Dante Reflection

I found Canto 17 interesting. This canto takes place in the 7th circle of the inferno. The sin in this canto is usery. I didn't understand how the punishment of having purses of the sinners' families around their necks relates to the sin of usery, which is making immoral and unethical loans or loaning money unlawfully. I also don't understand how being pelted with fire rain relates to the sin of usery either. I don't see how family relates to the sin of usery in any way. In the other canto's Dante is really clear in created punishments that match the sins, but in this canto they don't seem to relate as well. For usery, I  would make the punishment be something having to do with trying to get money and not being able to because in life, these people always got what they wanted when it came to money so they would be forced to have the opposite in the inferno.




I really liked the 20th Canto. Canto 20 is in the 4th pouch of the 8th circle of the inferno. This pouch is for fortune tellers. I thought the punishment of the sinners' heads being on backwards is really clever and representative of their sin. Because of the fact that the sinners weren't in the present moment and they always tried to look ahead and now they are forced to be stuck in their bodies and see what has come before instead of looking at what is to come. I also thought Dante's reaction to this was interesting. He is so taken aback by what is going on and starts to weep. That reaction really shows how Dante is compassionate and cares about the people in the inferno. I also didn't understand why this sin was so far down in the inferno, to me, fortune telling isn't that big of a sin.