Throughout The Inferno, Dante the character goes through important changes. It is necessary to analyze these changes in order to gain a deeper understanding of the text. The book is largely metaphorical, and especially considering that Dante is supposed to represent the average person, his character has important implications. As Dante progresses through the levels of Hell, his character becomes more hellish. His personality reflects the levels of hell that he passes through.

Dante the pilgrim begins as a sensitive character, but by the end of the story has become harsher, more brutal, and more contrary to the love that Christianity is supposed to build. This transition is especially marked considering that he faints in the third canto when an earthquake shakes Hell. At this point in the story, he is still very confused, and is at the beginning of both his physical and metaphorical journey. Even in canto seven he is still astonished when he sees the sinners in the fourth circle pushing weights around a ditch. He remains sympathetic to the sinners for much of the book. However, by the end of the book his sensitivity is traded for brutality. In the thirty-second canto he ferociously attacks Bocca degli Abati, an Italian traitor. Dante the poet and Virgil actually encourage this as it is at least somewhat meant to show that Dante the pilgrim no longer associates with sinners, but rather firmly rejects them. Rather than a wrathful condemnation of sin, however, his exercise of violence and cruelty, whether or not justified by God’s wrath, seems to indulge in what he condemns. Although Dante the poet may have used it to further his almost militant views on religion, it seems to contradict notions such as “hate the sin, not the sinner” that are prevalent in Christianity. In this way, Dante’s experiences in Hell transform him from a sympathetic and sensitive person into a harsh, angry and violent person.

Dante the pilgrim metaphorically becomes more sinful as he progresses through Hell. Often his actions seem to correspond to different sins, and he gets somewhat fixated on many of the sinners. In the beginning of the book, he is reluctant to even talk to any of the people in hell. In canto ten, Virgil actually has to encourage him to speak with them. As the book progresses, he gets more absorbed with Hell and its sins. He receives foretelling of his political future, while at the same time places fortune tellers in Hell. He talks much about politics with dead politicians whose placement in Hell came as a result of their obsession with politics and their distance from God. In canto twenty-nine, Virgil hurries Dante along when he spends too much time looking for a relative. These changes culminate in canto thirty, where Virgil actually reprimands Dante for listening to a petty argument between two sinners. He says that experiencing the torture of sinners must not happen in a voyeuristic way, for that is a sin itself. Virgil seems to hurry Dante, possibly implying that staying too long in Hell is not healthy, which seems like an accurate observation considering Dante’s character changes in terms of the absorption of the environment around him.

Although Dante undergoes many character changes, it is important from the allegorical standpoint of the book to recognize where he doesn’t change; primarily that he continually remains subordinate to Virgil. Throughout the book, Virgil acts as a guide, and Dante relies on him for help in a variety of ways. Without him, Dante would be completely lost. In canto thirteen, he still has difficulty talking to sinners and needs Virgil to help communicate. The only time Dante ever disobeys Virgil is in canto twenty-nine, when he resists and tries to stay to talk to sinners. Even in canto thirty, Dante feels shame when Virgil reprimands him for listening to the bickering of sinners. This reliance on Virgil is especially important when he is viewed as a symbol for things like human reason. Virgil acts as a guide that brings Dante to God as he witnesses the sin around him. For that reason, this static way in which Dante acts is important to recognize, especially in light of how the other parts of his character change during the journey.

Despite the overall lack of characterization, the character development Dante the pilgrim is very important to the book. It can be interpreted in many ways, but seems to mirror the scenes of Hell through which he travels. This character has deeper meaning when applied to the books many metaphors and allegories. If Dante is supposed to represent the everyman, then novel seems to show the journey of a man’s life from sin to, especially later in Purgatorio and Paradiso, the love of God.