Libra Essay

            One of the most infamous shooters in American history is explored in Don DeLillo’s Libra. The use of motion, minor characters, and secrecy all explore Lee Harvey Oswald’s solitary nature as portrayed by DeLillo.

            The entire excerpt is told in a series of flashbacks. These flashbacks are not of any one subject matter. They float and vary from neighborhood girls to riding a train. At first, the girls he imagines are light creatures laughing and reminiscent of summer. Next, the audience is struck with an image of an unkind mother. Perhaps, an alchoholic, he names her Maurgerite before mother. This subtle distinguishment is indicative of distance between them. This is unusual as most children could be described as having close relationships with their parents.

            As the flashes progress, the connection between motion and theme become more pronounced. It culminates with a wild train ride. The rush of trains hurtling down tracks feels to the subject like almost a euphoric experience. This constant jumping of scenes, subjects, and even the Oswald himself distances him from everything by allowing us to observe no attatchments.

            The characters Oswald encounters in this segment are incongruous, but each hold a certain meaning to Oswald and the story overall. The first group of people he passes are giggling school girls. Observing their whispers and seemingly secret language, he cannot quite grasp their full meaning. They may speak in English, but to Oswald they aren’t comprehensible. He is on the outside of their tightly-knit group, alone.

            The next person Oswald encounters is Maurgerite, his brisqe mother. Her blatant disregard for her son makes it clear they are not a cohesive family unit. The use of Margerite instead of Mother makes it clear he doesn’t regard her with the normal feelings a child has. Further along, Oswald observes homeless men. They appear to the boy as men who perpetually exist on trains. This correspons to Oswald’s later stated motivation for riding trains, which is because he can and enjoys it. His obvious happiness could be contrasted with the beggars unhappiness because they are both train-riders. Oswald sees in the ragged men a reflection of himself as an outsider.

            Finally, secrecy or indifference separate Lee Harvey Oswald from the normal population in this excerpt. Secrecy has two very distinct and prominent sides in this story. The first is the idea that everyone has secrets that are constantly being hidden from the boy. The girls in dresses all whisper their mysteries to each other, keeping Oswald in the dark by himself. His mother doesn’t explain her desire to leave him, she keeps her motives close and attempts to abandon the young man.

            The other aspect of secrecy is the one within Oswald. He holds a smile all to himself when strolling past girls. His journey though this excerpt culminates with a stealthy train ride. No one is around to witness his dangerous actions between train carts. All of his doings belong to Oswald and the train rides are his ultimate secret, kept from the rest of the world. This solitary activity pushes away others because it is designed for one and Oswald has no intention of opening it to the people he knows.

            Every action and image in this excerpt is a reflection on the distance between Oswald and normal society. It serves as a method to reflect Lee Harvey Oswald onto paper and describe his disturbed personality.

Outline of Hell

1.     1st Circle – Limbo & No Faith, but Okay Anyways

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     The people of this circle are virtuous and relatively good. The only reason these are not in heaven is because they did not believe, or know about, Jesus or Christianity.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     There is no real punishment, but rather a lack of joy. Because they did not follow God, they can never know true happiness. However, they were not sinful so they don’t deserve hurtful punishments according to Dante.

c.      People

                                               i.     Poets: Virgil – Aenied author & Dante’s leader through Hell, Homer – Iliad & Odsyssy author

                                              ii.     Philosophers – Aristotle, Plato

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     None because there is a distinct lack of torture or fear here, only a sort of medium emotion.

e.     Some Allusions

                                               i.     The description of purgatory is a sort of tribute to the ancient Greek idea of the Fields of Asphodel. Usually Asphodel is described as a giant, peaceful meadow with everyone who lived an average life going there. It is isn’t Elysium (Heaven) and it isn’t Tartarus (Hell), it is in between just like limbo.

f.      Theme

                                               i.     One theme in this circle is the idea of the validity through actions. The actions of these people in life were not bad, some where even good, but the lack of belief in God sent them here. It is important to Dante to believe in a good cause ( his was his political allies the Guelphs) and follow through. From Poets to Heros, their actions were positive and socially beneficial, if not always conventionally within reach of Roman Catholism.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     It is filled with green fields and contains an ‘emerald’ lake. This is a very peaceful and there are many souls just sitting around, talking and keeping company.

2.     2^nd Circle – Lust

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     The people who could not control their sexual desires and are therefore out of control. People who use their attractiveness and ones that are promiscuous are also sent here.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     The souls are in a huge storm that tosses them around forever. This punishment is one of the easiest to quarrelate to their sins. Their lack of control, emotionally and physically, is reflected in the storm’s wildness.

c.      People & Allusions

                                               i.     Cleopatra – queen of Egypt and alleged seductress of Mark Antony & Julius Cesear

                                              ii.     Helen – The legendary face that sail 1,000 ships. She is there because her beauty caused so much strife and she did little to address the pain it caused or stop it.

                                            iii.     Dido – The Queen of Carthage who committed suicide after having her lover leave her. This wreckless overabundance od emotion is what lands her in circle two.

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Minos – He assigns incoming souls the level of hell into which they must go. His signal is the number of times he wraps his tail around his body.

e.     Themes

                                               i.     The main theme of this circle is more than just lust. It is a suffering through lack of control and poor temperament.

                                              ii.     Impermanence – None of the riches or love that the people in circle two acquired in life remained. Even before death most of them lost everything.

f.      Description of Area

                                               i.     Huge, dusty winds prevail in this circle. They obscure any other detail.

3.     3^rd Circle – Gluttony

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     People in this circle are guilty of consuming and using too much of everything in life without producing anything worthwhile.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     The people in this level have to lie on the ground in filth and worms while a cold, heavy rain pounds upon them. In life gluttonous people crave too much of anything. Because they wanted so badly, they are rewarded in the afterlife with too much crap, literally, and other distgusting things.

c.      People

                                               i.     Ciacco – a contemporary of Dante who is mentioned as being a fellow Florentine

                                              ii.     Florence

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Cereberus – barks at the souls and tears them apart with his mouths and huge claws

e.     Allusions

                                               i.     In line 85 Virgil mentions the ‘angel’s conclusive trumpet’ this is a reference to the second coming. This is the theoretical time of the Apocolypse and Jesus Second Coming. In this tidbit we can gather that souls have the possible opertunity to be saved once Jesus comes back and rejudges them.

f.      Theme

                                               i.     This circle enforce the idea of God washing away sins and as an ultimate savior. In life, the rain that falls here would have been cleansing. In death, this rain is torment because they denied His cleansing. Plus, the ground is so soaked with their metaphorical waste, that even God’s grace doesn’t change it.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     The rain, fog, and stench obscure much of the level from plain sight. It is damp, depressing and fits the gluttonous because they never clearly did any good.

4.     4^th Circle – Greed

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     There are two types of greedy people described in this canto.

                                              ii.     Hoarders are those who amassed wealth and were selfish with it, denying others any help despite their ability to help those less fortunate.

                                            iii.     Wasters are those who constantly squandered their wealth, but wanted more even after they spent it.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     Both categories of the Greedy are forced to have huge boulders strapped to their bodies while they run around fighting each other. The boulders are representative of their huge desire for stuff in life. They metaphorically carry all of that which they once wished for, but they cannot pay for it to be removed.

c.      People

                                               i.     Clergy – Many people belonging to the church’s order are found here. So much so that Dante thinks that half of the total population is clergymen. This doesn’t speak so well of the Church and gives us a picture of Dante’s thoughts on the Roman Catholic Church at the time.

                                              ii.      

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Plutus – Dante is immeadiately greeted with a disfigured giant wolf that speaks nonsense.

e.     Allusions

                                               i.     Charybdis – In line twenty Dante describes the punishment of the sinners ‘like waves above Charybdis’. Charybdis is an ancient Grecian ocean dwelling monster. It would open its jaws and a whirlpool would form, sucking ships and people in.

f.      Themes

                                               i.     Ignorance is mentioned by Virgil in many direct and indirect ways. All of the money in the world cannot remove their punishment and sin, yet they were willfully/hopefull ignorant of this in life.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     It is rocky and dry with huge boulders and a lot of noise.

5.     5^th Circle – Wrath

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     Again there are two categories of people in the 5^th level.

                                              ii.     The wrathful are those who were extremely angry in life and reacted outwardly with their anger.

                                            iii.     The sullen also had huge amounts of (unfounded) anger, but they repressed it within themselves.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     Wrathful souls with outwards anger are forced to fight on the banks of the Styx. This is understandable because in life their anger was unleashed upon others and this is a continuation of that, but now they are retaliated against.

                                              ii.     Sullen inhabitants are forced to swallow the muck and mud of the Styx while submerged in it. In life they wallowed in their own anger and did nothing, so now in the afterlife they are forced to wallow but in the mud.

c.      People

                                               i.     Fillipo Argenti – a member of the sullen category, he was a rival of Dante’s in life.

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Phlegyas – the boatman that carries souls from one side of the River Styx to the other. He tries to oppose Dante’s passage due to his humanity, but is told off by Virgil.

e.     Allusions

                                               i.     Phlegyas as a transporter is a nod to Charon, ancient Greek boatman across the River Styx to the underworld. He is also an allusion to an ancient man who set a temple of Apollo on fire in a fit of rage.

f.      Theme

                                               i.     Control: The entire river features those who are uncontrollable. Their temperament is unbalanced and therefore dangerous. Moderation was heavily emphasized in Dante’s era because it was equated with virtuosity. Those who are out of control in life deserve hell, in Dante’s eye.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     Interestingly, the Styx is described as a marsh, opposed to an actual River. The degredation from swift river to sluggish mire makes sense because the wrathful seem to stew in their anger and wrongdoings, like a marshes stillness.

6.     Banks of Styx – Between Styx and City of Dis

a.     As Dante and Virgil arrive across the marsh, they encounter a tower and the Wall of Dis. This wall is the symbolic separation between sinners that are passive (Circle 1-5) and those who actively conspire to harm (Circle 6-9).

b.     The City of Dis is the collective name for levels 6-9. These are collectively more horrible sins than those above them.

c.      Monsters

                                               i.     From the tops of the walls come the cries of fallen angels. They deny Dante and Virgil entrance until a messenger from Paradise opens the gates.

                                              ii.     Here the companions encounter the Furies, who call upon Medusa to stop Dante and Virgil. They are also thwarted by Heaven’s messenger.

7.     6^th Circle – Heresy

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     Heretics who actively oppose God’s word and those who practice contrary to its teachings.

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     The heretics lie in unbearably hot tombs. The fire of life, God, which they once denied by either not believing or pretending to do his work now burns them forever. As more are buried, the older ones get sent down further and it gets hotter. It is one of the most vengeful and dynamic of the punishments in Hell, as it evolves throughout time.

c.      People & Allusions

                                               i.     Epicurueans – a people who worshipped a false religion

                                              ii.     Farinata Uberti– this man was a political and personal rival of Dante, he predicted Dante would be exiled from Florence and battled Dante’s family.

                                            iii.     Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti – a relative and political ally of Uberti, so an enemy of Dante

                                            iv.     Frederick II – a pope

                                              v.     Many clergy members – ironic because of their supposed holy status, Dante clearly has an issue with the Church

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     The Furies and Medusa lurk somewhere within the wall, but they make an appearance before the two step foot in this circle.

e.     Theme

                                               i.     Church & State: This circle features many church authorites, clergymen, and politicians. The interwined nature of religion and politics of Italy in Dante’s time cannot be understated. Because religion and the church often ruled politics, those who abused power were often terrible to the general public good.

f.      Description of Area

                                               i.     The whole area is rocky and covered in tombs. The heat in this circle is mentioned as being intense even for Dante and Virgil.

                                              ii.     The transition between 6 & 7 is a broken, dangerous clif that the two must traverse to get lower.

8.     7^th Circle – Violence

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     Six categories of violent people go here, each with their own unique punishment.

                                              ii.     People violent against their neigbors are in the outer ring of circle seven. Circle 1

                                            iii.     Those who are violent against themselves (suicide) are in the central ring. Circle 2

                                            iv.     The worst of the violent sinners are those who were violent against God (blasphemy) in life. Circle 3

                                              v.     These souls have committed sins against Nature (sodomites). Circle 3

                                            vi.     The last sinners in 7 are those who have been violent against Art (usuerers). Circle 3

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     Souls who were violent to neighbors (murderers and tyrants) are in a river of boiling blood, the Phlegethon. In life these souls enjoyed the bloodshed of their victims so now the blood they savored is boiling them and causing pain.

                                              ii.     The second circle of suicide-committers are turned into trees then pecked upon by Harpies for eternity. Because they destroyed their own body, they have none in hell. Plus, their destroying God’s gift of life makes them unable to communicate with him using their bodies.

                                            iii.     In the inner circle is reserved for those who commit sins against God, Nature, and Art. This whole inner circle is composed of burning hot sand. The God-sinners are stretched out on the sand while Heaven’s fires rain down upon them. The divine fire they denied is turned against them. The Nature-sinners are constantly running around on the hot sand. The denial of their natural states when they are alive in turn makes them acknowledge the natural desert as real in death. The Art-sinners are huddled and crouched on the ground.

c.      People

                                               i.     1^st Circle

1.     Alexander the Great, Atilla the Hun, Dionysus of Syracruse

                                              ii.     2^nd Circle

1.     Pier del Vigna

                                            iii.     3^rd Circle

1.     Brunetto Lattini

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Minotaur – in life he hunted and consumed any unlucky enough to fall into his maze, very violent and gruesome – perfect for the circle of violence

                                              ii.     Centaurs – Chiron was the tutor of Achilles, Pholus full of rage, the centaurs hunt souls to torment in this circle of hell

                                            iii.     Harpies – monsters that destroy everything they touch and pick upon the souls who committed suicide

                                            iv.     Geryon – a flying monster that was supposed to lure travelers in and kill them, in this story Dante and Virgil climb upon his back and he takes them to level eight

e.     Allusions

                                               i.     Deianira was the third wife of Heracle. A centaur tried to rape her, but was killed by Heracles. The centaur told her as he was dying that she could use his blood to stop Heracles from cheating if she ever suspected it. She purposefully used blood on a shirt when she suspected he was having an affair. However, the stopping of the affair was actually because the blood burned and melted skin causing Heracles’ death.

f.      Theme

                                               i.     The Sacred: In this circle things that have been defiled in life are rectified. The sacredness of body,  nature, and God. Sanctity is essential to purity and goodness in Dante’s eyes. The violence these sinners committed is a mark against holiness.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     There are three circles in this level, bulls eye shaped, each dedicated to a unique type of violent sinner.

                                              ii.     The outer circle is the River Phlegethon, which is composed of blood. This is river #2 they have encountered.

                                            iii.     The second circle is a dark wood and the trees themselves souls continuously picked on by harpies.

                                            iv.     The vast inner circle is a plain of burning sand.

9.     8^th Circle – Fraud

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     A ton of different people are under this barrier. Each one has their own ring circling down to the 9^th level. Here they are in descending order:

                                              ii.     Panderers & Seducers/Flatterers

                                            iii.     Simonacs (clergy people who sold divine favors for personal ones)

                                            iv.     Fortunetellers/Astrologers/Magicians

                                              v.     Barrators (harassers for financial gain)

                                            vi.     Hypocrites

                                           vii.     Thieves

                                         viii.     False Counselors (deceivers)

                                            ix.     Sowers of Discord

                                              x.     Falsifiers

1.     Of metals (alchemy), person (impersonators), coins (counterfeit), words (false witness)

                                            xi.     Giants

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     Panderers are forced to run around being lashed by demons because in life they ran to and fro, selling cheap things.

                                              ii.     Flatters are drowned in a river of human crap because in life they spoke nothing but bad (incorrect & wrong) words in life.

                                            iii.     Simonacs are place upside down in a hole with their feet being burnt. The hole represents the sacred office they held in life, while the inversion represents their inversion of morals and responsibility.

                                            iv.     The Barrators are submerged in hot sludge and poked/grabbed by demons anytime they emerge. This is due to the barrators’ desire to grab and ake anything they could in life, so they are in urn grabbed by demons.

                                              v.     Hypocrites are forced to wear cloaks of lead. This represents the double meaning of their words/actions in life because a cloak is good, while lined with lead is suffocating like their words.

                                            vi.     Thieves are tomented and raped by snakes because the snakes are sneaky and evil, just as the crime of thievery is in Dante’s mind.

                                           vii.     Deceivers are hidden in raging flame. Because in life the deceivers were hidden away in their words, they are hidden in hellfire.

                                         viii.     Discord Sowers are cut apart by demon swords and forced to walk around as they heal again then repeat the process. Because God’s creations are all joined together and discord severs the ties, they are severed like their previous actions.

                                            ix.     Falsifiers

1.     Of metal are plagued with festering scabs representing the false medicine they tried to sell in life.

2.     Of coins & people  - walk around each other trying to tear every soul apart like wild animals because they forgot themselves in their own lies.

                                              x.     Giants are chained like they tried to chain god with the Tower of Babel or civilization with opposing Zues.

c.      People & Allusions

                                               i.     Mohammed  - the founder of Islam and regarded by Dante as a sower of Discord because of the religion and the following crusades of Christian vs Muslim

                                              ii.     Ulysses – the Greek hero (AKA Odysseus) is in the fraudulent counselors because of his part in convincing Troy to open its gates to the hidden warriors

                                            iii.     Guido da Montefeltro – a contemporary of Dante, he was a politician and tactician of Dante’s enemies the Ghibellines

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Horned demons with pitch forks

                                              ii.     Malebranche – flying demons who guide the companions, they are slightly comical in a grotesque way

                                            iii.     Antaeus – the giant who in life wrestled people and took their skulls in life. Dante & Virgil were transported by him from the 8^th to 9^th circle.

e.     Theme

                                               i.     Cause & Effect: Direct punishments and the worst of the sinners of earth are approaching. Contrapasso is very important to Dante, it is balance and a sort of divine justice. The justice is God’s will and all of the sinners receive punishment equal to their earthly crimes.

f.      Description of Area

                                               i.     Each circle is connected to the next by bridges. Every circle has a unique torture.

10. 9^th Circle – Traitors

a.     Who Goes There?

                                               i.     Four categories in descending order:

                                              ii.     Traitors to Kin

                                            iii.     Traitors to Homeland

                                            iv.     Traitors to Guests

                                              v.     Traitors to Benefactors

b.     Punishments & Their Fittingness

                                               i.     In Caina, the sinners are all immersed up to their necks in the frozen lake. They’re able to move their necks and heads, but are mainly bent down. Their punishment is appropriate because their souls in life were treacherous to those closest to them, therefore they are kept imprisoned by themselves without others. The isolation they imposed by betrayel in life is reflected here.

                                              ii.     Antenora occupiers are also immersed in ice up to their necks and heads, but cannot move their necks. This is due to their lack of emotion in betrayal symbolized by their immobility and iciness.

                                            iii.     Ptolomea sinners are

c.      People

                                               i.     The names of each circle are for great sinners located in their respective ice circle.

                                              ii.     Count Bocca degli Abati – this guy was a political enemy of Dante and he was considered by Dante to be a traitor to Florence

                                            iii.     Archbishop Ugolino & Ruggieri – these two souls are sentenced in Antenora are there because in life they beytrayed Pisa , plus Ugolino brutally murdered his family and tried to justify it in life

                                            iv.     Judas Iscariot – the betrayer of Jesus, doesn’t get much worse than that

d.     Monsters

                                               i.     Satan – ultimate torturer. He is as big as the worlds diameter and his three mouths each hold one sinner: Judus, Cassius and Brutus

e.     Allusions

                                               i.     Antenora – a man who let the Greeks into Troy with the Trojan horse, his namesake for the betrayers of country ring is quite fitting

                                              ii.     Cocytus – the river in Greek mythology that means lamentation, it is the ultimate sorrow, very fitting for the final level of hell

                                            iii.     Typhon – a giant who once opposed Zeus and the Gods. The gods are a sort of representation of the modern world and western civilization, Christianity along with it.

f.      Themes

                                               i.     Immobility: In the 9^th circle many of the punishment revolve around the lack of movement. This is a larger idea of lack of life because movement and life are equated. No living thing is ever permanently immobile, only death is a true stopping.

g.     Description of Area

                                               i.     Cocytus is a frozen lake/river that is the entirety of circle nine, including the final sinners personally persecuted by Satan. The outer circle is called Caina, the next Antenora, the third Ptolomea, and finally Judecca is the inner ice circle.