The Da Vinci Code is one of the best known novels of the contemporary literature.The author of the novel, Dan Brown, has deftly woven a plot that integrates some of the conflicts that exist between religion and spirituality, tradition and modernity in the society today.
The story of the novel begins with the assassination of the curator of Louvre museum, Jacques Sauniere who leaves several clues to reveal the enigma that the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci stands for in the west. Leonado Da Vinci may be called the hero of the novel as he is the pivot around which the story is centered. However the main characters are Robert Langdon, Professor of symbolism at Harvard and Sophie Neveu, a French cryptographer.
On the basis of the clues left by Sauniere these two characters try to decipher such mysteries in the novel that have stirred the whole western world today. Ironically professor Langdon is not only chasing these mysteries along with Sophie, he is also being chased by the police as a suspect of the murder.
Through the unfolding of these clues Dan Brown has tried to relate the great works of Da Vinci to the life and times of the society in which he lived. The author must have done an exhaustive research in this regard as the facts given in the novel seem to be very accurate. Moreover the list of these facts is long.
The great paintings of Da Vinci, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are the two of the many cases in point. The background of Mona Lisa's painting and the presence of a lady in The Last Supper reveal the perception of the great artist on the equality of sex. By portraying this perception of Da Vinci Dan Brown has tried to indicate how a particular section of religion has tried to lower the status of women in the society over the ages.
Dan Brown is a great artist who has integrated all these elements of plot, character, facts and techniques in such a way that the world of the novel seems more a reality than fiction. In fact at several points the boundary between the facts and fiction gets blurred.
- Arun Jee
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