The Inferno · Chapter
VI: Hell explained
The narrator finds temporary peace in the Jardin des Plantes, feeling rejuvenated and safe from his persecutors.
What happens
The narrator finds temporary peace in the Jardin des Plantes, feeling rejuvenated and safe from his persecutors. However, after revealing his address, his peace is shattered by mysterious noises, suspicious neighbors, and a growing sense of persecution. He experiences a terrifying night where he feels attacked by an invisible electric fluid, leading him to believe he is condemned to death. A doctor confiscates his religious texts and gives him a mythology book, which convinces him he is in hell. The chapter ends with the narrator's paranoid observations of the doctor's tools and weapons, reinforcing his belief in a plot against him.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Paranoia
The narrator's peace is shattered by suspicious noises and neighbors, leading to a conviction that he is condemned to death by a conspiracy.
Religion and Spiritual Crisis
The narrator reads the breviary and Bible, but the doctor confiscates them, and a mythology book convinces him he is in hell, deepening his spiritual turmoil.
The Invisible and the Occult
The narrator experiences an attack by an invisible electric fluid and interprets events as occult phenomena, such as the cry 'Alp' and the polar bear skin.
Characters to notice
- The Unknown
The narrator experiences a brief respite in the Jardin des Plantes before his paranoia returns, culminating in a night of terror and a conviction that he is in hell.
- August Strindberg
Strindberg is the author and subject of the narrative, depicted as the narrator undergoing persecution and spiritual crisis.
- Providence
The narrator attributes the doctor's actions to a role assigned by Providence, suggesting a divine orchestration of events.
- Swedenborg
Swedenborg is identified as the narrator's 'teacher' in the context of the myth of Bhrign, linking the narrator's punishment to his pride.
- The Devil
The narrator refers to a 'Satanic coincidence' regarding the doctor's axes and guns, reinforcing his sense of being in hell.
Key passages
“At length a pause ensues in my sufferings. For hours at a time I sit in the open space before the summerhouse, watch the flowers, and think over the recent events.”
After a period of intense suffering, I find a moment of calm, sitting in the garden and reflecting on what has happened.
The narrator experiences a brief respite from his torment.
“I am condemned to death! That is my firm conviction. By whom? By the Russians, the Pietists, Catholics, Jesuits, Theosophists?”
I am certain I have been sentenced to death, though I am unsure which group—Russians, Pietists, Catholics, Jesuits, or Theosophists—is responsible.
The narrator's paranoia leads him to believe he is targeted by multiple factions.
“Then I feel, at first only faintly, something like an inrush of electric fluid. I look at my compass, but it shows no sign of wavering. It is not electricity then.”
I sense a faint influx of electric fluid, but my compass does not react, so it cannot be electricity.
The narrator experiences a mysterious physical sensation that he cannot attribute to known science.
“As the legend relates, Bhrign, having outgrown his father's teaching, became so conceited, that he believed he could surpass his teacher. The latter sent him into the underworld where, in order to humble him, he had to witness countless terrible things, of which he had never had a conception.”
The myth of Bhrign tells of a student who became arrogant and was sent to the underworld by his teacher to be humbled by witnessing horrors.
The narrator identifies with Bhrign, seeing his own pride as the cause of his punishment.
“No doubt of it—I am in hell!”
There is no question—I am experiencing hell itself.
The narrator concludes that his suffering is a literal descent into hell.
