The devil falls down

Devilification; The title itself speaks immensely to the symbolism the viewer is about to indulge within. It implies that something has been portrayed by a grouping to be negative, even when it may be the exact opposite beneath the surface. The piece overall initially provokes a chest gripping sort of emotion, reeling you in closer with interest to view the piece as if it were a living being itself.

Starting from the bottom of the page, we can see that the creator has put a lot of time into this piece. A fellow artist that uses plain graphite pencil can tell where the hand of the artist was resting at different times during its creation. When we reach our focus character, The White Devil, it's almost hard to tell what is a fabric fold, and what could potentially be pictured as a tear in the fabric. The clothing that we wear is meant to cover the most intimate part of our bodies, some people even view their wardrobe as a shield to the societies around them that they are forced to partake in. They can be an expression of self, opinion, or culture. It is symbolism in itself. It is never stated that he hasn't been drug about before the intense beating depicted in the scene we are discussing.

Moving our view further towards the middle of the piece, it's clear that his legs have been pulled into his midsection; To me, this implies he has now taken on a self-defense posture, he has been beaten to the point the only thing he knows to do is curl within like a turtle. However, his wings are still extended. In my eyes, this symbolizes a level of hope that may burn beneath the surface, however small an ember. It is something that I see our main subject to be protecting deep beneath the surface, clinging to the last bit of warmth it has to offer them.

The men we see attacking our main subject seem to have a religious item in their hands that symbolizes sacrifice, much to the irony of the situation. They are asking our White Devil to sacrifice his opinions, way of life, and most likely their very being in a place of what they believe to be right. While most may jump to a political view, and that may be correct as this is simply nothing more than my own viewing of the piece, I believe it to be both that and religious freedoms. We have always known other countries to hold their societies in a sort of stranglehold over their opinions, they have done this since Rome.

Despite the powerful uniting element that religion and its' symbolism holds, we are not able to see their faces. I believe this implies that the ones committing the acts are too prideful to show their faces. I think they know they are in the wrong, but haven't the spine to speak up and welcome others to change their ways and opinions. They have held in the stranglehold themselves, and expect others to fall in line as they chose to. Drifting back down to the bottom of the piece, we must take note of their shoe choices.

Our White Devil is clearly wearing boots. We know that boots are made for traveling far and taking on harsh weather and environments. Meanwhile, our culprits are wearing what seem to be simple lace-up loafers. Anyone that understands human anatomy knows that tromping through mud and water would lead to an infection if they did not change their shoes in a timely manner. I would presume that these individuals would be so wrapped up in spreading their toxicity around the community they have taken hold of that it would be something dismissed. This would lead to a smelly, treacherous infection and significant skin rotting; Almost like their toxic views are seeping from their bodies from the bottom out.

Anatomically, I feel as though his horns are a sort of grown defense from being created in his given situation. I feel like they are meant to enable him to warn others of his double-edged views, as there are two of them pictured. Additionally, they could have no meaning at all, and simply be a character feature.

Ultimately, I see the piece reviewed as a serious form of self-expression. Holding rich symbolism that explains how the artist may be feeling from different areas of their life, I am looking forwards to reviewing other pieces. There is never a lack of meaning, and it is refreshing.