Violence vs. Fraud

Through the way in which he writes Inferno, Dante evidently believes that fraud is a more evil sin than violence.  On the surface level, Dante puts the fraudulent of Circle eight deeper in hell than the violent of Circle seven.  However, Dante's belief that fraud is more evil of a sin is clear in his diction.  In Bolgia two of Circle eight, Dante notes, "I saw among the felons of that pit/ one wraith who might or might not have been tonsured--/ one could not tell, he was so smeared with shit" (147).  In this passage, Dante chooses harsher words than seen anywhere before in the text and arranges these words in a coarse fashion.  In fact, this is only one of a few instances in Circle eight where Dante deliberately coarsens his language to describe certain types of evil sin.  His disgusting language in Circle eight reflects the disgusting way he feels about the sinner he is describing, and, it means that Dante believes that the sins of Circle eight are more disgusting and more evil than those of Circle seven.  In fact, Dante feel markedly different about the fate of the sinners in the two circles.  When he says, "You were radiance among men/ for that sweet image, gentle and paternal,/ you were to me in the world when hour by hour/ you taught me how man makes himself eternal," Dante feels indisputable reverence and empathy for Brunetto Latino in Circle seven.  Dante the narrator makes it clear through his word choice that his counterpart in the text idolizes Brunetto and is surprised to find him in hell.  Dante feels great sympathy for another countryman in Circle seven as well.  Overall Dante comes across as more personal with the violent sinners.  In contrast, Dante does not feel remotely similar about the sinners of Circle eight.  He is generally looking down upon these souls, showing that he believes himself to be above their despicable crimes.  In essence, Dante shows much more respect for the the violent as opposed to the fraudulent.

Dante is correct in asserting that fraud is more evil of a crime than violence.  The sin of fraud is ultimately more damaging to society than the sin of violence, which is ultimately why this sin is so evil.  Violence can indeed have a negative effect on society, especially in the case of the violent against their neighbor, but the evil fraud sows in society is much more insidious.  What this mean is that the fraudulent use wrongful deception to gain in a financial of some other personal manner: they impede society so that they might gain personally.  The negative effects of violence on society are not as directly opposed to the moral law of God when compared with fraud.  Every sin in Dante's Hell has to do with varying degrees of alienation from God so that the sinners who are more harmful to society alienate themselves further from from unity with God and are subsequently placed in a lower circle in Hell.  Because fraud is more detrimental to society, is causes a stronger alienation to unity with God and therefore deserves a lower place in Hell than violence.