Fraud vs. Violence

           In Dante's Inferno, in circle 7 and 8, sins of fraud seem to be punished more severely than sins of violence. This could be for many reasons including Dante's past with his exile, and his experience with Florentine government.                       
            In circle 7, round 3, the Usurers are punished with being violent against art. Usurers are people who charge interest to gain more money than they should. This punishment is that they must huddle on the burning sand in the desert, which is a severe punishment in hell compared to some of the others. Dante creates this punishment as so harsh because he seems to be highly against any sin that has to do with cheating in life in some way. This punishment of charging interest for any profit, is like cheating or deceiving your way into more money.      Dante's exile from Florence could be a cause to his severity towards theses specific sinners because Dante didn't cheat in life, and therefore he was exiled. So he seems to have a problem with the people who cheated in life and got away with success, so they must suffer in death as a consequence.
            Another example of Dante's severity towards fraud as opposed to violence is in circle 8, bolgia 2. This bolgia is where the flatterers are, which are people who flatter others with the motive of receiving something in return. Their punishment is to live in excrement and just constantly thump themselves in the head with their palms. This punishment is also a quite severe one, because the concept of false flattery is also a method to "cheating in life." When Dante speaks to one of the flatterers, he says,"'Down to this have the flatteries I sold/ the living sunk me here among the dead'" (148). Da Lucca says this to Dante when Dante seems to be staring at him in the pool of excrement. In this passage, he describes that he sold his flattery's, which means that Dante sees this as selling flattery's, in order to gain something in return. This illustrates Dante's harsh attitude towards their sin, and lets his feelings come out in da Lucca's words.
            The last example is in circle 8, bolgia 6, which was the hypocrites. In this bolgia, the hypocrites had to wear gold shiny cloaks, that are made of heavy lead, and walk along a narrow path. The idea of a hypocrite is more about fraud then deceiving because they are showing fake feelings on the outside, usually about religion, but feeling differently about it on the inside. "The outside is all dazzle, golden and fair;/the inside, lead, so heavy that Frederick's capes,/ compared to these, would seem light as air" (188). Dante's description of the cloaks from the outside symbolizes how the outside of hypocrites seems lovely and golden. However, since they are made of lead, on the inside they are full of guilt and this describes Dante's attitude towards their fraud in life, and how they should feel about committing this sin in life.
        

Archetypal Symbols

         In the Inferno, in circle 7, the souls are being punished for violent crimes, specifically in round 3, they are forever lying in a desert with burning sand and fiery rain.

         A desert is an archetypal symbol of hopelessness, death, and spiritual acridity. The literal representation of this is shown because the souls in round 3 are literally dead. Also, the hopelessness of a desert is represented in this round because the souls have no hope of ever getting out of the fire. The sin of being violent towards nature, art, and God are also sins that directly go against God or His creations. The spiritual acridity is represented here because since they were bitter towards God, they must burn away in the desert.
         Another important symbol in the round is the rain of fire that pours down on the souls. "And over all that sand on which they lay/ or crouched or roamed, great flakes of flame fell slowly/ as snow falls in the Alps on a windless day" (111). In this passage, it is clear that the flame falls much like rain. Rain is typically an archetypal symbol for something natural, and rain that is made of fire is not natural. This shows Dante's use of irony here because he is using something so natural such as rain, however adding fire to symbolize the sin and how it is very unnatural to be violent towards these things. Water is also a symbol for life, and since the opposite is fire, this is representing death in the rain of fire. The fire in the falling rain of fire represents God's wrath against the sinners, because of their defiance towards him in life, so they will receive his wrath in death.
         The Rill is a blood red river that runs through the desert, and provides a way through without having to touch the burning sand. The archetypal symbol of red represents blood, anger, and disorder. Virgil tells Dante that all the waters that they encounter in hell are all linked, forming one off the other. The red river is obviously a symbol of the anger in hell, but also the disorder and chaos that is shown by the sinners. "We walked in silence then till we reached a rill/ that gushes from the wood; it ran so red/ the memory sends a shutter through me still" (113). This passage shows the extreme redness of the rim. Dante's diction here shows the intensity of emotions he feels from the redness, so much so that he is still frightened by the memory. Also, specifically in round 3 the Rill is the only clear way that they will be able to pass through the desert. This is ironic because it is the safe way to go, however red is usually seen as dangerous or a sign not to go forward. Dante uses this irony well in the Rim through the 3rd round.

Dante's State of Mind

             Throughout the Inferno, Dante's state of mind changes drastically from when he first enters hell up to canto V. As he experiences more and more torture and suffering throughout hell, his perspective and attitude is transformed.
             When Dante enters the Dark Woods, he is overwhelmed with many emotions that are evident in his description of his journey through the woods. He is quite terrified and he is confused, however he is being given no answers. When he first enters the woods, he utters,"How shall I say/what wood that was! I never saw so drear,/so rank, so arduous a wilderness!/Its very memory gives a shape to fear" (Dante 4). He expresses his fear in the passage, he describes it as giving shape to fear, which is a very strong way of wording it. His state of mind at the very beginning remains terrified as he enters the gates of Hell.
             Dante's state of mind begins to change a little when he enters in the Vestibule, as he witnesses the tortures of hell. When he sees the people in Vestibule chasing the banner, he automatically begins to feel pity for those who are suffering. When he enters into circle 1, he sees those who have no hope of ever getting out of hell. He feels bad for these people, and wants to help them, but knows that he cannot. He says,"I thought how many worthy souls there were/suspended in that Limbo, and a weight/closed on my heart for what the noblest suffer" (28). Here he explains how he thought that all these souls were worthy of heaven, but they would never see it. He feels great pity for these people, and his state of mind is very sympathetic. After witnessing the lovers story in Circle 2, he is so overwhelmed with pity and confusion that he passes out. This exhibits his extreme feelings for these people in heaven, and he could no longer handle all the emotions.
             His last intense emotion shown is what he seems to feel in circle V. He witnesses the wrathful people in this circle, how they are eternally fighting each other and living in a swamp. He sees one man named Filippo Argenti and he becomes very angry with him when Filippo tries to stop him from continuing on. Dante exclaims,"May you weep and wail to all eternity/for I know you, you hell-dog, filthy as you are" (61). For the first time in hell, Dante addresses a spirit in a negative, scornful way. He shows intense anger here, and his state of mind has transformed greatly in this moment. Instead of feeling pity for the souls, it appears that he instead feel as though they deserve their punishment.
              Dante has many changes in state of mind thus far in the story, and it will be interesting to see how his time in hell further affects his character as the story goes on.