The snakes around the main face show that war is hell. The snakes are angry, and they look sinister. The hand in the bottom right corner is Dalí's own hand. It's the only painting of his where his hand is actually on the painting. He places his hand in the painting to make a personal connection with the theme. He wanted to show his audience that war has affected him greatly. Any audience can clearly see the strenuous pain that war can cause on someone, or on a group of people from "The Face of War." The "visage of war" sees only death, and speaks only death. Also, reflected in his eyes are the corpses who are filled with death, too. The symbolism in "Face of War" strongly shows the dark aspects of war.
The colors Salvador Dalí used for this painting affect the overall mood of the painting. If Dalí chose colors like red, pink, purple or yellow, "Face of War" wouldn't look as miserable. The expressions on the corpses' faces wouldn't match with the overall feeling of the painting. Dalí chose dull colors like brown, black, and dark orange, which show sadness and misery. When you glance at the picture you can see suffering just from the dull colors. You aren't attracted to any bright, happy colors. He wanted to show how war is terrible and by using dark and dull colors, he does just that. The browns show desperation, especially in the background. During a war, both sides are very desperate. No one likes to be in a war, no one likes to see his or her loved ones in a war. They're desperate for the war to end. The black colors show misery that accompanies war. War is nothing but misery. People are being injured and even dying. It causes misery for the people in the war, and the civilians not in the war. Dark orange represents deceit and distrust. Some people view war as a way of protecting their country, and even though they might be protecting us, there is also many being killed.