Dante the Poet and Dante the Pilgrim

Dante, like Saint Augustine, uses himself as the tool of narration (by making himself the
protagonist). Apparently the real Dante Dante the Poet never made the trip as he described.
This, however, does not mean that Dante the Pilgrim and Dante the Poet are two distinctive
beings. Yes, Dante the Pilgrim is just a fictionalized character; still, the Pilgrim is the Poets
fictionalized version. However, Dante the Pilgrim is not only a mere fictionalized self of Dante,
but an enlarged version of his perspective: the Pilgrim represents all of us common folks. As the
first nine lines of Canto I introduce, he wanders into the dark wood representing the state of
ignorance of us, attempting to recognize sins. In other words, Dante the Pilgrim reflects Dantes
journey to acquire the view that he, the Poet, has. Here I define journey as the process that
Dante went through, such as reading, thinking, and reflecting, to form his own perspective
what we can call learning. At first he will have the reaction of an average Joe without
divine/Gods guidance he feels proud as he joins the group of classical poets (Inferno 4), he
swoons at Francescas story (Inferno 5). But Dante the Poet knows more than Dante the Pilgrim
he is learned, and with Gods guidance, he is strict enough to trust divine guidance rather than
human intellect to place the poets in Limbo, and to recognize Francescas sin to place her in Hell.
Dante the Pilgrim has the compassion one would expect from an Everyman, but it is Dante the
Poet who has the knowledge to judge (if this is the right word?) and classify the sins. Dante the
Pilgrim is the medium through which Dante the Poet allows us, the readers, to see for ourselves
the nature of sins, to place ourselves in Dante the Pilgrims shoes (since we share so much in
common with him), to reflect and learn what he, Dante the Poet learns. Dante the Pilgrim is our
guide, just like Virgil is guide to Dante the Pilgrim.