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Examples Of Contrapasso

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Recommended: Evil in dantes inferno

Maggie Williams
Ms. Malovich
English 2 Honors
Janurary 31, 2023
Catastrophic Contrapasso
Dante’s Inferno introduces examples of Contrapasso by taking the readers through various circles of hell that contain sights of terrible treachery, sadistic sins, and powerful punishments. The punishments are not always deserved, as seen with the decrepit giants, which proves the system can be unjust. The main character, Dante, feels these people do not deserve such horrors that are given to them, but the only act he can do to help is to not make the same mistakes they do. Dante’s extant life on earth will not last forever, so he has to fix his unjust actions before it is too late.
When poor Dante walked through hell, he experienced the terrible punishment of the humans who suffered there. He starts to believe that these people do not deserve this, and he definitely does not want to end up in hell. Dante describes the terrible sights of the eighth circle of hell where people are overcome by the worst of all diseases, “Than those two spirits of the stinking ditch scrubbed at themselves with their own bloody claws to ease …show more content…

No one is free from doing wrong, sin is just human nature. This is similar to how Dante does not register his sins are wrong until he understands how much his actions influence the people around him. The same is true of the panderers and the seducers who took advantage and provoked people. Their punishment is to be harassed by demons, “And everywhere along that hideous track I saw horned demons with enormous lashes move through those souls, scourging them on the back” (Ciardi, 18, 34-36). These people do not know what they are doing is wrong until their harsh acts are done to them. As terrible as this punishment is, it fits perfectly because these sinners now know the harm they do to others. Humans need to step back and see what they are doing is wrong so they do not hurt the people around

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