

being betrayed by the Archbishop Ruggieri, he and his sons were inevitably killed by starvation.

Ugolino was forced to watch his sons die and then states, hunger had more / Power than even

sorrow had over me suggesting that he submitted to cannibalism (Dante 33.71-72). Ugolino

then continues to gnaw on the head of the archbishop, a perpetual reminder of the horrible deed

he committed once in life. Before recounting his story to Dante he says You ask me to endure /

Reliving a grief so desperate, the thought / Torments my heart even as I prepare / To tell it

(Dante 33.5-7) proving that having to relive this traumatic experience and continuously be

reminded of it is much more sorrowful than any physical punishment that could be inflicted upon

him by someone else.

Another study released in 2010 observed PTSD symptoms in 275 Palestinian ex-prisoner

males as they were exposed to thirty different methods of interrogation and abuse. Both physical

and psychological torture methods resulted in high levels of PTSD symptoms, but only

psychological torture was significantly associated with somatic symptoms, that is, physical

symptoms associated with PTSD such as weight loss, hypertension, and pain (Punamaki et al).

This corresponds with the above study conducted by Fields about the physical effects that may

result from intense psychological damage. Because prisoners of war are often forced to conceal

all emotion they are at greater risk for somatic and mental problems later on that are associated

with PTSD. The longevity of the issues that stem from psychological torture is much greater than

those associated with physical torture, reemphasizing how detrimental psychological torture truly

is.
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Psychological torture and disorders resulting from this mental degradation will often be

overlooked because it is more difficult to measure the severity of psychological torture than

identifying physical torture. In Dantes Inferno the physical punishments are more prominent

throughout the epic poem and certainly the graphic images allow readers to understand that

physical suffering. However the psychological aspects of the sinners punishments are more

difficult to pinpoint and quantify in the epic poem given the abstract nature of mental trauma.

Isolation, freezing temperatures, and lack of dignity cause the souls great anguish without having

the three-headed monster Cerberus claw at the sinners in the third circle or devils mutilate their

bodies as seen in the eighth circle. In the ninth circle they suffer silently without any free will as

they are trapped and immobile in the freezing ice. There is no physical pain, only numbness and

the mental anguish that confronts the souls eternally. Therefore, those guilty of the most severe

sin, betrayal, are sent to the very pit of hell to experience the most severe punishment:

psychological torture. Long-term exposure to this form of punishment may eventually lead to

greater, lasting effects, making psychological torture more detrimental to the overall well-being

of a person, both mentally and physically.

Though the punishments in Dantes Inferno are largely physical, I have shown that the

most severe sin suffers the most severe punishment that is psychological. The greater effects of

psychological torture are shown through war veterans such as Louie Zamperini who suffered a

great deal of psychological torture as a prisoner of war in World War II. While veterans

experience great physical deterioration during war, particularly in prisoner of war camps, the

dehumanization they are exposed to remains long after their wartime casualties have healed.

Flashbacks, anxiety, mood swings, and aggression are only a few symptoms of PTSD a victim

may experience. In conjunction with suffering from this mental disorder, studies such as Fields
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and Punamakis have shown that physiological symptoms such as brain damage and issues with

homeostatic units such as the maintenance of organ systems may arise. Because psychological

torture is capable of creating a long-lasting mental disorder and produce somatic symptoms that

may severely affect daily life, I conclude that psychological punishment is comparably worse to

physical punishment in that it disrupts the well-being of an individual indefinitely.

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Works Cited

Alcorn, John. Suffering in Hell: The Psychology of Emotions in Dantes Inferno. Pedagogy,

vol. 13, no. 1, 2013, pp. 77-85.

Brand, Peter and Lino Pertile, ed. The Cambridge History of Italian Literature. Cambridge

University Press, March 2008, Google Books. Web. 1 Dec 2016.

Dante, Alighieri. The Inferno of Dante. Translated by Robert Pinsky. New York: Farrar, Straus

and Giroux, 1994.

Fields, Rona M. The Neurobiological Consequences of Psychological Torture. University of

California, Davis. http://humanrights.ucdavis.edu/resources/library/documents-and-

reports/Fields.pdf

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken. Random House, 2010. Print.

Ojeda, Almerindo E. The Trauma of Psychological Torture. Greenwood Publishing Group, May

2008. Web. 28 Feb. 2017

Punamaki, Raija-Leena et al. Nature of Torture, PTSD, and Somatic Symptoms Among Political

Ex-Prisoners. Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol. 23, no. 4, 2010, pp. 532536.

Reyes, H. The Worst Scars Are in the Mind. International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 89,

no. 867, 2007, pp. 591-617.

The University of Chicago. "Loneliness Undermines Health as Well as Mental Well-Being."

UChicagoNews. 3 Sept. 2008. Web. 6 Dec. 2016

Zamperini, Louis. Unbrokens Louis Zamperini: The Rest of the Story. CBN.

http://www1.cbn.com/video/quot-unbrokens-quot-louis-zamperini-the-rest-of-the-story