The Da Vinci Code Essays

The Da Vinci Code Essays The Da Vinci Code Paper The Da Vinci Code Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Da Vinci Code is a thriller novel by the American author Dan Brown. The novel is based on the controversial premise that there is a conspiracy within the Catholic Church to cover up the true story of Jesus. The text is constructed to position readers through characterization and narration. The story explores the issues of the false conflict between faith and knowledge. Sophies plans for Langdon and her to escape from the crime scene suggest that this is a thriller story. This similarity with action thrillers creates expectations about the plot. Thriller stories become personal where the crime draws in aspects of the protagonists life to change the plot from a professional action to a personal quest. This is taken even further when the protagonist becomes the victim. The event of the stunning historical truth about to be lost forever provokes reactions in the characters. In the scene where Silas threatens to kill Sauniere, he said tell me where the secret is, there is nothing you can do. This creates a mixed sense of anticipation and foreboding. The behavior of the characters encourages us to develop our response to them. The monks cruelty reduces our sympathy for him and we feel the dread of Opus Dei, the Christian organization which he follows. We identify with the victim because we know something terrible is about to happen and there is nothing we can do about it. As well as this empathy with the victim, were also tempted to emphasize with the antagonist. Therefore, the thrill of thrillers comes from this generated attitude of the modern western world. The protagonists sudden realization that they are in the mercy of Teabing was shocking, and will significantly alter our perceptions of Teabings character. Any re-reading of the story will be affected by our knowledge of his actual identity. Using Sophie as hostage, he threatens to kill her if Langdon does not let him know the resting place of the grail. This makes us aware of the description of his character, whose motives appeared to be parallel to those of the Priory of Sion. We realize that as well as a welcome benefactor for the protagonists, Teabing also has all the characteristics of a thriller antagonist. His mindset is unencumbered by his grail obsession and so become motivated in his plans not by finding the truth, but by does it achieve the aims or not. He has institutional power that comes from being rich and having access to the functions of Opus Dei. Much of the protagonists actions are as a reaction to the antagonists plans. He drives the plot and energizes the story. Thus this thriller differs in its extraordinarily masterminded antagonist. The effect of embedding multiple narratives within each other is used in singular effect in some parts of the novel. The central part of the narration consists of Langdons and Sophies experiences in the complicated quest, which is followed closely within Silass account of attacking them. This in turn is contained within the French Judiciaries account of detecting and chasing Langdon and Sophie and the Opus Dei follower, Silas. The embedded structure is used where the opposing organizations view of the sacred grail is discussed through Bishop Aringarosas conversations and in Sophies memories of Jacquires Sauniere. This technique of using multiple embedded narrators gives the opportunity to play with the readers sympathy and offers various different ways of interpreting the novel. Omniscient narration is used to speak from the point of view of several characters, describing what they see and hear. There are important scenes that provide readers with more knowledge than the central character. This is shown in Silass account of revelation in the Church of Saint-Suplice which is entirely his point of view. There are some scenes of contact between Bishop Aringarosa and Chief Fache that are not presented from the protagonists perspectives. These scenes allow the reader to raise possible interpretations of the events which the central characters were unaware. The narrator also provides background information and pieces of knowledge unknown to other characters. However, the writer does not provide the reader with the complete understanding of the grail mystery in advance of the protagonists recognition. The moment when both the protagonist and the reader understand what the grail really is about is seen from the protagonists point of view. The novel follows the narrative pattern of a mystery and a thriller story. It has the rising action of the search for the secret, at the climax the protagonists discover who was behind the murders, and the falling action when the protagonists discover about Sophies family and Langdon discovers the resting place of the Grail. The story is told this way in order to provide maximum suspense for the reader. The writer also anticipates events. Teabings questions to Sophie about whether she would reveal the secret to the world if she had the choice foreshadows Teabings obsession with the necessity of revelation. This order of telling the events to the reader anticipates Teabing as the culprit. Although the story uses many legendary motifs such as the trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and the similarity with Indiana Jones, it differs in its objective and earnest tone. The structural and symbolic importance of Sophies red hair foreshadows her divine blood. Teabing shows Sophie that Mary Magdalene is depicted with red hair in The Last Supper. By the end of the novel, we understand that Sophie is of Mary Magdalenes bloodline. Red hair was intended to be an allegory of the story of Magdalene. It is associated with the desire to expose the truth about the Grail. The Church has enforced ignorance about the existence of the descendents of Jesus. Although at one point Langdon says that 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. This means that peoples faith can withstand the truth. This story is therefore a view of reality of the false conflict between faith and knowledge. Reading in contextual conjunction with other Brown novels dealing with the same theme, The Da Vinci Code helps us to understand the heretical conspiracy theories against the Churches that has been around for centuries; it illuminates our view of the Churches influences, which involves the subjectivity of history and the conspiracy to cover up the truth forever, the effect of which, in the wake of numerous discoveries of the Grail motifs obscured in the works of Da Vinci and the strict opposition of Opus Dei, is a story that explores certain aspects of Christian history. As a critic had put it, the Da Vinci Code is a deeply empowering and positive force that opens doors for readers to their own explorations and rekindles their interest in topics of faith. I incline to Watsons view, for it promotes spiritual discussion and debate. This is achieved with the ideas written within the context of a popular thriller. Readers see the importance of characterization in the story in the development of our response to Langdon, Sophie and Teabing. The excitement of the thriller comes from a masterminded plot that is generated by the extraordinary antagonist. The narrative method uses multiple narratives from different point of views to alert the reader to different interpretations of the text. The text is designed to engage the reader through introspection and exploration of our faith.