Canto XX
The digression of the story of Manto is interesting. It shows that souls in this realm are put there becasue of magic use. However, it doesnt seem like Manto has done much to deserve to be put in this ring of hell. The story could be a condemning of the people of mantua, a rival city-state, to florence.
Bodies of water are a motif and mean different things throughout the story.
Canto XXI
lines 10-..."and so instead one uses the time to make his ship anew...
Boats are a motif in Dantes Inferno, the dragon creature that carried them to the eighth level was depicted as a boat. Now the level is compared to the winter when people use the time to repair their ships and put new tar on them. Boats symbolize travel and new places. Boats could be used in this poem because they symbolize the travel to a new level or into a new place.
Canto XXII
line 137--"A full grown hawk equipped with claws to respond"
the conparing of the demons to hawks is an interesting idea. hawks symbolize flight, hunting, and freedom. However, the demons are only free in that they are not tortured in hell, they are only stuck there. They do however hunt the souls of hell and fly.
When the two demons fall into the tar and burn they are compared to crusts, suggesting that they have no middle or soul. Hawks are a symbol of a free soul.
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