In Dante's The Divine Comedy: Inferno, within the second pocket of the seventh circle of Hell, Dante the Pilgrim encounters a gloomy wood. Different than the dark woods with which the poem starts, this forest is filled with trees made fo twisted trunks, rotten-looking leaves, and poisonous thorns. At his guide's insistence, Dante reaches out and snaps off a twig. Blood oozes from the break, accompanied by a human voice screaming, "Why are you rending me?"
It soon becomes apparent that Dante and Virgil, his guide, are in the Forest of the Suicides. Those who "gave up" their bodies through the "unjust" decision of self-slaughter are cast down from the second circle of Hell where King Minos renders judgment. They fall through Hell until landing in this forest where, as a seed, they grow into these twisted saplings. After the resurrection, they will hang their resurrected, lifeless bodies from the thorns of their trees, turning this somber forest into a chilling pathway of hanging corpses.
It's pretty grim stuff.
It's also deeply symbolic (those who discarded the gift of life from God are not allowed to have the blessings of a moving soul; the attempt to escape temporal pain via suicide is prevented by insisting on eternal, continuous pain from which they cannot escape), which makes sense in the greater context of the poem. Though he's not Milton (he's close), Dante is, in his own way, looking to "justify the ways of God to Man." The idea of what to do about suicides is certainly something that fits into his great song, as he seeks--throughout the whole Comedy--to analyze what will happen to the pious and impious alike.
We talked about it today in my classes. Though difficult, I insisted that we discuss suicide, looking as we went why it's hard to talk about suicide. The students, I think, got a pretty strong sense of what Dante was trying to accomplish, but we got to dive deeply into some of the underlying issues of suicide.
One of the things that stood out to me was the idea that within Chapel Valley Utah, there are certain societal pressures that probably don't reside elsewhere. The heavy predominance of the LDS church in this state--and Utah County specifically--puts strains that don't necessarily manifest in other places. I'm thinking particularly of the LGBTQA+ community that happens inside of the Church and how they feel about their place in the community. I found this article to be long but incredibly moving and thought-provoking--a piece of journalism that I don't normally see, especially from CNN. It's almost 100% accurate on its descriptions of Mormon theology (which is rare) and it is much more evocative than most news pieces. It points out that the claim that LGBTQA+ Mormon youth are seeing an uptick in suicides since recent decisions from Salt Lake have come down is unsubstantiated. What is known is that, since I began my teaching career, there's been a threefold increase in suicides in Utah.
I didn't get the opportunity to talk about gender- and sexual identity issues, in part because I didn't feel it was appropriate in the circumstances. But it's something that I worry about a lot. I worry that some of my students may fall into the trap that too many nonbinary conforming LDS youth (honestly, any youth) find themselves in. And maybe I've done some damage: One of the things that I try to emphasize to my students is that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. But if someone is suicidal because of sexual identity, I've essentially dismissed the thing that is a crucial part of their lives. I run the risk of erasing how people view themselves, and that's not something I'm happy doing--especially on accident.
Talking about suicide is hard.
It soon becomes apparent that Dante and Virgil, his guide, are in the Forest of the Suicides. Those who "gave up" their bodies through the "unjust" decision of self-slaughter are cast down from the second circle of Hell where King Minos renders judgment. They fall through Hell until landing in this forest where, as a seed, they grow into these twisted saplings. After the resurrection, they will hang their resurrected, lifeless bodies from the thorns of their trees, turning this somber forest into a chilling pathway of hanging corpses.
It's pretty grim stuff.
It's also deeply symbolic (those who discarded the gift of life from God are not allowed to have the blessings of a moving soul; the attempt to escape temporal pain via suicide is prevented by insisting on eternal, continuous pain from which they cannot escape), which makes sense in the greater context of the poem. Though he's not Milton (he's close), Dante is, in his own way, looking to "justify the ways of God to Man." The idea of what to do about suicides is certainly something that fits into his great song, as he seeks--throughout the whole Comedy--to analyze what will happen to the pious and impious alike.
We talked about it today in my classes. Though difficult, I insisted that we discuss suicide, looking as we went why it's hard to talk about suicide. The students, I think, got a pretty strong sense of what Dante was trying to accomplish, but we got to dive deeply into some of the underlying issues of suicide.
One of the things that stood out to me was the idea that within Chapel Valley Utah, there are certain societal pressures that probably don't reside elsewhere. The heavy predominance of the LDS church in this state--and Utah County specifically--puts strains that don't necessarily manifest in other places. I'm thinking particularly of the LGBTQA+ community that happens inside of the Church and how they feel about their place in the community. I found this article to be long but incredibly moving and thought-provoking--a piece of journalism that I don't normally see, especially from CNN. It's almost 100% accurate on its descriptions of Mormon theology (which is rare) and it is much more evocative than most news pieces. It points out that the claim that LGBTQA+ Mormon youth are seeing an uptick in suicides since recent decisions from Salt Lake have come down is unsubstantiated. What is known is that, since I began my teaching career, there's been a threefold increase in suicides in Utah.
I didn't get the opportunity to talk about gender- and sexual identity issues, in part because I didn't feel it was appropriate in the circumstances. But it's something that I worry about a lot. I worry that some of my students may fall into the trap that too many nonbinary conforming LDS youth (honestly, any youth) find themselves in. And maybe I've done some damage: One of the things that I try to emphasize to my students is that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. But if someone is suicidal because of sexual identity, I've essentially dismissed the thing that is a crucial part of their lives. I run the risk of erasing how people view themselves, and that's not something I'm happy doing--especially on accident.
Talking about suicide is hard.
Comments