Why do humans have an obsession with the journey? The Odyssey, Siddhartha, Eat, Pray, Love, people love to write stories about epic transformational journeys. One of the greatest journey stories, Dante’s Divine Comedy, takes us through Heaven, Hell and Purgatory and all the lessons one man learns as he travels. The Inferno, in particular, teaches people about what it mean to be a sinner. While readers make learn their own lessons from the story, on his journey, Dante learns to be let go of his empathy.
Dante is extremely empathetic towards sinners at the beginning of The Inferno. He keeps crying and fainting when he hears sinners stories and doesn’t understand why they are in the circles of hell that they are in. In Canto V, after Francesca…show more content… “‘Still? Still like the other fools? There is no place for pity here, Who is more arrogant within his soul, who is more impious than one who dares to sorrow at God’s judgement?’” (161). If Dante wants to be truly good he can’t act in defiance of God, even if this defiance may seem pure and god-like. Dante also is going to have a harder journey if he feels bad for everyone he meets. Dante lets go of his empathy so he can find his way to heaven.From here we see a change in the way Dante tries to act towards sinner. Dante wants to be as god-like as a human can be. Though often he is still overcome with his human pity towards them, he is trying harden his heart to the…show more content… In Canto XXXII, after he accidently kicked a sinner, Dante not only doesn’t apologise, but rips the sinner’s hair off after he won’t tell Dante who he is. Who is Dante to question God’s choices and feel bad for this sinner? Some attribute Dante worsening attitude towards the sinner simply to the fact that their sins are getting worse the further he travels into hell. However, even in the lowest circles of hell, Dante still struggles with his empathy. He keeps asking people their names and making them tell him their stories. Even Dante’s horror at what the sinners in the very lowest circling are doing can be seen as a sign of the little empathy that remains within