A. Dante's "Inferno"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in the "Inferno", Dante states that people are evil and cannot change and that the punishment people receive is fitting to their crime. The author disagrees with Dante and believes that punishing people in a way that is fitting to the crime will only work to reinforce the kind of behavior that led to the crime and will lead to people being defined by their crimes thus reinforcing the idea that people cannot change. The paper stresses that a system, such as Dante's, where the punishment fits the crime does nothing to make the person be responsible for their own actions.

Table of Contents:
Crime and Punishment in Dante's Era
Crime and Punishment Today

From the Paper:

"In the Inferno, Dante travels through the ten levels of hell. In each level, he sees people that have been guilty of certain crimes. In each case, the people are being punished in a way that is fitting to their crime. The people who sinned via wrath are seen to be attacking each other. The thieves have been turned into snakes. The people who committed suicide have to spend their lives as trees. This suggests that people do not change. In this way, a person who does wrong is seen as evil with this not able to be changes. With this belief, there is no suggestion that people can learn from their mistakes and become better people. The punishments describe also suggest that people will continue to act as they did on earth if they are given freedom."

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