Dante the pilgrim and Beloved as the Middle Passage

-Dante has written himself as a two part split- Dante the poet, and Dante the pilgrim. The pilgrim primarily acts as an "everyman" figure, adding universal appeal to this half of self. The overall message Dante is getting across is: everyone sins, everyone dies, everyone gets scared of death, and everyone will pay for their wrong doings. The idea of death is a major connector between the Inferno and Beloved. Beloved represents the deaths of all the people on the Middle Passage. "... We are all trying to leave our bodies behind  the man on my face has done it  it is hard to make yourself die forever..." (Morrison pg 248-249) is stated by the mind/ different physical being of Beloved as a slave, symbolically the voice of one aboard the Middle Passage. Beloved and Dante each represent death in this context, and also represent journeying through death to reach the ultimate goal of salvation.

Allegory

Dante's journey through Hell, and Beloved's journey through the Middle Passage represents their search for salvation and justice.