In Canto XIII, Dante’s Inferno punishes those who commit suicide. The punishment for suicide is also directly related to the sin committed. In the case where souls committed suicide, they do not receive bodies like other souls of the Inferno. Instead, their souls become trees and fibrous plant material that is torn and crushed. The souls of the suicide victims are not given bodies as they would be in Inferno, but instead become trees and fibrous plants that are torn and broken. (Musa 67)
Dante’s views on suicide are revealed by the punishments that souls receive. Dante’s view of suicide is revealed in the punishments that souls suffer for committing this sin. Together, they show how much Dante believes a person should be treated with pity for their suffering.
As Dante describes the trees and bushes that he observes while he is writing, he reveals what Dante thinks drives someone to commit suicide.
“No leaves of green color but instead black.”
No smooth, straight branches. Instead, they are twisted into a mess.
“Instead of fruit, poison thorns bloomed” (Inf. XIII, 4-6).
The black, colorless leaves are like the soulless, lifeless human who, despite his lungs breathing and heart beating, lacks all beauty. He may be physically alive, but his soul is dead. And he lacks the will-to-live. The only thing he can produce is poison, which kills and harms anyone who comes near it. It is this poisonous spirit that only harms or kills anyone who is near it.
The twisted branches symbolize the twisted reasoning which leads someone to believe suicide is the only option. Pier Delle Vigne says to Dante, “This is a perfect example.
“My thoughts are seized by a scornful satisfaction”
The death of my loved ones would have been a great relief.
“It was me who did not deserve justice” (Inf. XIII, 70-72).
Pier believed he had lost all when Frederick saw his declining status. His twisted logic and his confused system of values led him to think that death was the only solution to life. His life was valued over something temporary and fickle. He believed that his life was not worth it because he was valuing the things that were fleeting. In that sense, his logic and thinking were just as twisted and entangled as the Inferno branches.
Dante’s views on suicide and God are revealed in the punishments of suicides. God has given people life and a body. God gives the gift of life, which is to be lived in a way that seeks to make people happy and virtuous. By committing suicide, they disregard the gift that God gave them in their body and ignore God’s command to find happiness and virtue. Pier DelleVigne has no benefit from having a physical body. Pier’s pain is the same as that of someone who had their limbs severed. Pier cries,
“‘Why do you tear me?’
As soon as the blood darkened around the injury,
Then it began to say: “Why are you ripping me?”
You have no compassion whatsoever’? (Inf. XIII, 33-36).
Pier’s body is in constant pain, and his blood runs freely. He has no body to enjoy the benefits of having one.
The Florentine’s comments also demonstrate this disregard for God’s gifts.
“I converted my home into a place to hang my clothes” (Inf. XIII, 151).
God wants all people to enjoy a healthy and happy life. God wants all people to live a happy and healthy life and enjoy the gift of physical living. God gives life to people so they can live a life-giving life. The Florentine, by hanging himself, rejects God’s call to live and turns his home into a place where death is celebrated. God is disrespected when he discards God’s gift of life.
As Dante descends deeper into the Inferno he gradually loses his compassion towards those souls suffering. This is because he comes across souls with more grave sins. Dante’s pity towards these souls increases in Canto VIII. Dante’s pity toward sinners boiling with blood was nonexistent in Cantos XII and XIII. After breaking the branch, Dante is first shocked.
“So I poured a mix from that trunk fragmented.”
Blood and words. I let go of my branch.
I stood rigid with fear, and my hands fell from mine” (Inf. XIII, 40-42).
Dante confirms later how much he feels for Pier Delle Vigne.
“Why don’t I keep asking you questions?”
Ask him what you want to know.
This pity makes me choke up. XIII, 82-84).
Dante admits that he is guilty of contributing to Pier DelleVigne’s pain, but he also feels pity. Dante recognizes that the sin is grave, but he believes that the suicides are not under their control. The same as Francesca & Paolo did, these people deserve pity for the fact that, unlike them, they didn’t do it out of malice, but because the conditions at the moment were such. Dante claims that they deserved the Inferno due to the seriousness of their sin and because they had not sought God’s mercy. Dante acknowledges, however, that suicides have no chance to ask for God’s forgiveness. As the sin’s consequence is death, those who commit suicide have no way to repent. Suiciders are also unable to make decisions with clarity or freedom because they have a twisted mind.
Inferno displays Dante’s inner conflicts and opinions. In his description of the Inferno’s characters, their punishments, how to feel about them and whether we should pity them, Dante reveals what he believes about morality and theology. His theological knowledge is used to determine the severity of punishments for different sins. He condemns those with full mental faculties who are seeking vice, but pities those without full mental faculties and hearts to avoid their sin. In Canto XIII he shows pity towards these sinners that have discarded God’s greatest gifts, their life and body. They were never given the opportunity to repent. These souls have made grave mistakes and were never given the opportunity to rectify their error or change their mind.
