The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a compelling read for anyone who likes gripping storyline and high paced drama. The characters are highly intellectual, and the conspiracies are beautiful, doesn't matter whether they are true or not.
Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction that usually involves revealing the identity of a murderer or of the perpetrator of some other type of crime. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime.
About Author : Dan Brown
Dan Brown is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best selling novels of all time as well as the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown’s novels are published in 56 languages around the world with over 200 million copies in print.
Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."
Dan Brown’s reflections on these issues are striking: Is The Da Vinci Code anti-Christian? Brown: “No. This book is not anti-anything. It’s a novel. An effort to explore certain aspects of Christian history that interest me. The vast majority of devout Christians understands this fact and considers The Da Vinci Code an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate….Many church officials are celebrating The Da Vinci Code because it has sparked renewed interest in important topics of faith and Christian history. It is important to remember that a reader does not have to agree with every word in the novel to use the book as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith”
“Although it is obvious that much of what Brown presented in his novel as absolutely true and accurate is neither of those, some of that material is of course essential to the intrigue, and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has retained the novel's core, the Grail-related material: the sacred feminine, Mary Magdalene's marriage, the Priory of Sion, certain aspects of Leonardo's art, and so on.” How far do you agree with this observation of Norris J. Lacy?
Yes, definitely I agree with Norris J.Lacy’s observation. Though whatever Brown presented in his novel is not true or accurate, it seems that it became necessary for him to get certain statements by using symbols to rise certain effect in audience’s mind as well as to get assurance from the part of audience, for this specific purpose intrigue becomes necessary part in to keep the flow of novel. And at the same time a person without having a sense of theology fiction may interpret it in the wrong manner.
The second statement that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has retained the novel’s core. In some cases, though, the exposition is so sketchy that a viewer who has not read the book may not fully understand, for example, the connections among the Templars, the Priory, Mary Magdalene, and even Opus Dei. Of course, the last gets a good deal of attention which includes graphic scenes of Silas the albino 'monk mortifying the flesh as well as a good many viewers.
(If)You have studied ‘Genesis’ (The Bible), ‘The Paradise Lost’ (John Milton) and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (Dan Brown). Which of the narrative/s seems to be truthful? Whose narrative is convincing to the contemporary young mind?
Paradise Lost was about Adam and Eve, how they came to be created, the fall of Satan and his journey to get back at God by corrupting Adam and Eve. The main plot of this took place in God’s creation called the Garden of Eden.
Paradise Lost is similar to the book of Genesis because its story comes from the main pages of Genesis, chapters one through four.
While the Book of Genesis portrays Satan as an evil antagonist, Milton’s Paradise Lost presents him as a more sympathetic character. Perhaps not a hero, but an anti-hero. An anti-hero is someone who lacks the attributes of a hero, such as courage or being morally good. In some ways, Milton presents Satan as a modern Prometheus.
In Paradise Lost, Milton which states Satan was formerly known as Lucifer; greatest angel and second only to God. The angels who revolted against God were defeated and cast down from Heaven into the fires of Hell with Satan.
“Hell is the place Justice made for those who rebel against God”
About the birth of Man and Woman, the Book of Genesis says, “Then Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a Garden of Eden."
Milton’s’ version of the birth of Adam in Paradise Lost is somewhat similar to the book of Genesis,
“The first human created by God from the dust of earth…. were defeated. "
In the book of Genesis, Before the Fall of Eve was created to serve man. Eve was presented as submissive to Adam and to an extent dependent on him. Their births are both from the body of who they are serving
The Da Vinci Code can be more convincing in the contemporary young mind who wants sufficient evidence and convincing the contemporary young mind. when Robert can't reveal the secret of the Sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene and became himself the secret keeper, it is problematic to believe in truth and a novel is a fiction.
In this book Sophie Neveu is a woman who carries the spirit of feminism. The role of Sophie Neveu as a reflection of women's equality in The Da Vinci Code novel.
Opus Dei had always made her uneasy. Beyond the prelature's adherence to the arcane ritual of corporal mortification, their views on women were medieval at best. She had been shocked to learn that female numeraries were forced to clean the men's residence halls for no pay while the men were at mass; women slept on hardwood floors, while the men had straw mats; and women were forced to endure additional requirements of corporal mortification … all as added penance for original sin. It seemed Eve's bite from the apple of knowledge was a debt women were doomed to pay for eternity. Sadly, while most of the Catholic Church was gradually moving in the right direction with respect to women's rights, Opus Dei threatened to reverse the progress. (7.16)
The fact that it can all be traced back to the belief in Original Sin (and that bite from the apple) makes it even worse, when you think about the fact that the Bible was written by men, to be read by men.
What harm has been done to humanity by the biblical narration or that of Milton’s in The Paradise Lose? What sort of damage does narrative like ‘The Vinci Code’ do to humanity?
Eve in Paradise Lost is vain vulnerable and evidently intellectually inferior to Adam. However, Sandra M Gilbert argues that, though Milton portrays her as a weak character, he also puts her on a par with Satan in her refusal to accept hierarchy and because of her ability to move the plot of Paradise Lost forward. Similarly, other modern and contemporary visions and re-visions of Eve have emphasised her origin not as an archetype, not as theological truth, but as a problematic construction that is also an obstruction for women.
Portrayal of Sophie's character at some point when two male (Robert & Teabing) are talking about the history and some facts, shown dumb as it happens stereotypically women kept away from knowledge and logical reasoning as in case of Adam and Eve that Adam do logical thinking and kitchen work done by Eve.
2) Robert's faith in God, at the end he comes to know about secret of Mary Magdalene's Sarcophagus.
Not only in christianity but in other religion it also happens like in The Da Vinci Code, Robert kneels down as he reaches to pilgrimage like people do in front of Christ in church which may harm humanity. At last they have given the more importance to blind faith or laid down yourself in front of any religious faith.
3) The murders to name of religion by Silas, a blind follower of religion and after killing does the ritual of self-flagellation.
What difference do you see in the portrayal of 'Ophelia' (Kate Winslet) in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, 'Elizabeth' (Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or 'Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore) in Roland JoffÃĐ's The Scarlet Letter' or David Yates's 'Harmione Granger' (Emma Watson) in last four Harry Potter films - and 'Sophie Neuve' (Audrey Tautau) in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code? How would you justify your answer?
Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Hamlet’ - William Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’.
The character of phelia in the play as feminist reading of the text, she was the only one who is been cheated by the male characters of the play, but the film tries to materialise her character. Women are in love with someone but love should not necessarily connect with nudity. Love is something to feel not to objectify.
Elizabeth' ( Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or ' Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore)
Hester Prynne in the book is portrayed in a good way. She is the one who becomes ‘Angel’ in the book, but here the angel is used to gain more audience or profit. Hester is physically described in the first scaffold scene as a tall young woman with a
"figure of perfect elegance on a large scale."
Her most impressive feature is her
"dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam”.
The argument is that the female figure is used as a product. Like the body of women is more important than the woman as character. Women are exploited in a way.
Do novel / film lead us into critical (deconstructive) thinking about your religion? Can we think of such conspiracy theory about Hindu religious symbols / myths?
Religion and secularism, truth and falsity, friendship and enmity, hope and despair, bravery and cowardice, love and betrayal, collide in the pages to form a highly-charged battleground of ideas about a world poised for an uncertain future. Salman Rushdie talks about the novel that robbed him of a decade and the lessons it has taught him about free speech, religious fundamentalism and the importance of standing up for what you believe in.
The publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988, there has been a virtual explosion. do you see The Satanic Verses as the forerunner of this narrative of blasphemy, insult, indignation and violence?
The central objections articulated by the novel's Muslim critics – that it is a work of ‘bad history’ – in order to evaluate whether or not it was indeed written ‘in good faith’. The reading of the novel that emerges suggests that it is ethically problematic in this respect because its violations of the historical record pertaining to the Prophet Muhammad and early Islam deliver an interpretation of Islamic history that is complicit with the very Islamist understandings that Rushdie professes to be challenging.
Since the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” Rushdie has argued that religious texts should be open to challenge. “Why can’t we debate Islam?” Rushdie said in a 2015 interview. “It is possible to respect individuals, to protect them from intolerance, while being skeptical about their ideas, even criticising them ferociously.”
The Myth of the Holy Cow, Dwijendra Narayan Jha
Cultural historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha quite literally took the bull by the horns when he published The Myth of the Holy Cow in 2001. India’s Hindu majority believes the cow to be sacred and abstains from eating beef. Because of this, the slaughter of cows is illegal in many states in India. But Jha unearthed irrefutable textual evidence in Vedic scriptures and medical texts that showed Hindus believed eating beef and slaughtering cows wasn’t taboo until the 19th century. When he published his findings, the book was promptly banned by the Hyderabad Civil Court and the author received several death threats.
Have you come across any similar book/movie, which tries to deconstruct accepted notions about Hindu religion or culture and by dismantling it, attempts to reconstruct another possible interpretation of truth?
Chaturvedi Badrinath’s book Dharma: Hinduism and Religions in India is a timely investment for readers interested in the philosophical currents and civilisational dialogues that have brought us where we are. He says, “Indian philosophy is not ‘Hindu’ philosophy. There has been, from the 16th century onwards, a tremendous misconception that there is something called ‘Hinduism’; that ‘Hinduism’ is a religion... that the civilization of India is really Hindu religious civilization.” He emphasises the error in translating ‘dharma’ as ‘religion’, especially because the word ‘Hindu’ is not found in any ancient texts.
For example: - Ramayana, Mahabhart ta, Sairandhri by vinod joshi.
Sairandhri by Vinod Joshi
Language is applied to us is that he uses both the language Sanskrit and Gujarati. Karna is her first choice and she loves him. Poet's Sairandhri loves Karana. We can see the imagination of the poet that is not in Mahabharata. Sairandhri was the Maid of Sudarshan. She lived with five Pandava but she can not talk or show herself. She has to hide herself for one year. And we all do this in our life. In the poem, I found Following Two Points.
Lost identity :
We all have our own dual personality. This is the reality of the world that for some reason we change our reality or our real personality and we lose our real identity or personality. This is like the novel Dr Jeklly and Mr.hyde. like he had two personalities one is good or one is bad. This is not so much important but important is our lost identity. We are always trying to hide something from ourselves as well as from others. Sometimes we do this for some good thing. Like in this beautiful poem we can see this clearly.
Woman's Identity :
Sairandhri had struggled a lot. Because she cannot talk about herself with anyone. She was not able to share anything with anyone. When she was in Dropadi's rip she had Krishna who help her when she faces problems and she has five pandava to help. But in this rip she is alone. Poets intention is very clear in this beautiful poem that women has to fight and women can. Woman has power to control the things. She can make her own decisions.The poem is good example of rewriting of Myth.
When we do traditional reading of the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology, Harvard University emerges as protagonist and Sir Leigh Teabing, a British Historian as antagonist. Who will claim the position of protagonist if we do atheist reading of the novel?
When the novel ends protagonist Robert Langdon clearly emerges as a staunch believer of God while antagonist Leigh Teabing as an atheist. Teabing's only intention is to make all humans free. Free from fear of God. He always believed that Jesus is not God and whole life tries to find the secret of holy grail and prove it. He kills many people and can do anything to prove his belief. So if we read the novel as an atheist novel then Leigh Teabing will be the protagonist. And his intention also can be considered good for humanity.
Explain Ann Gray’s three propositions on ‘knowability’ with illustrations from the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’.
In this novel this sentence "I don't know what I don't know" is reflecting here, even character of Sophia for her also kind of self knows that she is descendant of Jesus and also Robert langdon quest for knowing is also presented here so the idea of 'knowability' a vital role in the novel.
