Read the following excerpt from canto xix of dante's inferno, in which the narrator describes sinners who are punished for heresy and not believing in life after death:

and i: "master, who are these people that,

entombed within these chests of solid stone,

make themselves felt by their distressful sighs? "

and he told me, "here lie the arch-heretics

with their disciples, from all sects, and more

than you'll believe are loaded in these tombs.

"like soul lies buried here encased with like;

some monuments are hotter and some less."

which sentence best explains dante's intended use of symbolism in this excerpt.

a. the comparison of the heat of the tombs suggests that god favors some heretics over others.

b. the phrase "encased with like" indicates that the heretics are buried with those who share their beliefs.

c. the fact that the heretics' souls are entombed mocks their belief that the soul does not exist.

d. the chests of stone indicate that the heretics are weighed down by their beliefs.

the correct answer would be c. for anyone who wants to know this question