From the Christian point of view, one sin can never justify another sin. Later, when Shylock sharpens his knife on the sole of his shoe, Graziano makes the followingpun:
Not on thy sole but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou mak’st thy knife keen.(122-23)
Graziano is clearly suggesting that Shylock’s act will damn him to hell for all eternity.
Graziano continues his criticism of Shylock with a reference toPythagoras, the philosopher of ancient Greece. Pythagoras believed inreincarnation, the belief that the souls of man can return to earth in the forms of animals. Although Graziano is a Christian who does not believe in reincarnation, he tells Shylock that his very existence makes him question that belief: for Shylock must have surely been a dog or a wolf in a past life. Graziano describes Shylock as “wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous” (137). Graziano’s comment is just one more contribution to the already large list of lines and phrases that describe Shylock as something inhuman andmonstrous.