Luz Zapata
Professor Lui
Reading Journal
Week 13
4/29/19
Reading Journal
This week reading journal was very interesting. Even though the book can be scary to those that believe that there is a hell, like me, it can also be very interesting. I think that Dante is showing us hell and choosing the specific sinners that he is choosing to show because he wants us that are on earth, to avoid going to hell by avoiding doing the things that the souls that are in hell did. I think the sins that he decided to show us are very usual and can happen often like adultery and suicide. That’s why he wants us to be aware that those actions will have consequences. Something interesting is that in hell you can find anything, including politics. Canto 10 is the most political canto. In this canto, Dante encounters Farinata who was a political leader from the opposite side of Dante. On page 129, line 51, it says, “Your side, it seems, have not yet learned the trick.” This shows that Dance and Farinata are from different political parties, which also shows that Farinata thinks that his side is better. In the book, we notice that once Farinata sees Dante he wants to know more about him. Farinata wants to know to what political party Dante belong, and if his family is as important as his. On page 129, line 42, Farinata says, “What’s thy name and race?” this show that Farinata wants to know more about Dante but probably not because he cares about him, but because he wants to know if Dante is better or has more power than him. This shows that Farinata likes having power, he is not real and does not have good feelings. He only does things that benefit him. Farinata is telling Dante that he stood up for the country, which might make him look like a good person. The truth is that Farinata only did because he wanted to rule the city. This shows that he only cares about having power which is truth for most political. In the Dominican Republic when there is elections, the candidates promise a lot of things, and often give out things to the poor people like food and medicine, which makes them look like a good person but the truth is that they only want to have power and money.
