The language and imagery in Cantos XXI and XXII is coarse and full of grotesque imagery, far more than earlier cantos, suggesting that the lower a person travels in Hell, the more grotesque Hell becomes. The demons in these cantos are described as no other beasts in the Inferno are described, with great detail and an almost comic-relief like quality. Dante the Pilgrim is simultaneously afraid of and fascinated by these beasts.
Like the rest of the sinners in Hell, the Grafters also experience Dante’s concept of Divine Retribution. Because they had “sticky” hands in life, stealing and embezzling money, they are damned to spend eternity in sticky pitch, and just as their dealings were hidden from the world in life, their souls are hidden beneath the pitch in death. On Earth, Grafters took every opportunity to take advantage of others, and they are now overseen by terrible demons that use every opportunity to take advantage of them.
Virgil’s behavior changes in these deeper circles. No longer does he coddle and behave tenderly toward Dante. In fact, he rebukes Dante twice in Canto XXI, once for hiding behind the rocks (where Virgil placed him) and once for being afraid of the demons. Dante seems almost reluctant to continue the journey, literally and spiritually, and Virgil, as human reason, is frustrated with him.
All that is known about the Grafter from Navarre is what he says of himself. He, as the other sinners in Hell, is unchanged and shows no remorse for his sins; as he was in life, so he remains in Hell. The scene of this sinner and his escape from the demons functions to allow the poets to progress on their journey; there is no other real reason for its presence in the narrative.
