The Sin Of Punishment In Dante's Inferno

Throughout Dante 's Inferno, the reader views one man 's opinions of sin and depictions of its punishment. Dante the poet keeps his views on different types of sin obvious, just as Dante the character expresses his views on the sinners and their punishments. Ultimately, Dante the character 's views differ from the poet 's views. Dante the poet comes up with the punishment, while Dante the character usually feels pity for those punishments. In Hell, the punishments of the souls are never ideal, yet some seem much less gruesome than others, such as the virtuous pagans ' punishment. In Canto XIII, we discover the fate of the souls who committed suicide. In Canto XIII, Dante 's opinion of the sin of suicide is one of the lowest, explaining the gruesome treatment of the souls. …show more content…
Most landscapes and torture settings are desolate and barren, yet full of souls. The Wood of Suicides lacks any souls. The landscape of Canto XIII is the most "earth-like" and, arguably, the most realistic. Instead of seeing any punished souls, Dante sees a wood, lacking a path, and populated by harpies. Dante notes that the trees are "unhealthy branches, gnarled and warped and tangled". The trees are, of course, depicted as unsettling, just as the other landscapes of Hell are. Yet, the lack of any visible remnants of humanity confuses Dante. He notes that he saw "no souls in pain / in all that waste". The lack of souls is a hint that the punishment is different from the other souls of Hell. The discovery is not made until after Virgil instructs Dante to pluck a leaf from one of the trees. The trees are not just trees: they are, in actuality, souls, ripped from their own