The Talk With Farinata

My eyes were fixed on him already. Erect,
he rose above the flame, great chest, great brow;
he seemed to hold all Hell in disrespect.


My Guide's prompt hands urged me among the dim
and smoking sepulchres to that great figure,
and he said to me: "Mind how you speak to him."


And when I stood alone at the foot of the tomb, 
the great soul stared almost contemptuously, 
before he asked: "Of what line do you come?"


Because I wished to obey I did not hide
anything from him: whereupon, as he listened,
he raised his brow a little, then replied:


"Bitter enemies were they to me,
to my fathers, and to my party, so that twice
I sent them scattering from high Italy."


"If they were scattered, still from every part
they formed again and returned both times," I answered,
"but yours have not yet wholly learned that art."
(Dante 77)


The readers can see that Dante uses specific pieces of imagery to tell this part of his journey. The person whom this Dante is talking about is Farinata Uberti a soul who is trapped in one of the tombs in the city of Dis located in Circle Six. Dante writes how Farinata's physical features are "great" relating to his chest and brow. This shows how Farinata is different from most other people or souls in the Inferno because instead of the wrinkled skin, starving bodies with no muscle, it seems, from what Dante says, that he is actually prestigious in his manner and deserves respect. As for the line "he seemed to hold all Hell in disrespect," this shows that it is as if, Farinata does not belong in Hell or that he is superior to all the others within this circle. As for the next stanza, Virgil I believe is encouraging Dante to go and talk to Farinata. And once again, Dante uses the word "great" to describe Farinata. He even uses it again when he first walks up to the "great soul", and so the repetition of this word shows that Dante must think highly of this soul compared to the others that he has seen.


This leads to  Virgil saying, "Mind how you speak to him." Here, Virgil actually is telling Dante to show this soul respect. This is different because he felt pity for the souls once before then anger and frustration towards other and now, he is somewhere in the middle where he is asked to treat Farinata with respect. This leads to where Farinata asks Dante of what line does he come. If you did not understand what this meant, he is asking what family does Dante come from in Florence because back in that time families usually had feuds with each other. This leads to Dante not wanting to hold anything back from him where he writes, "I wished to obey," this the first time where Dante seems to be the subordinate one in the conversation with a soul. It is as if Farinata has more power over him than anyone else and that he deserves Dante's total obedience. The physical response that Farinata gives to Dante is that he raises his brow towards him. This shows that Farinata is actually listening to what Dante is saying and shows curiosity in what he is telling him.


Farinata gives an unexpected response for how Dante was treating him. Dante is being very respectful but, Farinata goes on to say that Dante's family had caused many problems towards Farinata and his family. He tells us these problems in the whole fifth stanza of the passage and Dante responds with a rather crude remark. Dante goes on to say how his family had the ability to regroup and come back together after they were "scattered", and then goes on to say how Farinata's family had yet to learn this "art." This is where we see Dante actually take a shot at Farinata and his family and shows the rivalry between the two.


From this conversation, I can see that Dante had respect for Farinata because he had treated him with respect and regarded him highly. But, I still see that Dante had some problems with him because if not, he would not have been in Hell to begin with. The rivalry between the two is definitely there but it is not like Dante and other families because here it is visible that the two do share respect for each other.