Da Vinci Code Book Report

The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown published the page-turning book The Da Vinci Code in 2003. The primary goal of the characters is to discover the Holy Grail’s location, which is a secret only Jacques Sauniere, a curator at the museum, is aware of. On that day, however, Silas approaches Sauniere and requests to know the location of the Holy Grail. Although Sauniere was unaware that Silas had misled to him, Silas shoots Sauniere as soon as he receives the response. Silas uses blood to draw a circle on his stomach with himself in the center because he knows he only has a short time left to survive. Which depicts the recreation of the Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man position. In addition, he draws a code using an invisible ink on the ground. Through Manuel Aringarosa and Jerome Collet, Brown illustrates that people are not always what they seem to be, thus, one should always strive to draw a difference between reality and appearance.

Manuel Aringarosa

Manuel Aringarosa is the Bishop of Opus Dei and is deeply rooted in the religion, hence, he is of the opinion that the church should retrace its steps and adhere to the strict dictations of the Bible. Whenever anyone challenges his faith, the Bishop would reply that together with his followers, they had opted to ’follow Catholic doctrine as rigorously as we can in our own daily lives’ (Brown 32), which justifies his adherence to the church’s doctrines. By doing so, the Bishop believes that they would be in a position to make the world better for every person. However, Bishop Aringarosa chooses to turn a blind eye to some of the evil occurrences in the sanctuary. Brown notes that a few months ago, it had been reported that a group of students from the church who were schooling in a mid-west university had been using mescaline to drug new recruits so that they could experience a euphoria, which would be identified as a religious experience (Brown 32). Additionally, Robert Hanssen - an FBI spy - was prosecuted for being a sexual deviant, a matter that was highly publicized all over the society (Brown 32). Bishop Aringarosa was of the opinion that those who wanted to tarnish the image of the church were not aware of its positive impact on the society as it had enriched so many lives. Despite his claim that everyone should live as stipulated by the Bible, Bishop Aringarosa is also a mastermind of the crime. While talking with the man who had mailed him (Bishop Aringarosa) the phone, the Bishop assures the caller that he would use his influence to get an object they had been searching for (Brown 33). Later, one realizes that the two were talking about the Holy Grail.

Jerome Collet

Jerome Collet is a lieutenant in the Direction Centrale Police Judiciare. He is Captain Bezu Fache’s deputy and is the one who initiates the investigations against Langdon - one of the main suspects in the murder of Sauniere. Although his boss does not think that he (Collet) would do a commendable job, which would lead to the identification of the murders, Brown depicts that Lieutenant Collet is a hard-working person who intends to make sure that the culprits are known. In addition, Lieutenant Collet strives to make sure that he impresses Captain Fache after the completion of the investigations. To demonstrate his professionalism, Lieutenant Collet inserts a GPS tracker in Langdon’s pocket to make sure that he (Collet) monitors Langdon’s movements. It is no doubt that such a deed is a laudable one since it would enable the lieutenant to always keep in touch with the suspects and note their deeds (movements) that would lead to any significant advancements in the criminal inquiry. Besides, Lieutenant Collet was convinced that the police needed to demonstrate its expertise by ensuring that the culprits were arrested to redeem his captain’s name since the Board of Ministers and even the media had greatly criticized him (Captain Fache) over the recent past (Brown 76). According to the critics, Captain Fache was conflicting with foreign embassies now and then and that he was also using a lot of finances in acquiring new technologies (Brand 76). Lieutenant Collet also that Captain Fache’s technological craze had dented his - Captain Fache’s - professional image. Ultimately Lieutenant Collet gives credit to Captain Fench on television after Leigh Teabing, hence, saving the captain from being embarrassed once more. Additionally, Lieutenant Collet admits that their investigation on Langdon was a ploy to try and identify the real murderers.

Lessons About Real Life From The Comparison of the Characters

One of the key lessons that we can learn from the comparison of these two characters is that individuals are not always what they seem to be or rather, their titles may not be a real illustration of themselves, hence, resulting in a case of reality versus appearance. As demonstrated by the comparison of Bishop Aringarosa and Lieutenant Collet demonstrates that people might have a lot of esteem for some key figures in the community while such individuals might be playing a key role in the disintegrations of the society and even its morals. To start with, Bishop Aringarosa would be one of the personalities who is obligated to make sure the societal morals are upheld and that all societal members follow the Biblical dictations. Even though he claimed that he ensured that his followers strictly adhered to the religious doctrines, it is evident that some evils were being committed under his watch. For instance, the FBI spy agent - Robert Hanssen - was a prominent member of the Opus Dei and yet he was charged for being a sexual deviant as he had installed cameras in his room so that his allies would watch him whenever he had sex. Such an occurrence demonstrates the evil that might be taking place in the church, an institution that is mandated to guide the people on the essence of being righteous. As noted earlier, Bishop Aringarosa was among the masterminds of Sauniere’s murder as he played a key role in planning how the Holy Grail would be stolen from its location. It is ironical that a religious leader who had claimed that he always strived to abide by the religious doctrines would be involved in such a deal. On the other hand, Captain Fache seems to be having no confidence in Lieutenant Collet and, thus, he (the captain) does not believe that the lieutenant would investigate Sauniere’s death as required. However, Brown demonstrates Lieutenant Collet as an industrious individual who exercises due diligence in his work. For example, after suspecting that Langdon might be one of the culprits, he puts a tracker in his (Langdon’s) pocket to monitor him in everything he did. After completing the investigation, Lieutenant Collet opts to praise Captain Fache on television, thus, redeeming his (the captain’s) image among the community members.

Work Cited

Brown, Dan. “The Da Vinci Code.” Tikaboo, 2003, http://tikaboo.com/library/davincicode.pdf. Accessed 11 Dec. 2017.