As he descends, he finds a beloved advisor, scholar, and fellow writer suffering, and his compassion is unsurpassed. He promises Brunetto Latini that his writings will be kept alive for all people to read and know. He departs from this wonderful teacher with tears in his eyes — it is one of the last times that Dante will weep for a sinner.
Dante, however, is not a one-sided person. He also has the power to respond to certain vicious sinners in a manner befitting their sins. When the wrathful person strikes out wildly, Dante has no pity and would possibly strike back. Then, in the ironic description of the sullen, Dante, for the first time, uses ridicule, and in the next circle he is seemingly pleased when the sufferings of Filippo Argenti are increased.
When a shade in the bottom of Hell refuses Dante's request for his name, Dante reaches out and uncharacteristically hurts the sinner by pulling out a tuft of his hair. Earlier, when he had inadvertently hurt the shade of a suicide, Pier delle Vigne, he feels deep remorse for injuring the sinner.
