In the eyes of Dante Alighieri, there were many types of sin's, some stronger than other's. He believed that each sin had to be punished according to its level of strength.
In his novel, The Inferno, Dante includes three major levels of sin. He places people who have committed fraud at the very bottom of the inferno because he believed taht they were the most offensive sinners to God. Those who are guilty of violence are in the middle. Incontinence, the sin that Dante believes is the least offensive to God, is placed at the surface of the earth. Those who took part in a sin of incontinence are placed closest to God contrary to those who were involved in fraud.
All of these sins have in common the characteristic of leading people to stray away from the righteous path. The sinners are placed farther adn farther away from God as the intensity of their sin increases. The way in which Dante places the order of these sins also provides us with a visual picture as to how easy it is to fal into more serious sins. Once one has taken part in a sin, it is easier to continue adding to that sin that it is to control oneself.
Each group of people is punished accordingly, with the punishments being the harshest for those who committed fraud. By writing about these three levels and how they blind and hurt people's soul's, Dante wants us to learn that we have a choice. We can choose to sin, because God presented man with freewill, or we can choose to go to heaven. Incontinence, fraud,and violence, all potential sins which mankind may choose from, tear apart the human spirit and block the pathway to heaven for many people.
