Use the following film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_LKzEqlPto
If you were a prison guard, what type would you have been? How sure are you? If you were a prisoner, what type would you have been? How sure are you? Make sure to answer all questions and give specific examples of how you’d have acted in each role.
Sample solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Reflections on Role Choices
The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University in Northern California is a seminal study that delves into the dynamics of power, authority, and human behavior in a simulated prison environment. The experiment aimed to investigate how individuals conform to assigned roles and how these roles influence behavior.
The film adaptation of the Stanford Prison Experiment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_LKzEqlPto) provides a visual portrayal of the psychological study, offering viewers a glimpse into the intense and unsettling events that unfolded during the simulated prison scenario.
If I were to participate in the experiment as a prison guard, I believe I would have fallen into the category of a “tough guard.” This assertion is based on my inclination towards maintaining order and following rules, coupled with a tendency to assert authority in situations that require discipline. In the film, tough guards are depicted as individuals who escalate tensions, dehumanize prisoners, and exhibit authoritarian behavior to assert control. While I would like to think that I would have maintained a sense of fairness and empathy, the pressure of the role and the dynamics of the simulated environment might have influenced my behavior towards adopting a more authoritarian stance.
Conversely, if I were to assume the role of a prisoner in the experiment, I believe I would have been categorized as a “rebellious prisoner.” This categorization stems from my natural inclination towards questioning authority and advocating for fairness and justice. In the film, rebellious prisoners challenge the oppressive environment created by the guards, leading protests, and seeking to disrupt the power dynamics within the simulated prison. I resonate with the idea of standing up against injustice and resisting undue authority, which aligns with the traits exhibited by rebellious prisoners in the experiment.
In conclusion, reflecting on the Stanford Prison Experiment prompts introspection into our own predispositions and behaviors in structured environments that involve power dynamics and authority roles. While hypothetical in nature, considering our potential roles in such scenarios allows for a deeper understanding of how situational factors can shape our actions and decisions. The ethical implications and psychological insights garnered from this study continue to spark discussions on human behavior and moral responsibility in institutional settings.
