Name :- Pritiba B. Gohil

Roll No :- 21

Course No. 13 :- The New Literature

Presentation Topic :- Use of Symbols, Science and Art in The Da Vinci Code

Enrolment No :- PG 14101016 M.A. English Semester - 4Batch Year :- 2014 - 2016 Submitted To :- Department of EnglishMaharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Use of Symbols ‘Symbols are very adept at hiding the

truth’.- Dan Brown.

• The symbols are the artifacts which can be read in many ways. A hidden truths and belief are mingled up with the spin of time. The symbol can be speaks many things in way that largely depends on reader’s decoding insight about it. Dan brown presented the work with various symbols which helps to create mystic element of thriller. The symbols like: Red hair, Blood , Cell phone etc.

The Chalice or Grail • Chalice or Grail is an

ancient symbol for the Feminine.

• Chalice is symbolic of woman was ‘V’. It regards the famous cup from which Christ drank. The Chalice represents a cup or vessel, and the womb; represents womanhood and fertility- the sacred feminine.

The Blade• Blade is symbolic of

Male.

• It regards Symbology of the Grail: original sign for a male was ‘U.

• It represents aggression and Manhood.

Langdon’s Mickey Mouse Watch

• Throughout the novel Langdon wears his Mickey Mouse watch, which reminds him of how his interest in symbology began. Langdon also talks to his classes about how remnants of the Grail story are found in Disney stories. Disney, symbolized in the Mickey watch, exemplifies the importance of magic and imagination for people. Disney World, according to Langdon, is built upon make-believe, infused with bits of hidden truth.

• Disney, like Grail stories and like religion, is not necessarily true but it gives people something much more important--mystery and wonderment.

The Pentagram• The pentagram is also very important in The Da

Vinci Code. The Da Vinci Code opens with the murder of Jacques Suaniere. While he is dying Suaniere dips his index finder into his wound and using his own blood as ink, draws on his stomach a pentagram (p. 35)

• This symbol is one of the most powerful images you will see this term. Formally known as a pentagram—or pentacle, as the ancients called it—this symbol is considered both divine and magical by many cultures. (Da Vinci Code p. 98)

• It’s a pentacle. One of the oldest symbols on earth. Used for over four thousand years before Christ. . . The pentacle is a pre Christian symbol that relates to nature worship. (Da Vinci Code p. 35, 36)

Saunière’s Knight• The knight that sits in Saunière’s office is an

ironic symbol: knights are supposed to protect the Grail but this knight, which Teabing has bugged, betrays the Grail.

• This “betrayal” illustrates two interrelated points—

• 1. all knights cannot be trusted, • 2. things are not always what they seem. • These points relate directly to Teabing. When

Langdon tells Sophie about Teabing, he remarks, “There is no one better to help them on the quest for the Grail than a knight.” Teabing is both a “bad” knight and something other than what he seems. Like the knight in the office, he betrays the Grail and is much more dangerous than he appears.

The Last Supper• At the heart of Brown's novel is the story that

da Vinci hid a major clue in his masterpiece, The Last Supper.

• John the Apostle, or Mary Magdalene?• On reexamining the painting, it's discovered

that sitting at Jesus' right hand is Mary Magdalene, not as is commonly believed, the apostle John.

• In addition, the famous cup from which Christ drank, the Holy Grail, is conspicuously left out of the painting.

• Here is where Brown cleverly weaves medieval legends with high Renaissance art to suggest that the Holy Grail - which became the subject of endless search by medieval knights - was not a cup at all but Mary Magdalene herself, the human receptacle for Jesus' blood line.

Mona Lisa• Another clue in the novel is seen in

one of da Vinci's Mona Lisa which Langdon states is an expression of the artist's belief in the “Sacred Feminine."

• The conclusion drawn is that Mona Lisa is not any particular person, but a cryptic reference to the Egyptian gods Amon and Isis. "Mona" is an anagram of Amon and "Lisa" a contraction of l'Isa, meaning Isis.

• In the novel, Professor Langdon discovers that da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in opposition to the Church's suppression of Mary Magdalene's true identity.

Vitruvian Man• In the novel's opening

scene, Sauniere's body is found in the Louvre naked and posed like the Vitruvian Man, with a cryptic message written beside his body. It is the first clue that Professor Langdon receives that prods him to delve more deeply into other works of da Vinci that helps solve the mystery.

The Rose• The container with the

Cryptex is decorated with a rose. The rose is a female symbol because of the five rose leaves. The romans hang up a rose during secret meetings, so that everything that was mentioned should remain a secret. Robert Langdon gets the idea, that the rose on the container can be pushed aside. And there is a text under the rose.

Red Hair• Sophie Neveu’s red hair,

mentioned at the beginning of the text, foreshadows her divine blood.

• Teabing shows Sophie that Mary Magdalene is depicted with red hair in The Last Supper.

• By the end of the novel, when Sophie’s brother gives a of the Rosslyn Chapel and his hair is described as “strawberry blonde,” we understand that Sophie and brother are of Mary Magdalene’s bloodline.

Blood• Blood stands for truth and enlightenment in

The Da Vinci Code.• Sauniere draws a pentacle—for him, a symbol

of the Church’s intention to cover up the true world—on his stomach in his own blood.

• Sophie realizes that her grandfather has left a message farther on the Mona Lisa because a drop of his blood remains on the floor.

• Teabing spies atrickle of blood on Silas’s leg, which he takes to mean that Silas has a cilice, a barbed punishment belt, on his thigh, and disables him by hitting him there.

• For Silas, blood means cleansing of impurities.

• And at the very end of the novel, the discovery of the blood of Mary Magdalene running through Sophie and her brother’s veins proves that the story of the Grail is true.

Cell Phones• The cell phone symbolizes the

fact that in the modern world, secrets are both harder and easier to keep.

• Teabing conceals his identity as the Teacher by using cellphones to communicate with his unknowing allies.

• Sophie has tipped Langdon off by looking up her phone number, which is stored in his cell phone, and finding that it matches the number Sophie gave Langdon as the American Embassy’s number.

The Venus

• The star of Venus is the symbol of romance, love and beauty. According to Greek culture Venus is the goddess of the beauty and love.

• The symbol of Venus can be read in two ways. On which is described in the text itself and another we can read it as the importance of female and sacredness of creative ability of the woman.

• 1. At the first reading we can read it as the text described it: it is the symbol of male and female reunion.

• 2. We can read another meaning is that; the female is sacred and the race which is living on the earth is the heirs of the Devine female I.e. Mary Magdalene.

Science1. Phi = 1.618 :- It is the divine number

according to ancient religion. It is the proportion which is followed by Nature. The measurement of our body parts are always in the same proportion of it. The number is very special in the Pagan religion.

2. Fibonacci Sequence of Numbers :- Fibonacci is the another number which can be seen commonly in Nature. Whatever increases or grows is grown r increased in thie Fibonacci number’s ratio. It goes like: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34... and so on. The addition of the two numbers generates the number further. The galaxies, the branches on the tree are having the same proportion.

3. Cryptex Code :- The cryptex is the creative aspect of the work by Dan Brown. It is the closed small cylindrical container of the paper. There are total three cryptex in the novel. In the cryptex too there is the use of science.

Art1. The Paintings :- Many paintings like Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Vitruvian Man.

2. The Anagrams :- 13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5O, Draconion devil!Oh, lame saint!P.S. Find Robert LangdonMeans – Leonardo da Vinci!The Mona Lisa!

3. The Pentacle :- The pentacle is the star denotes the union of the symbol Chalice and Grail. It is the symbol of Power of Creativity. It also presents the star of Venus and feminine power.