Dante’s Fraudulence: The Lessening of a Punishment
In Dante’s Inferno, readers see that Dante believes fraudulence is a worse crime than violence. I understand why he may have thought it needed to be punished more—he wanted to teach the politicians of his time to be more honest—but in reality, violence is a much worse crime. When we look at societies jails today, who has the longer sentence, the thieves and liars or murderers and rapists? It is the latter. I disagree with Dante when it comes to fraudulence being a worse crime than violence. I personally believe that hell would punish the seventh layer of violence much more brutally than fraudulence. Dante seemed to be extremely bitter towards politicians and their fraudulence. He chose fraudulence …show more content…
For example, Mahatma Ghandi once said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”(Dalton 43) Pope Francis also expressed his strong beliefs about the evil of violence by saying, “Even today we raise our hand against our brother… We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal [that] we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death” (Allen). Not only do public figures try to stop violence, but also the court system views it as a highly punishable offense. Murderers and rapists are top offenders that normally get life or execution sentences, while thieves usually only get a few years. Generally, even the public agrees that such crimes should be punished harshly. Martina McBride’s popular song “Concrete Angel” tells the story of a violent act against a child. The final verse, “Somebody cries in the middle of the night/ The neighbors hear but they turn out the light/ A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate/ When morning comes it will be too late,” stirs up an emotional response in listeners, like myself, and they hope for justice for the victim even in this fictional scenario. A song about fraudulent politicians would probably not receive the same type of heartbroken response as this song, which deals with violence and death. With such a sentiment shared by so many people, Dante’s order seems
In Dante’s Inferno, readers see that Dante believes fraudulence is a worse crime than violence. I understand why he may have thought it needed to be punished more—he wanted to teach the politicians of his time to be more honest—but in reality, violence is a much worse crime. When we look at societies jails today, who has the longer sentence, the thieves and liars or murderers and rapists? It is the latter. I disagree with Dante when it comes to fraudulence being a worse crime than violence. I personally believe that hell would punish the seventh layer of violence much more brutally than fraudulence. Dante seemed to be extremely bitter towards politicians and their fraudulence. He chose fraudulence …show more content…
For example, Mahatma Ghandi once said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”(Dalton 43) Pope Francis also expressed his strong beliefs about the evil of violence by saying, “Even today we raise our hand against our brother… We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal [that] we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death” (Allen). Not only do public figures try to stop violence, but also the court system views it as a highly punishable offense. Murderers and rapists are top offenders that normally get life or execution sentences, while thieves usually only get a few years. Generally, even the public agrees that such crimes should be punished harshly. Martina McBride’s popular song “Concrete Angel” tells the story of a violent act against a child. The final verse, “Somebody cries in the middle of the night/ The neighbors hear but they turn out the light/ A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate/ When morning comes it will be too late,” stirs up an emotional response in listeners, like myself, and they hope for justice for the victim even in this fictional scenario. A song about fraudulent politicians would probably not receive the same type of heartbroken response as this song, which deals with violence and death. With such a sentiment shared by so many people, Dante’s order seems