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Assignment Paper No.13
Name: Ravji Jalondhara
Roll No: 28
Enrollment No: 2069108420180024
Paper No.13 (New Literature)
Topic: Theme of “The Da Vinci Code”
Word:1532
Batch: 2017-19
Email Id: ravjijalandhara@gmail.com
Submitted to: Department of English MKBU.
INTRODUCTION
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It follows "symbologist" Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in Paris causes them to become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ having been a companion to Mary Magdalene.
The title of the novel refers to the finding of the first murder victim in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, naked and posed similar to Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, with a mathematical message written beside his body and a pentagram drawn on his chest in his own blood.
The Da Vinci Code provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Mary Magdalene's role in the history of Christianity. The book has, however, been extensively denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church, and consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies.
THE SUBJECTIVITY OF HISTORY
The Da Vinci Code raises the question of whether history books necessarily tell the only truth. The novel is full of reinterpretations of commonly told stories, such as those of Jesus’ life, the pentacle, and the Da Vinci fresco The Last Supper. Brown provides his own explanation of how the Bible was compiled and of the missing gospels. Langdon even interprets the Disney movie The Little Mermaid, recasting it as an attempt by Disney to show the divine femininity that has been lost. All of these retellings are presented as at least partly true.
Characters in The Da Vinci Code ignore the power of women at their peril. Throughout the novel, Sophie is underestimated. She is able to sneak into the Louvre and give Langdon a secret message, saving him from arrest, because Fache does not believe her to be capable of doing her job. Fache specifically calls Sophie a “female cryptologist” when he is expressing his doubts about Sophie and Langdon’s ability to evade Interpol. When interpreting one of the clues hidden in the rose box, Langdon and Teabing leave Sophie out, completely patronizing her. When she is finally allowed to see the clue, she immediately understands how to interpret it. Sophie saves Langdon from arrest countless times.
Other women are similarly underestimated. Sister Sandrine, in the Church of Saint-Sulpice, is a sentry for the Brotherhood, but Silas, indoctrinated in the hypermasculine ways of Opus Dei, does not consider her a threat. And Marie Chauvel, Sophie’s grandmother, manages to live without incident near Rosslyn Chapel for years, preserving her bloodline through Sophie’s brother.
The False Conflict between Faith and Knowledge
Dan Brown refuses to accept the idea that faith in God is rooted in ignorance of the truth. The ignorance that the Church has sometimes advocated is embodied in the character of Bishop Aringarosa, who does not think the Church should be involved in scientific investigation. According to The Da Vinci Code, the Church has also enforced ignorance about the existence of the descendents of Jesus. Although at one point in the novel Langdon says that perhaps the secrets of the Grail should be preserved in order to allow people to keep their faith, he also thinks that people who truly believe in God will be able to accept the idea that the Bible is full of metaphors, not literal transcripts of the truth. People’s faith, in other words, can withstand the truth.
The Power of Metaphor
Langdon hints that the secret that is uncovered about the true form and existence of the Holy Grail might be better left unmentioned by the forward thrust of progress. The mystery and aura surrounding that mystery has for millennia allowed the Grail to be whatever believers make of it. The suggestion here is that faith is stronger the farther way from facts it remains situated. Coincident with this ideological view is an valid explanation for why so many of those who put their faith in the Holy Bible do so on the condition that every word is literal. When Langdon ponders over the wisdom of introducing facts into the equation by which faith arrives at truth, he is also calling into question whether such faith remains as strong and steadfast if stories and events presented as historical fact in the Bible are viewed merely as metaphor for the purpose of enlightening a larger truth. The question boils down to whether metaphor is invested with the same power to guide and condition faith as literal fact.
Power of Roman Catholic Church:
Another underlying theme throughout the book is the power of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic church on the world wide stage .through their research, Robert Langdon and Sir teabing have learned, and discuss numerous times throughout the book, how the church has suppressed the truth about the Mary Magdalene. They discuss how the church, throughout history, has suppressed the truth through edicts and even violence.
This theme is one that underlies the Teacher’s motive for finding the grail. He believes that the church had pressured Sauniere and the leadership of the priory of Sion to continue hiding the truth about Jesus and Mary Magdalene so he takes it upon himself to seek to un earth the Holy Grail himself.
Sacrifice
The Da Vinci Code opens with dramatic personal sacrifice-------Sauniere’s death to protect the secret of the Priory of Sion-------but theme of sacrifice appears repeatedly throughout the novel. It does not always require a death, however, a sacrifice can beauty type of loss, from loss of integrity or freedom to the loss of a physical item.
A Sacrifice entails the giving up of something in exchange for something else. It is a circumstance that does not allow for two competing needs to exist together. For example, Sauniere makes the ultimate sacrifice--- death--- that hundreds in the priory throughout history, according to Brown, have been willing to make. Likewise, Sister Sandrine Bieil sacrifices her life to warn the Priory when Silas attempts to unearth the keystone in the church of Saint-Sulpice.
The protagonist of The DaVinci Code is a member of law enforcement or religion or an intelligence agency or even a traditional historian. Robert Langdon is a professor of symbology, meaning his day job is teaching the study of symbols as key to unlocking concealed knowledge. The thematic concern that drives the actual events of the narrative is the continual and consistent revelation of how art has been used throughout history by the oppressed as a means of transmitting knowledge in a way that attempts to escape detection and punishment. Langdon focuses especially on the iconoclastic art of the Renaissance which is dominated by extraordinary works that seem merely to depict figures and events form the Bible, it is eventually demonstrated that many of these works of art actually contain hidden symbols and messages, often messages that serve as ironic contradiction of the apparent intent. While Langdon is primarily guided by paintings and sculptures, the secret history of art can likewise be detected in everything from the works of Shakespeare to architectural and fashion design.
“Mystery and Wonderment That Serve Our Souls”
The major theme of this novel is expressed in a quotation by Marie Chauvel in the resolution. In this novel people believe in things, or are inspired by things, which cannot be proven true. Langdon remembers this when he looks at his Mickey Mouse watch. Similarly, people must rely on their faith in religion or faith that the Grail exists. The mystery and wonderment produced by these facets of their lives are more important than the real facts.
The Sacred Feminine
On one level, the main characters in this novel are discussing and searching for symbolic representations of the sacred feminine. However, on another, more subtle, level Brown portrays women’s power. Through Sophie Neveu, Brown illustrates an intelligent and capable woman. Moreover, Sophie frequently makes decisions based on a sixth sense not bestowed upon the male characters which Brown calls women’s intuition. Sophie’s feminine power is reinforced by the many stories told of ancient reverence for women as life-givers as well as the prominent status of Mary Magdalene.
Fanaticism
While this novel promotes faith, it also cautions against pursuing one’s beliefs to the point of fanaticism. Brown offers two examples of characters that become fanatics: Silas and Teabing. Silas is a religious fanatic. He allows his desire to please God and act on behalf of the Church to cloud his judgment. Silas is willing to murder as long as he believes he is supporting the Church.
Similarly, Lee Teabing believes so strongly in finding and revealing the Sangreal documents that he is willing to murder for his cause. While each of these men fanatically supports diametrically opposed agendas, they both come to believe that the ends justify the means. Brown seems to admonish this behavior because neither fanatical character is successful.
Work Cited:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code_(film)
http://rivapandya.blogspot.com/2017/04/themes-in-da-vi
https://www.gradesaver.com/the-da-vinci-code/wikipedia/introduction
http://devangibagohil.blogspot.com/2017/04/p-13-themes-of-da-vinci-code.html?m=1
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