Blog Post 4: Ain't Nothin' but a Sin Thing

In Canto VIII Dante reflects by saying "there seemed to be weight until I boarded." (Alighieri 69. VIII. 27). I believe that Dante is hinting at the inhabitants of this level of hell who are loaded on the boat as well as passengers. This Canto takes place in the fifth circle of hell where the wrathful and the sullen reside. My interpretation of this is that Dante is pretty much referring to these inhabitants or passengers as empty. I think he is saying that the boat seemed weightless because everyone is either very light or empty. It could possibly be referencing the lack of a soul or maybe even the lack of beliefs, morals, values, etc. Seems a little shady to me, but I wouldn't doubt it too quickly. In Canto IX Erichto makes a statement mentioning dead clay. In this chapter Dante and Virgil fight there way into the city of Dis. It takes a while for them to gain entry but there are just a ton of tombs full of more inhabitants of hell. I think maybe Erichto is referring to the tombs which were of stone or clay material. In the book, usury is acknowledged as a sin. Usury is the act of lending money at high rates of interest. I see this as a sin because those who commit usury aren't necessarily concerned with lending out of the goodness of there hearts, but rather for their own personal continuous gain until the debt is payed. I can definitely see how this could be frowned upon. The main issue is that it is not very sincere whatsoever. I think that the punishment of boiling sinners who have committed acts of violence is a rightful punishment and it's actually pretty ironic too. To boil those who have shed blood  in blood is pretty ironic. On page 115 of the book Dante is given an explanation of why the souls are trapped within the trees by one of the branches itself. It pretty much talks about how they did not value life enough so they had to value what they had left in stumps. They stumps tells how he would change his outcome if he knew it would be that way.