[The book is] so difficult to read that not even Satan can understand it. (199)
This is a recurring thing in the novel; Satan as the smartest being around, or at least a superlatively smart one. There is little comment in the novel about Satan as a source of evil, making him sort of the figurative equivalent of, say, Einstein or Stephen Hawking. In the middle ages, I guess people gave the devil more cred than he gets nowadays, mutating as he has into a pitchfork-weilding little imp with hooves, which is more cute than anything else.
Really the only recent cultural product that posits Satan as a gifted rhetorician is The Exorcist. Father Merrin explains:
Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen.
In Spawn, the Devil, as far as I can tell, doesn't spend much time reading and is more a warlike despot fighting against the forces of Heaven.
It's hard to come up with a definitive figure of the devil for the aughties - horror movies are more concerned with torture and psychosis lately than the supernatural - but I'm about to poke around and see what's hiding in comics or movies or books. The Devil is everywhere so it shouldn't be too hard to dig something up.
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