The end of
our journey in life is God. Both Dante in his medieval masterpiece, the Divine
Comedy, and Lorenzini’s, Adventures of Pinocchio represent the
journey of the Christian soul, of the pilgrim on earth who discovers that true
happiness, true freedom, lie in desiring what God desires. True freedom is true
happiness and true happiness is true freedom. Dante Alighieri in his final
words to Beatrice as she is departing says:
“Tu mi hai
portato da servo alla liberta’.”
“You brought
me from slave to freedom.”
Pinocchio
had to learn that in order to be truly happy and free, he had to learn how to
truly love. He learned to go from self-centeredness to other-centeredness as he
learned from his terrestrial father and his supernatural mother who both taught him how
to love unconditionally and sacrificially.
The
conscience, the inner sanctuary where the soul encounters God is a very
biblical idea that takes center stage in Dante and Lorenzini’s works.
Pinocchio’s conscience is a slow formation and awareness of what he ought to
do. Conscience through the character of the Grillo Parlante (the talking
cricket) was and is for us the living voice that speaks very concretely from
our experiences of judgment of life. The movement of conscience is like a
strong pull on our heart. It is a certainty of what must be done no matter the
cost. It is not an oracle that whatever comes from it is necessarily right.
Pinocchio went off the straight and narrow path many times in order to form his
conscience correctly. It was essential that Pinocchio’s transformation from
puppet (inanimate) to a human being ( animate) come from seeking knowledge for
the right purpose. His experiences taught him wisdom that lead to truth and
true happiness.
What is love
without learning and what is learning without love? The natural law and the ten
Commandments tell Dante and Pinocchio how to act reasonably in each area of
life. These commandments give Pinocchio guardrails that prevent him ultimately
to go off the road, off the right path. Pinocchio slowly learns how to love,
how to reason and how to participate in God’s providence by using his free will
in making good decisions. In this way, he flourishes, he is happy, and he is
truly human made in the image and likeness of God. Pinocchio needs the virtue
of prudence in serving his conscience on the right path. Prudence must be
guided by the fundamental principle of the common good not just our own good.
We can go astray as Pinocchio illustrates so lucidly by not using prudence. The
direction of Pinocchio’s life and our life can be altered at any moment. So, we
must take heed when making decisions that should impel us to ask:
What kind of person do I want to be?
The place
where the decision is made for Pinocchio and for us in answering this most
important question is called the well-formed conscience where we listen and
heed the voice of God.
Pinocchio
learned how to love sacrificially by saving his father and in saving his
father, he saved himself!
These were my final thoughts in class after the viewing of Matteo Garrone's Italian film of Pinocchio and connecting it to Dante's Divine Comedy.
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