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Symbolism In The Exorcist

Decent Essays

In this essay I will be talking about symbols and what they mean, some dichotomies, horror themes, my thoughts on the topic and relating it to other films or books of the horror genre I find in The exorcist. I will also be giving an overview of the film

The film was directed by William Friedkin and it is based on the novel The Exorcist from 1971. This film The Exorcist is about a mother who is an actor and her daughter who unfortunately has been possessed by the devil himself. It follows them and how the mother is trying to help her and that after trying everything she gets to priests to do an exorcism on her and she is then rid of the monster.

Dichotomy is when a seemingly harmless thing is portrayed as the opposite. One dichotomy in the film is Regan. Regan is a dichotomy because she is at first seemingly safe …show more content…

This is a symbol of purification of water to protect the good from the devil and his minions. We can prove this because at times in the film the priests throw holy water on Regan to try to weaken the devil and cause it harms. Then there is the medallion of the Saint Joseph he was known as two different saints for one he was known as the patron saint of the workers and then later on he was declared by pope Pius IX as the patron saint and protector of the holy church. I feel that being the patron saint and protector of the holy church makes more sense, seeing as it is obtained by Father Merrin. This could possibly mean that Then there is the holy cross. This is used in the scene where we can see a possessed Regan pleasuring herself with a crucifix while uttering the words “fuck Jesus, fuck you” over and over again. This can be a symbol of how much the devil despises god and all things holy by using a holy object to commit and unholy sin while uttering fowl unholy words. He then furthers this when pushing Chris’s head down under her dress and saying “lick me”. This is probably to show how the devil wants to

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