Hoarders

Hoarding

Dante and Virgil arrive at circle 3.5 of hell, where the gluttonous are sent. The specific gluttons sent here are hoarders, people who in their lives have hoarded all their belongings and had houses stacked to the ceilings with useless waste. Hoarding is a form of gluttony, in that it is a habitual greed. Because they refused to clean and detach themselves from their trash, they are now forced to clean the offices of hell, as Beelzebub, the demon of gluttony, continuously stacks the rooms with more papers and used or broken office supplies. The flow of trash never ends, meaning the gluttons are sentenced to endlessly clean for all eternity, not stopping if their hands bleed or form blisters. The floors are lined with glue, making it a sticky environment, in which it is very unpleasant to walk. Unlike their houses, which were complete filth, they must keep these offices spotless so Beelzebub can project more litter at them when they’re finished.

*the rhyme is throughout the whole poem

As I set foot into this strange new realm,
I was puzzled. It felt as if I had left hell,
for other than the heat, it appeared as a normal room.

Everything seemed fine and well,
until I saw the hoarders meeting their doom.
How ironic was the fate in which they fell.

Holding nothing but a broom and plastic bags unfurled,
having gluttonously hoarding every item they acquired
in their life, they must sweep the offices of the underworld.

Since any ticket, tissue, or toy for which they were fiends
they passionately refused to detach from,
their homes remained cluttered and never were cleaned.

Beelzebub now commands them to sweep and dust all his scum.
Mercilessly, he’d continue to let it pile.
A man would have to clean as blood flowed from his blistered thumb.

Papers lined with sticky glue, I stepped through the bile
came face to face with a worker himself. He said
to me, “It keeps coming, it never ends,” with a creepy, forced smile.

For over a brand new wreck I had to tread.
When he cleaned up his mess, it automatically appeared.
Above Beelzebub’s throne I read,

“Atone all ye gluttons who enter, for the lives in which austerity ye feared.”
Most of them mainly had papers and documents to sweep,
but the worst of them all was sentenced to clean the demon’s beard.

“Guide,” I said, “how will we scale this trash heap?”
He said, “don’t fret, for we must just sift through.
We can do it, it is not that deep.”

Beelzebub threw more litter at us; the pile grew.
But we crafted a tunnel,
and from this level of hell we withdrew.

Kiril Manchevski, Period 2

The Greedy

We then entered the sixth level of hell
where i saw those who exercised greed
and in their misery forever they will dwell.


From this torment they will never be freed.
Unwillingly they will approach the lord of the dead,
being frozen upon arrival, facing their sinister deed.


While gazing at the souls waiting for punishment I spotted a head,
Bernie Maddoff, the leader of the line and surely the worst
my guide told me "with the devil he will lay in bed."


The sinners suffer and in pain are immersed.
The greedy gag and puke mucus, blood, and coins,
Unable to relieve themselves and forever cursed.


Condemned here for not following what God enjoins.
And now, a whole new group fell into my sight
As with Maddoff this new group, the NBA, rejoins.


Not satisfied with millions, now lost all its might,
greed paved these sinners' way to eternal pain,
their once sunny days, now transformed into infinite night.


These victims frozen upon Hades, receive a horrid rain
consisting of coins and wallets directed at them with force
and their silent suffering and muffled screams all in vain.


Hades shoves money down their throats with no remorse
until they are filled to the point of explosion;
the remains of their bodies is Cerberus' main course.


All this punishment due to their moral fibers' erosion
Cerberus' meal is then digested back to perfect form.
The cycle restarts, continuously punishing their acts of extortion.


And then my guide said, "Now they wish they could reform.
We've seen who belongs here, lets move to the next level of hell."
I'm tired of witnessing this violent storm that will never be transformed.


We have been here too long and I feel trapped as if in a cell
Let us leave Hades and Cerberus to their jobs
and continue down these circles of hell what we will see no one can foretell.


Greed is defined as an intense and selfish desire for something such as wealth, power or food. This sin is more prominent today and it is located in level six of hell. Many people undermine the severity of this sin; however, it is the root of many other immoral actions. For example, the results of greed often times lead to more serious sins suck as murder, fraud, and embezzlement. Although it isn't in the last level of hell it is a terrible sin looked down upon by God. As a result, this sin's fitting punishment must be excruciating. The people who have committed this sin must confront Hades despite their will and once they come upon his reach they are frozen on the spot (not in ice) . Hails of coins and the wallets of those the sinner has stripped are directed with force towards the frozen target. The sinners are constantly gagging and throwing up blood , mucus, and dollar bills but cant even reach up with their own hands to comfort or clean themselves. Amid all of this suffering, Hades is roughly shoving money , rotten food , and spikes down the throat of the sinner while the sinner is simultaneously gagging and throwing up. This process continues until the sinner blows up from being stuffed with money, rotten food , and spikes. The remains are fed to Cerberus who digest them into a perfect body once again to repeat the suffering. This punishment fits the crime because while these sinners were alive they could never get enough of materialistic items, often disregarding the suffering of others. In hell, they excessively get everything they wanted while they were alive. However, this cycle will never stop, similarly to the way the sinners never controlled their greed even though it caused excruciating pain and suffering to the people affected by their actions.

Jonathan Garrido, Period 2