The souls in purgatory have a common characteristic: they are all humble. They get rid of their pride and put aside the divisions that reign in the living world. Instead, they treat every person they encounter as if that person were a much greater and holier person than themselves. They reduce themselves to begging Dante to transmit messages to the living world and to pray for it. This type of humility and goodwill toward others stands in stark contrast to the reality of the living world in Dante's time, where the living ran around like fools in search of money, power, and self-aggrandizement. It is this contrast between the living world and purgatory that leads Dante to chastise and deplore the evil, corruption and division of Italy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn Canto V of Purgatory, the third class of Late Repentants, those who have experienced a violent death bide their time to begin their ascent on Mount Purgatory (Pur. IV, 130-132). When Virgil and Dante encounter this group of souls, they find these souls chanting the Miserere, begging God for their forgiveness, even though these prayers cannot help the souls themselves (Pur. V, 22-24). As Virgil and Dante make their way through the crowd, several souls approach them asking for information and Dante's prayers while telling him who they were in the world of the living and how they died. In addition to asking for prayers, Jacopo del Cassero tells Dante how he died, describing his gruesome death by saying, "Azzo d'Este had me killed (his hatred for me exceeded the limits of all reason)" ( Pur. V, 73-81). Another soul, Buonconte de Montefeltro, also describes his death saying: “I walked my way with my throat open, fleeing on foot and bleeding with pain” (Pur. V, 97-99). He suffered these fatal injuries while engaging in a political battle. However, he managed to humble himself moments before his death and call on Mary to guide him to heaven. Another soul spoke to Dante, insinuating that his death involved his fiancé when Maremma took his life because "he knows who started it when he put his precious stone on my finger, pledging his faith" (Pur. V, 134-135). In Canto VI, Dante makes his way through the crowd, approached by one soul after another who tells him how they died. He meets Benincasa, a jurist killed “by the vengeful hand of Ghin di Tacco” (Pur. VI, 13-15). He sees Federigo Novello who was killed in battle by one of the Guelphs (Pur. VI, 17), Count Orso who was savagely murdered by his cousin, and Pierre de la Brosse, whose soul was “torn from his body …by hatred and envy” (Pur VI, 20-21). These encounters culminate with Virgil's encounter with a soul who was from Mantua, just like Virgil, named Sordello (Pur. VI, 72-75). Virgil and Sordello, even though they have never met before, embrace each other brotherly as if they were both family. All these souls demonstrate extreme humility. They demean themselves, reduce themselves to begging and beg Dante to listen to them. In the living world, such people, counts, politicians, soldiers and rich businessmen, would never dare to reduce themselves to begging and yet here, in purgatory, they recognize that it is pride that has made them led to sin in the first place. Additionally, because they repented late in life and did not humble themselves before God earlier in life to ask for forgiveness, they see their pride as the reason for their stayin purgatory has been extended. Their lack of humility in the world of the living ultimately brought them nothing and cost them dearly. Dante sees all this and is driven to righteous anger against Italy. In the living world, many politicians and clergy want to gain more power, pride and prestige. In seeking these things, they have no regard for others. They are willing to kill, torture, betray, and discard anyone who gets in their way. The result of this type of attitude generates perpetual conflict between cities and within cities. In their greed and ambition, everyone competes against each other and this competition turns into violence rooted in pride, greed and ambition. But ultimately everyone has to face death. When they die, all the power, pride, and money they have earned remains in the world of the living while their souls go to the afterlife to be judged. In the eyes of God, the pursuit of money, power and prestige on earth is a waste of precious time. It is only when these politicians and clergymen are dead that they realize that in their hubris they wasted their time on earth and ruined the lives of many people for no good reason. Dante sees how many humble souls in purgatory were killed in this situation. senseless struggle and how many of them, like Virgil and Sordello, embrace each other after death when they would not have done so during their lifetime. Dante is irritated by the fact that the Italians are not able to put aside their differences and prioritize what is important. He deplores that Italy describes it as “a home of sorrow… a brothel of shame!” " (Pur. VI, 78) in which "no one within your limits knows rest from war, and those who are surrounded by the same walls and ditches, even if they are at each other's throats" (Pur VI, 82-84). Italy has become accustomed to such violence, as evidenced by the souls Dante encounters as he walks through the crowd and the manner in which they were killed. Jacopo del Cassero was killed when he thought he was safe and Benincasa was killed in his own courtroom. In each case, the victim thought they would be safe from violence and attacks, but they fell victim to the fact that there is not a single place in Italy that could be considered peaceful. Their murderers were so brazen and bloodthirsty that they weren't afraid to go to places that weren't technically at war. Their pride led them to kill these men. These priests are called to be above earthly concerns and ambition for money, power and prestige. They are called to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). They are called to act on behalf of the poor and to be their defenders. They are called to serve the poorest of the poor and to be servants of God and his people. They should act as an ombudsman, questioning and balancing the ambitions of politicians. But rather than standing up for what is right and challenging those in power, they seek power themselves and attempt to take control of political affairs. Priests, whose very vocation to holiness demands that they be humble, instead seek money, power, and prestige for themselves. They bring shame to the position they hold. It is impossible for Italy to become more peaceful if the very people who are supposed to be peacemakers, the clergy, are also the ones leading and encouraging the continuation of violence in this struggle for power. The Church is able to do this because the person who should be in charge of the body politic, the Emperor “O great.