I wanted to make a comparison regarding the topics of magic and surrealism. In class we covered what is magic and surrealism but generally I wanted to touch more on the concept of magic because in class we briefly talked about the Bible. Although we brought up points for surrealism, I wanted to give an approach or a connection between the belief in magic in the works of Sundiata and the Bible. Magic in Sundiata could be considered something they have faith in and part of the culture mentioned in the story. I wanted to tie that miracles that Jesus performed on many people. Why is magic so believable in a story such as Sundiata but so questionable in documented books like the bible? Magic is used in these works to represent power. An ability that not everyone can do, something that not everyone gets to see. Respectively Magic is used in their own purpose in both of the works but who’s to say that the “miracles” in the Bible isn’t just fictional magic like in Sundiata.

The story of Sundiata reminds me of the Disney movie Hercules. In the movie, Hercules is cast off and is taken care of by  poor farmers. Growing up, Hercules displayed great strength due to the fact that he was a god but he was looked down upon by the community as depicted by the movie. The similarity between the two is strong as Sundiata was cast off as well with his mother because of the jealousy that Sassouma had. Both characters being very humble and strong, they faced someone that tried to bring them down. Both being very humble as well, they were welcomed by many and both had a destiny to return back home. Although it is a comical comparison, I couldn’t help but notice how the plot of both a Disney movie and a work of literature follow the same kind of sequence of events.

When Dante spoke to Ulysses or Odysseus, Ulysses said to Dante, “Language, the tip of it flickering to and fro threw out a voice and answered.” The fact that Ulysses is in hell telling this tale reminded me of another body of literature. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is embodied in this Canto due to the similarity of the pain both characters suffer in sharing their tale. In the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner is cursed to tell his tale to those who come across his path, it is similar to Ulysses because he is in hell suffering and Dante comes along and he tells his tale. This connection brought me back to my high school days because my AP English class focused on the Ancient Mariner and I saw it embodied in canto 26. I believe this supports the work as a whole because Dante did use many other references but he was able to indiscreetly mention another body of work.

Throughout these chapters, I found that Canto’s 22 and 23 were the most interesting to me simply because of the thrill that it demonstrates in the fifth pouch which contained the barterers. I really enjoy horror and thrill and the imagery of a dark pit seeming like its full of tar looked cool. Virgil and Dante usually do not have conflicts crossing hell or conflicts that could have cost them their lives. In Canto 23, Virgil and Dante try to escape the fifth pouch as the demons struggle to get out of the tar like pit but soon after, they hear the flap of wings and realized that they were being chased. That chase kind of gave me a bit a thrill because it’s crazy to be in hell and being chased by demons. Something I also noticed that isn’t really a big deal but as a Spanish speaker, I noticed that the names of the demons are in Spanish for example “Malacoda” which is evil tail but in Spanish it would be Mala cola.