The Devil's Backbone Analysis

The devil at the dawn of Christianity bore little resemblance to the ruler of hell, the antichrist and agent of evil that he is known as in present day. Satan makes few overt or implied appearances in the Old Testament. For the important role of God’s greatest adversary, early Christians had to flesh out great parts of Satan’s story in order to develop him into his present, fearsome persona. The Christian story of the Devil is heavily influenced by earlier Greek mythology, and early Christian writings about the Devil co-opted local mythology in order to gain new converts and discredit popular pagan beliefs.

a very common fear every salve of the time inhibited. By illustrating the tragic life of a young

After a few months of being confined to the basement, the devil flapped its wings and flew out the chimney, and the Shrouds family never saw it again. People’s animals started to disappear, and they blamed the devil for it. They said that it started to kill and eat the flocks. Some people even said that the Jersey Devil would terrorize little children because it was jealous it could never be a normal child. Ever since then, the devil has been spotted in different places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, making that same screaming noise.

Therefore, most of the Stanza and the 10th line focus on introducing the reader into the problem and the perpetrators of the violence. The use of religion is not only symbolic to the inevitable suffering of the Latin Americans at the Poets country but also is ironical to the end times which marks massive violence acts against humanity. The aspect is brought to form by the last two lines which liken the treatment of the Indian bodies being killed as rotten fruits, thrown in a pile of garbage. The words rotten and garbage bring out the ugly scene of dead bodies surrounded by flies that feed on the decomposed material, an immense feeling of empathy towards the dead.

Asma states, "Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to menace.” This means that human weaknesses and fears are represented through monstrous figures, and these fictional situations provide perspective into how we react in fearful environments. In our current society we fear many things, including but not limited to failed or corrupt governmental systems, the afterlife, the unknown, and captivity, which makes this claim valid. Although we may not realize it, these fears are embodied by the horror monsters we see in popular culture. Society shares common fears, and often times the most prevailing fear is reflected in the most popular characters at any given time. Monsters are the fictional representations of society’s dark subconscious, exploring not only why the author’s statement is accurate but what we actually fear.

A recurring type of story is one where someone sell their soul to the devil

In the 2014 article The Devil in Disguise: Modern Monsters and their Metaphors, published by The Geek Anthropologist website, author Emma Louis Backe talks about the “monsters” surrounding pop culture and their hidden significance and meaning. Author Emma Backe an Anthropology and English major explains that explains that with each “monster” we see an underlying threat to human life as we know it. She states that pop culture has taken these images and made them a reincarnation of our fears. That these creatures are symbolic of incurable disease, indestructible beings, the undead, loss of humanity and extinction. Emma claims that we have moved from dismissing and ignoring these fears to confronting them in a more literal and real way. In the

In ‘’the Masque of the Red Death’’ the feeling the author Edgar Allan Poe is trying to give is he wants the readers to feel scared. In the story there are multiple places that Poe is trying to show that it is scary. For example, ‘’ there were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.” This shows that Poe is trying to make it scary because hearing that this sickness could make you bleed at the pores just puts this awful scary image in the readers head. The Red Death is portraying tuberculosis so when people read this they know that this is a real disease and people actually get it so it makes them worry about if they can get it or not. Another example would be “there were twelve strokes to

Monsters are challenges that the human race must overcome. In Jeffrey Cohen’s essay “Monster Culture,” Cohen reasserts the presence of the monstrous within society, and its relation to different cultures in a specific time period. All of Cohen’s seven thesis makes sensible arguments that gives the audience a glimpse on what his purpose is. Each thesis are presented differently, but Cohen correlates his ideas to explain the monster’s true existence. The convergence of intellectualism makes a strong connection between Cohen’s appeal to pathos. Cohen utilizes emotion in his writing to mainly appeal to his audience, and give them an idea on what goes on behind the monster’s identity. The final thesis “The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming”

People experience different emotions that can drastically change within seconds and, cannot remain controlled. During the course of “The Most Dangerous Game”, “Scarlet Ibis” and “The Use of Force”, the author demonstrates how a person can change from calm and collected to an assailant. Sickness comes in many forms, both physical and mental. Together both can affect emotions, actions which those two then lead into flaws and faults being revealed. All humans have flaws and the authors are attempting to aid the reader in understanding flaws and that can be embraced or overpower a person. The narrators and characters of these stories have many flaws these faults which are both extremely subtle and obvious.

When it comes to reading literature the most challenging yet important task is to understand the purpose of the author's writing. In Romantic era literature understanding the emotions and thoughts that are created in the reader's mind are essential to gaining a clear message that the writer is trying to send. In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” the narrator immediately introduces the “Red Death”; a disease that has been spreading throughout Prince Prospero’s country; killing his people within half an hour of contracting the disease. Throughout the story the author continuously uses diction and syntax to create suspense and evoke a grim tone to the reader. In the “Masque of The Red Death” Poe produces fearful imagery in the reader's mind through creating a supernatural presence in the setting.

the opposite side of the hero. This association with the Devil is important to understand the connotations

At the most basis level, horror movies are about the age-old fight between good and evil. At a deeper level, however, the beast within us is the evil that we have to conquer. This is exemplified in such movies of spiritual possession as The Exorcist and The Omen. A variation of the possession myth is the myth of transfiguration or metamorphosis. Dracula transfigure his victim with a bite; the full moon transforms a mere mortal into a lethal lycanthrope; a potion facilitates Dr Jekyll's metamorphosis into the evil Mr Hyde. These "monsters" are a symbol of the duality of human and reflect man's constant struggle within himself.

Satan is proven to be a tricky and clever character in most stories that he is talked about in. Even in the movie “Devil’s Advocate. The movie was good with a great amount of suspense, and kind of gives a real outlook of the Satan and how he works. The movie is about Satan and sin. The point of the movie and the poem was not to glorify sin but exposes it and all the devious things the devil would do or has done. But it also shows the consequences of sin. Just like “Paradise Lost” The “Devil’s Advocate” shows Satan is filled with vanity, greed, and lust who is a great deceiver and knows how to twists words and meanings. The movie is a modern re-interpretation of the poem, I also think it is pretty cool that the Devil in the film is name John Milton.

The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.