What Is The Historical Accuracy Of The Davinci Code
Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code features many different storylines that at first glance appear to be separate. However, as the story and plot progress, they converge and eventually become interconnected with each other. First, there’s Silas, a monk of the Opus Dei, an institution of the Roman Catholic church, whose function in society is to spread the universal call to holiness. Silas has been sent by “The Teacher” to kill Jacques Sauniére, the curator of the Louvre in Paris, France and also a leading member of The Priory of Sion, a European Secret Society. While making his nightly rounds in a Louvre exhibit, Sauniére is held at gunpoint by Silas and forced to give up the location of The Holy Grail. After telling Silas where it is, he’s shot
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and in his fleeting moments paints a pentacle on his stomach and a circle around him with his blood and positions himself in the center of the circle, effectively recreating the stance of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. He also leaves behind a code, a line of numbers, as well as two lines of text on the ground in invisible ink. Jerome Collet, a police detective, calls Robert Langdon, the story’s protagonist, to come interpret the scene, given his status as a professor of symbology. Another reason Collet contacts Langdon is because of another line Sauniére wrote: ‘P.S. Find Robert Langdon’, which makes him a suspect in the murder. Throughout the novel, Langdon works both with and against numerous other characters to work through the clues Sauniére left behind, solve the crime, and prove his own innocence. Langdon is the clear protagonist whilst Silas appears to be the antagonist. However, as the novel and plot move forward, Silas becomes more and more innocent as the reader discovers he has essentially been brainwashed by the Opus Dei into committing the despicable acts he does throughout the story. Langdon makes both friends and enemies on his journey to discover the secret behind The Priory of Sion that Sauniére left behind for him to find. Sauniére was the head of the secret organization and his death, along with the coinciding deaths of everyone else that was higher up and next in line for The Priory of Sion, left an opening in the organization for the Opus Dei to eradicate it entirely and discover its secrets. Langdon is trying to prevent this from happening and discover the secrets himself so as to keep them safe, a measure which he manages to achiev in the end.
When choosing the book I would read for my Independent Reading Response, there was no real reason behind my choice of The DaVinci Code.
If anything, it was the fact that it was the first book I saw when I was looking for one. I picked it up, read the inside cover and a few sentences on the first page, and my attention grabbed, checked it out and started reading. I’ve rarely, if at all, read any book of its kind. The DaVinci Code is a mystery, but also seems to portray some historical accuracy. In addition to this, Dan Brown manages to spin a tale so far-fetched and unbelievable while making it seem like reality all at the same time. The minute I read the first page, I was hooked. And I couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it. And even then, I wanted to read it again, and again, and again. If only in an attempt to catch any details or facts that I had missed the first time around. There were many things that I especially enjoyed while reading this book, however, the one that sticks out to me the most is the way that Dan Brown wrote through multiple points of view. This method enhanced the plot of the story by adding details from both sides. You could know exactly what the detective looking for Langdon was doing while knowing what Langdon was doing at the same time. Overall, The DaVinci Code is a profound piece of literature and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to find a book they can’t put down until the very
end.
One element of Dan Brown’s writing that I particularly enjoyed was the way that he took fiction and mixed it with fact. Many authors attempt to do this to some extent, some failing and some succeeding. Dan Brown certainly succeeds in his attempt to do so. In the beginning of the book, there is a disclaimer reading. This alone, even without reading the rest of the book and recognizing that there are real facts and information present, displays the mix of fact and fiction. The first part of the disclaimer reads as so: “*All the characters and events in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.“ (Brown 1). This bids adieu to the fictitious aspect of the novel, the characters. While Brown may have based them slightly off of real life people, they are first fictitious. As well as recognizing the falseness of the characters, Brown also attributes fictitious identity to the events taking place throughout the novel. The second part of the disclaimer says “FACT: The Priory of Sion- A European Secret Society founded in 1099- is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.” (Brown 1). This piece of it recognizes the aspect of The Priory of Sion being real. The Priory of Sion is one of the many organizations operating throughout the novel. The recognition of it as a real thing adds to the novel’s historical accuracy and immense amount of facts and information within it. The third part of the disclaimer states “The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million National Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.” (Brown 1). This attributes fact to the second organization that operates throughout the course of the novel, Opus Dei. The last and final piece of the disclaimer is written as "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” (Brown 1). This again adds to the historical accuracy of the book and the things within it such as the named artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals. Overall, the novel is a realistic mixture of both fact and fiction, adding a depth to the plot that makes it both stunningly unrealistic and realistic at the same time, a feat accomplished time and time again by Dan Brown throughout his other novels featuring Langdon as the protagonist.
and in his fleeting moments paints a pentacle on his stomach and a circle around him with his blood and positions himself in the center of the circle, effectively recreating the stance of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. He also leaves behind a code, a line of numbers, as well as two lines of text on the ground in invisible ink. Jerome Collet, a police detective, calls Robert Langdon, the story’s protagonist, to come interpret the scene, given his status as a professor of symbology. Another reason Collet contacts Langdon is because of another line Sauniére wrote: ‘P.S. Find Robert Langdon’, which makes him a suspect in the murder. Throughout the novel, Langdon works both with and against numerous other characters to work through the clues Sauniére left behind, solve the crime, and prove his own innocence. Langdon is the clear protagonist whilst Silas appears to be the antagonist. However, as the novel and plot move forward, Silas becomes more and more innocent as the reader discovers he has essentially been brainwashed by the Opus Dei into committing the despicable acts he does throughout the story. Langdon makes both friends and enemies on his journey to discover the secret behind The Priory of Sion that Sauniére left behind for him to find. Sauniére was the head of the secret organization and his death, along with the coinciding deaths of everyone else that was higher up and next in line for The Priory of Sion, left an opening in the organization for the Opus Dei to eradicate it entirely and discover its secrets. Langdon is trying to prevent this from happening and discover the secrets himself so as to keep them safe, a measure which he manages to achiev in the end.
When choosing the book I would read for my Independent Reading Response, there was no real reason behind my choice of The DaVinci Code.
If anything, it was the fact that it was the first book I saw when I was looking for one. I picked it up, read the inside cover and a few sentences on the first page, and my attention grabbed, checked it out and started reading. I’ve rarely, if at all, read any book of its kind. The DaVinci Code is a mystery, but also seems to portray some historical accuracy. In addition to this, Dan Brown manages to spin a tale so far-fetched and unbelievable while making it seem like reality all at the same time. The minute I read the first page, I was hooked. And I couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it. And even then, I wanted to read it again, and again, and again. If only in an attempt to catch any details or facts that I had missed the first time around. There were many things that I especially enjoyed while reading this book, however, the one that sticks out to me the most is the way that Dan Brown wrote through multiple points of view. This method enhanced the plot of the story by adding details from both sides. You could know exactly what the detective looking for Langdon was doing while knowing what Langdon was doing at the same time. Overall, The DaVinci Code is a profound piece of literature and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to find a book they can’t put down until the very
end.
One element of Dan Brown’s writing that I particularly enjoyed was the way that he took fiction and mixed it with fact. Many authors attempt to do this to some extent, some failing and some succeeding. Dan Brown certainly succeeds in his attempt to do so. In the beginning of the book, there is a disclaimer reading. This alone, even without reading the rest of the book and recognizing that there are real facts and information present, displays the mix of fact and fiction. The first part of the disclaimer reads as so: “*All the characters and events in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.“ (Brown 1). This bids adieu to the fictitious aspect of the novel, the characters. While Brown may have based them slightly off of real life people, they are first fictitious. As well as recognizing the falseness of the characters, Brown also attributes fictitious identity to the events taking place throughout the novel. The second part of the disclaimer says “FACT: The Priory of Sion- A European Secret Society founded in 1099- is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.” (Brown 1). This piece of it recognizes the aspect of The Priory of Sion being real. The Priory of Sion is one of the many organizations operating throughout the novel. The recognition of it as a real thing adds to the novel’s historical accuracy and immense amount of facts and information within it. The third part of the disclaimer states “The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million National Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.” (Brown 1). This attributes fact to the second organization that operates throughout the course of the novel, Opus Dei. The last and final piece of the disclaimer is written as "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” (Brown 1). This again adds to the historical accuracy of the book and the things within it such as the named artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals. Overall, the novel is a realistic mixture of both fact and fiction, adding a depth to the plot that makes it both stunningly unrealistic and realistic at the same time, a feat accomplished time and time again by Dan Brown throughout his other novels featuring Langdon as the protagonist.