Meaning & Analysis
The Devil has intentionally thrown a bone among a group of people or animals with the specific purpose of causing them to fight with one another.
Insights
Deliberate Provocation
The proverb is a metaphor for the act of deliberate provocation. The 'Devil' represents any malicious person or entity, and the 'bone' symbolizes any issue, rumor, or object of desire that is intentionally introduced to incite jealousy, competition, and conflict.
External Agitation
It illustrates how external forces can manipulate and disrupt harmony. Strife is not seen as arising organically from within a group but as being instigated by an outside agitator who preys on inherent weaknesses like greed or envy.
The Nature of Evil
The proverb characterizes evil as an active force that thrives on division and chaos. The Devil's action is purposeful and strategic, aimed at undermining unity and fostering animosity for its own sake.
Vulnerability to Manipulation
It highlights human vulnerability to base instincts. Like animals fighting over a bone, people are shown to be easily drawn into conflict when their desires are pitted against one another, revealing a susceptibility to manipulation.
Theological Framing of Conflict
By attributing conflict to the Devil, the proverb frames discord not merely as a human failing but as a manifestation of cosmic evil. This elevates common quarrels to a moral battleground, suggesting that succumbing to strife is yielding to a diabolical, external force.
Psychology of Blame
The proverb provides a powerful psychological tool for externalizing blame. By identifying the 'Devil' as the agent of strife, individuals or groups can rationalize their own competitive or aggressive impulses, viewing themselves as victims of malevolent manipulation rather than as responsible parties.
Historical Symbolism
The 'bone' is a potent historical symbol of primal, animalistic conflict, evoking images of dogs fighting over a scrap. This imagery strips the ensuing strife of any noble cause, portraying it as a base, instinctual, and ultimately dehumanizing struggle.
Social Deterrence
This proverb serves a distinct social function as a warning against instigating discord. It equates the act of sowing dissent—whether through gossip, rumor, or creating envy—with the work of the Devil, thus serving as a powerful social deterrent against such behavior.
Rhetorical Devices
Personification and Symbolism
The 'Devil' personifies the abstract concept of malevolent intent, while the 'bone' serves as a potent symbol for any source of contention, making the abstract idea of provocation concrete and vivid.
Metaphor
The entire phrase functions as a metaphor for the act of maliciously instigating a quarrel, using a simple, visceral image to convey a complex social dynamic.
Alliteration
The sibilant 's' sounds in 'set strife' create a soft, hissing alliteration that subtly evokes the insidious and serpentine nature of the Devil's work.
Transcription
Quotations
In the olde lawe, where the deuill hadde cast aboone betwene the man and the wife, at the worste waye, they myght be deuorsed.
(to set stryfe Betwene you).
The divell cast a bone among them so that they fell at variance.
The deuill hath cast a bone betwixt them.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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