A Report on The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

In the Louvre Museum, a monk of the group Opus Dei named Silas murdered Jacques Sauniere, the museum’s curator. Silas demands to know where the Holy Grail is. After Sauniere told him, Silas shot him through the stomach and left him there to bleed to death. However, Jacques Sauniere has lied about the location of the Holy Grail. Realizing that his time is running out quickly and that he must pass on his important secret, Jacques Sauniere painted a pentacle on his stomach using his own blood, draws a circle on the floor with his blood and drags himself to the center of it. Thus, recreating Da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian Man. He also left a code, a random sequence of numbers, and two lines of text on the ground in invisible ink, hidden from the naked eye.

Robert Langdon, a famous Harvard symbologist (and story’s protagonist), receives an urgent late-night phone call: the curator of the Louvre Museum has been murdered inside the Grand Gallery of the Museum. Near the body, police officers have found a baffling cipher. Solving this enigmatic riddle, Robert Langdon is stunned to discover that it leads to a trail of clues and directions hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci…clues that are visible to the eye…and yet ingeniously and cleverly disguised by the artist.

Robert Langdon joins forces with Sophie Neveu a French cryptologists, and they learned that the curator, Jacques Sauniere, was involved in the Priory of Sion–an actual secret society whose members included the famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton, Boticelli, Victor Hugo, and the famous Italian Leonardo Da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory’s most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for so many centuries.

In a puzzle filled, breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu match wits with a faceless leader who appears to work for Opus Dei–a clandestine Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect believed to have long planned to seize Priory’s secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory’s most kept and hidden secret, and a stunning historical truth, will be lost forever.

Characters

Robert Langdon – a professor in History of Art and Symbology at Harvard University. He is also the main protagonist of the story.

Sophie Neveu – the granddaughter of Jacques Sauniere, the curator of the Louvre Museum. She is also a cryptographer at the Central Directorate Judicial Police(DCPJ). She was raised by her grandfather, Jacques Sauniere, after her parents were killed in a car accident.

Silas/Young Silas – (real name: Simon) is one of the antagonist in the story, even though he isn’t evil in his true nature. Silas, an Opus Dei devotee, is instructed by an unknown individual known as “The Teacher” to locate the Holy Grail, eliminating everyone who gets in his way, in order to find it.

Sir. Leigh Teabing – also known as “The Teacher”, is the main antagonist in the story and its film adaptation. Teabing is a Historian whose main goal in life is to get the secrets of the Holy Grail revealed.

Jacques Sauniere – the well-known curator of the Louvre Museum. He is also the head or grand master of the secret Priory of Sion and he is also the grandfather of Sophie Neveu.

Bishop Manuel Aringarosa – is the worldwide head or leader of the group Opus Dei. He is also the one helping Silas through his mission on retrieving the Holy Grail.

Bezu Fache – he is considered as an antagonist because he accuses Robert Langdon for the murder of Jacques Sauniere. He is also the captain of DCPJ.

Opus Dei – a real institution of the church and is known as “the work of God.” In the novel, opus dei is portrayed as “God’s Mafia.”

Priory of Sion – a real secret fraternal organization that was formed at France. In the story, this group is assigned or tasked to protect the secrets of the Holy Grail.

Holy Grail – the pseudonym of Mary Magdalene in the novel. It is the one that is being kept by the Priory of Sion and the item that “The Teacher” wants.

The story of the Da Vinci Code has took place in France and England, specifically paris and London. It has also taken place like New York, isles in England and different parts of France. Below are the different places and location on where our characters ventured upon:

• Louvre Museum, Paris
• Church of Saint-Sulpice or Eglise Saint-Sulpice, Paris
• Chateau Villete, Paris
• Temple Church, London
• Westminster Abbey, London

Jacques Sauniere, the well-known curator of the Louvre Museum, was shot at his stomac at night at the museum by a catholic monk named Silas. Silas is working on behalf of the secret group Opus Dei and an unknown person known as “The Teacher.” With the help of Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist at DCPJ, they must solve all the puzzles, questions, riddles, and mysteries to get the holy grail. They must also face a bigger threat that plans to get the holy grail before they can. An adventure filled with mystery and revelations about history.

The Da Vinci Code is a novel filled with so many twists and turns on the plot of the story. All of the characters in the story have all connections but it is hidden in other chapters so you really have to read it to understand it. The thrill of the adventure in the story is just exciting, even though you are only reading it, it really feels like you are there in that very particular scene. The climax was really very thrilling because you never know on what will happen next. All-in-all, it’s a very great book, perfect for mystery, suspense, and thriller readers out there.

The Da Vinci Code movie is really great, especially that they did not remove or change the thrilling scenes or parts. The only upsetting is that the part where they were questioned by Leigh Teabing, the specific scene is different from the novel. The actors really did brought the characters to life with their extra-ordinary acting. All-in-all, the movie is also great like the book, filled with cliffhangers, suspense, mysteries that you want to solve, and the oh so thrilling experience on what will happen next.

Literary Criticism: Feminist Criticism

The Da Vinci Code is a novel filled with so many suspense and mysteries. This novel and it’s film has received many great reviews. The book is about a secret that the church is always hiding. I have chosen feminist criticism because it really connects with the plot and the whole story of the book and it’s film adaptation. Sophie Neveu is a female cryptologist at DCPJ, at first she wasn’t supposed to be working their because Bezu Fache believed that: “Women in the workplace is just a distraction to us men.” That line really had an impact on me, because it shows that men, even on the real world, just objectifies women or they see them as how society sees them, as stay at home housewives. A few women in the 1930’s are already allowed to work but they only received low wages than the average. Normally in the past women are only allowed to do the hardest jobs there or only available job they get. We also see in the book that Mary Magdalene is portrayed as the derogatory term slut or whore. She is also removed from all paintings or depictions of the bible. This story really fits with feminist criticism because this story shows that women can have an impact on our history and on our lives. My example on women who had an impact on the world was Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was an African-American woman who was considered “The First Lady of Civil Rights.” I chose her because she fought for her rights and she stood her ground. She fought for what is right, and because of that she was arrested. Rosa Parks was also known as “The Mother of the Freedom Movement” and my favorite quote from her that will really connect with the book is “No, the only tired I was, was the tired of giving in.” This quote fits for Sophie Neveu perfectly because, she took everything in her own hands when things get rough. She never let people bring her down, she is also a woman who showed that woman can do good or do better than what a man does. Another outstanding woman who made an impact on our world is Princess Diana. I chose her because she perfectly represents Mary Magdalene in the story. Princess Diana is not your typical royal princess, no, she is a wonderful woman who doesn’t care on what people might think of her. She also does not play by the book but rather, the heart. Princess Diana is just like Mary Magdalene because in some parts of the novel, Mary Magdalene did all what she can do just to protect her beloved child. “Family is the most important thing in the world” is the perfect line to describe on what kind of woman Mary Magdalene is in the story.

The Da Vinci Code is written by Dan Brown. Brown said that this work of his really stood out the most from his other works like Angels and Demons and Origin. It’s main protagonist is Robert Langdon but since I’m using Feminist Criticism, I’ve solely focus on how the female characters had an impact on the story. If Sophie Neveu were never introduced or never helped throughout the story, then it will change on how will it end. If Mary Magdalene had just given up, it would also change the story. The story or novel also showed a few characters that are sexist. Example of this is Captain Bezu Fache. On chapter 9, Fache had said to Langdon that “women are just distraction for men and they are not physically prepared.” Another is that how Robert Langdon treats Sophie, Langdon treats Neveu like she can’t handle things on her own. In this modern age, let us change that social construct that women can’t do it, because women can really do it. The story of the Da Vinci Code on how women or ladies can survive or make it to the world without the pressures of society and being compared to others. This book is fitting for Feminist Criticism because it shows that women can do what men can. Sophie Neveu showed that she can keep up or do better with the guys at her work. Mary Magdalene did everything she can to keep her family safe. Women can do a lot of huge things to our lives, if we only let them, and not judge them. All in all the Da Vinci Code for me shows that women can also have an impact to our lives and the course of history itself.