Failed Book Hero
Dante, both the poet and the pilgrim, from the Comedy's Inferno is a failed book hero.*
He's told from the very beginning there's no point feeling pity for the sinners, because God's punishments are just, and to feel pity would be to question God's judgment. Yet he just disregards this and weeps (and even faints) for a few of the sufferers in the lesser levels of hell. The reader could feel sympathy for him, knowing he's a man and feels mortal perceptions of unfairness, but then he does a complete turnabout and wishes harsher punishment on the sinner already being tortured for being wrathful; thereby acting out the sin of wrath himself. He thinks thieves are worse than murderers, for they face worse punishments; I'm not overly familiar with 14th century Italian history, so I cannot be for certain if this is a difference in morals throughout time, or if Dante really thinks murderers are better than thieves.
When he isn't busy fangirling for Virgil, he's busy kicking heads of the incapacitated spirits. Not to mention, he has the hardest time hiding the sin of pride throughout the entire narrative (leave it to the literary scholars to put you up with Homer and Ovid, Dante, for I think you enjoy the sound of your tooted horn a bit too much) and yet suffers no repercussions for it.
He shifts between being a fainting wuss and a wrathful man who enjoys seeing his adversaries suffer. Heroics lie somewhere in between. Thankfully he gets a bit better throughout the rest of his journey, but in this book, failed heroics abound.
He does deserve some kudos for having the gall to condemn living popes along with his dead political enemies to some of the darkest levels of hell. Heck, even some of his own friends are down there. I think Dante the poet, moreso than the pilgrim, would have made a better villain than Satan ended up being.
*Don't misunderstand me; I love this book and I love Dante. It's hilarious, intentionally and unintentionally, and it's been a great re-read. I look forward to re-reading the rest of Dante's self-insert Bible fanfiction.
He's told from the very beginning there's no point feeling pity for the sinners, because God's punishments are just, and to feel pity would be to question God's judgment. Yet he just disregards this and weeps (and even faints) for a few of the sufferers in the lesser levels of hell. The reader could feel sympathy for him, knowing he's a man and feels mortal perceptions of unfairness, but then he does a complete turnabout and wishes harsher punishment on the sinner already being tortured for being wrathful; thereby acting out the sin of wrath himself. He thinks thieves are worse than murderers, for they face worse punishments; I'm not overly familiar with 14th century Italian history, so I cannot be for certain if this is a difference in morals throughout time, or if Dante really thinks murderers are better than thieves.
When he isn't busy fangirling for Virgil, he's busy kicking heads of the incapacitated spirits. Not to mention, he has the hardest time hiding the sin of pride throughout the entire narrative (leave it to the literary scholars to put you up with Homer and Ovid, Dante, for I think you enjoy the sound of your tooted horn a bit too much) and yet suffers no repercussions for it.
He shifts between being a fainting wuss and a wrathful man who enjoys seeing his adversaries suffer. Heroics lie somewhere in between. Thankfully he gets a bit better throughout the rest of his journey, but in this book, failed heroics abound.
He does deserve some kudos for having the gall to condemn living popes along with his dead political enemies to some of the darkest levels of hell. Heck, even some of his own friends are down there. I think Dante the poet, moreso than the pilgrim, would have made a better villain than Satan ended up being.
*Don't misunderstand me; I love this book and I love Dante. It's hilarious, intentionally and unintentionally, and it's been a great re-read. I look forward to re-reading the rest of Dante's self-insert Bible fanfiction.