Inferno discussion

"Sullen were we in this air made sweet by the Sun... Sullen were we begun; sullen we lie forever in this ditch." (Canto VII, Lines 121-124).

This quote really helped me understand that punishments received in Hell are near perfect reflections of one's life on Earth. The Sullen were those who in life refused the light of the sun (Divine Illumination). Their situation that they found themselves in in Hell reflects their situation they put themselves in while living. By refusing to live in the light of the sun while on earth, they damned themselves to an eternity of being buried under slime in hell. The idea that one's choices could influence their future so heavily is strange to me, and I think that's because today's society is moving away from that idea. For example, prisons today are moving towards a more 'rehabilitating' approach instead of eternally condemning people to prison. I think that this idea of 'eternal damnation' that Inferno presents accurately reflects the views of that time period. Essentially, it doesn't sit well with me that one's actions in a relatively short period of time could permanently change the rest of their life. By rejecting the light of the sun in life, the Sullen have doomed themselves to be trapped under a hellish slime for all of eternity, singing a terrible melody. It's scary to believe that the idea presented is a reality in some situations, and it conveys the message that we always need to consider the future consequences of our choices.

When I came across this point in my recent read, I felt the same thing about the punishments being the fulfillment of earthly preferences. Dante understands sin from experience, and the Inferno is his work to bring order to the disordered life which sin is. Dante takes seriously human freedom and the possibility that that freedom could refuse the light eternally. What do I want? Do I want the light despite my wallowing, or do I actually prefer the mud and despise the light?