Inferno

Consider Inferno’s depiction of the “misunderstood genius.” Are Zobrist and/or Sienna more responsible for these misunderstandings than they each claim, and why?

Discuss the provost’s hardline stance on moral neutrality at the beginning of the novel. Are there any redeemable qualities in his philosophy? Were there any warning signs of the flaws in his approach that the provost should have taken better care to notice?

Discuss the organization known as the Consortium, whose primary purpose is to provide independent security and extralegal privacy from oversight to clients. Are there situations in which such an organization might provide a benefit to society? What could the provost have done to better guarantee he wasn’t supporting clients with bad intentions?

In Chapter 102, Langdon, Sienna, and Sinskey discuss the implications of the Inferno virus and some possible responses the world could make to answer it. Is there one argument that appears stronger than the others, and why? What important arguments do you feel the novel left out, if any?

What arguments might you give for how the world might respond to such a virus as Inferno if you were given a seat at the Geneva conference? Discuss some of the arguments that might arise against your stance. Are they valid? Do you feel you can sway dissenters to your side?

In the Epilogue, Langdon makes a promise to himself not to remain inactive in the face of humanity’s uncertain future. Discuss the implications of this—what can he do? Discuss some tangible steps.

Inferno was published in 2013, six years prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. How does our newfound intimacy with the realities of globetrotting novel viruses affect how we interact with the tense threat of the same outcome in Inferno?

A customary feature of the race-against-time thriller genre is the plot element known as the “clock,” which places restrictions on the time the characters have to address one or more problems at hand. What is the “clock” in Inferno? Are there more than one? How do these clocks’ definitions or lack thereof accelerate the story forward?