Den of Vipers

Content Warning: This section discusses sexual content and graphic violence.

The little bird is a recurring symbol within the narrative that loosely supports the overarching theme, The Relationship Between Emotional Fragility and Immoral Acts. When first adopted, it was employed as a nickname for Roxy, exclusively used by Diesel; the pet name was initially a visual metaphor for how Diesel perceived Roxy as the Vipers’ captive. Since the Vipers self-identified as snakes, the combination of the two images alludes to the idea of predator and prey, wherein Roxy, small, powerless, and a favored prey, would be eaten alive by Diesel and the others. The bird imagery would also infer Roxy’s alluring beauty, since birds typically attract both predators and mates through their plumage, as well as the idea of restricted freedom, as it references the notion of small birds who were typically kept as pets in cages. The meaning of the expression would later change when Diesel goes so far as to tattoo a small bird atop a snake over his heart. For Diesel—and the other Viper men by extension—the relationship he has with Roxy might have initially appeared oxymoronic, but it quickly became a source of freedom for Diesel and the others, as being “tamed” by his Little Bird has allowed Diesel to freely love despite the violence embedded within that love.