Thoughout the Dante’s Inferno, Dante shows a fearful depiction of what hell looks like. Throughout this story, Dante Alighieri shows the value of religion in the European society at the time.

One example of this was portrayed in the souls of the uncommitted. These were the people who never chose sides. These people never chose between good or evil and remained neutral, yet in the eyes of god were seen as evil and sent to hell. Choosing anything other than “good” in the eyes of religion was seen as evil and hell worthy. This shows that in the society during Dante’s time, religion was not a matter of choice. It was important and one had to be religious or considered an evil man. People had to always walk in the path of the lord of eventually face this hell that was envisioned at the time. This book shows the beliefs and fears of hell at the time. This shows society’s idea of picking religion of facing hell.

Another example of this was Limbo. Limbo was the first circle of hell. Although these people were never fully considered sinners, these were people that were either unbaptized or never fully accepted christ. They didn’t have to sin or be a bad person to end up here. This shows the immense value and importance of religion in this era. Limbo is a circle of hell and people can be good and still end up there unless they fully accept the religion. Just like the uncommitted, it was telling society to either pick religion or go to hell. People who weren’t religious were considered on a path to hell.

Depictions of hell including anyone who is not religious going to hell essentially scares people into following the religion and it’s principles. Inferno is one of these depictions. Stories like these scare people into valuing religion or face the consequences in this book. It kept the population devoted to god and fearing his wrath.