FREE ESSAY ON FRAUD AND ITS AFTERMATH

FRAUD AND ITS AFTERMATH

In his poem The Divine Comedy. The Inferno, Dante Alighieri gives his audience a clear
vivid presentation of what he as a follower of the Christian religion perceives to be
hell. Dante shows that human sin is punishable in various degrees of severity and that
this is dependent on the nature of one's sinful actions. He sets forth what could very
well be the most fully developed Christian understanding of justice on earth, and that
is; that what we do as human beings will determine what happens to us in the event of
death based on God's judgment. In writing his poem Dante uses symbolism, allegorism and
imagery among other literary effects to place his poem analogically to life as it was
during his day and age. Dante structures The Inferno around thirty four cantos. Each of
these cantos marks a steady progression from the mildest to the worst of sins. The cantos
depict sinners under various forms of punishment which are commensurate to the nature of
their sins.
Dante categorizes sin into three different categories of fraud, incontinence and
violence. In canto I he mentions three animals namely , a leopard, a lion and a she-wolf.
These animals act as symbolisms for the various types of sins. The sin's depicted in
canto XVIII are symbolized by the she-wolf which acts as a symbol for the sins of fraud.
The sins of fraud are placed the furthest from God in the deepest pits of hell, near
Satan. In canto XVIII Dante and his guide Virgil find themselves in the eighth circle,
called the Malebolge. It is in the Malebolge, that each of the kinds of simple fraud are
punished in the concentric ditches.
In the first ditch, Dante sees two files of naked sinners each running in opposite
direction, whipped by demons. These sinners are the panderers and the seducers. Dante
recognizes Venedico Caccianemico, a man he once knew. Venedico in this case is depicted
as having sold his sister, Ghisola to serve the will and lust of another man, Marquis.
Dante at this point uses a fellow contemporary to show what happens when one goes against
the will of God and sins. Venedico betrays his family ties and his indifference in this
act results in his eternal punishment of being whipped by demons. Also mentioned as
having been punished is Jason, who suffers punishment for having seduced and abandoned
Hypsipyle and Medea. For these two sinners Dante's allegory revolves around the law of
retributive justice where both Venedico's and Jason's psychology's at the time of
committing sin are tied in with the punishment of whip lashing by demons. Both sinners
place their personal needs and interests above others and are now placed under the whip
lashing and oppressive command of indifferent demons.
Dante and Virgil move over to a bridge and below it, Dante sees the ditch of the
flatterers. It is in this trench that persons who had sinned as flatterers are punished
by being made to wallow in a river of human excrement from which emanates nauseating
fumes. Dante recognizes Alessio Interminelli da Lucca. Allesio is smeared all over with
excrement. Virgil alerts Dante of the presence of yet another sinner, Thas.
Thas is punished in the same way as Alessio, but is made to alternatively rise
and crouch in the river of excrement. Thas is punished for being a prostitute and
for a flattering lie that she told while in the trade. The punishment that this two
consequently suffer is the eternal stench and filth of the ditch. Thas in this
canto perpetuates the image of ingenuine love which turns out to be a mere outlet for
bodily urges and needs. From the perspective of Thas' and Allesio's punishment we
see that they both undergo the process of retributive justice. Flatterers, due to their
abuse of language wallow in excrement which metaphorically symbolizes the words they used
in flattering others on earth.
In conclusion it can be seen that Dante views fraud as a sin that separates human beings
from God's grace and love. Dante presents to his audience a poem that creates a better
understanding of the consequences of sinful human actions. He bases The Inferno on the
teachings found in the Christian religion and offers to the audience a typological
reading that makes it clear that what will happen to each individual in the after life
will be determined solely by one's actions on earth.
Works Consulted
Faulie, Wallace A reading of Dante's Inferno , The University of Chicago Press, 1981
199-123
Alighieri, Dante The Divine Comedy. Inferno, The Norton Anthology, World Masterpieces.
General Ed. Maynard Mack 6th ed. W. W. Norton and Company ,1992.
1273-1423