Name: Drashti V. Dave
Assignment sub: Is “Idea of knowability” presented in The Da Vinci Code or not?
Roll no: 6 Year: 2013-2015
Sem-4 M.A.part-2
Enrolment no: PG13101007
Paper no: 13- The New Literature
Submitted to: Smt.S.B.Gardi Department of English
Maharaja Krisnkumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Is “Idea of knowability” presented
in The Da Vinci Code or not?
Brief
introduction of the novel and the author:
The novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot point is that the Merovingian kings of France were descended from the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, ideas derived from Clive Prince's The Templar Revelation (1997) and books by Margaret Starbird. The book also refers to The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) though Dan Brown has stated that it was not used as research material.
The Da Vinci Code
provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Mary Magdalene's role in the history of Christianity. The book has, however, been extensively
denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church,
and consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies. The novel nonetheless became a worldwide bestseller that sold 80 million copies as of 2009] and has
been translated into 44 languages. Combining the detective, thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, it is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert
Langdon: the first was his
2000 novel Angels &
Demons.
Brown's novels are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour period, and
feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys,
symbols, codes, and conspiracy
theories. His books have been translated
into 52 languages, and as of 2012, sold over 200 million copies. Two of them, The Da Vinci Code and Angels &
Demons, have been adapted into films. Story follows Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon and the gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris' Louvre Museum. They are stunned to discover bizarre riddles that lead them to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, seemingly left by the museum's late curator, Jacques Saunière minutes before his death. Their race to discover the closely guarded secret held by Saunière uncovers a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene. Brown reveals his conspiracy through the book’s fictional expert, British royal historian Sir Leigh Teabing. Presented as a wise old scholar, Teabing reveals to cryptologist Sophie Neveu that at the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325 “many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon,” including the divinity of Jesus. Thus, according to the theory, the entire foundation of Christianity rests upon a lie.
Without that theory we can apply so many other theories, ideas and views here. Especially ‘idea of knowability’ can be very properly apply because through so many major characters we came to know how ‘knowledge’ is important for them so knowledge plays a very vital role in the book, we can say that knowledge and knowability both are main pillar of the text. Let’s look what is the meaning of knowledge, knowability and how it is apply for all the characters like; Sophie Neveu, Robert Langdon, Leigh Teabing, Silas etc.
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In this book she gave so many important ideas which are very much connected The Da Vinci Code; now let’s discuss what she was trying to say in chapter-4-Ouestion of Research in this chapter she describes the idea and question of identity.
Ann Gray’s book chapter-4-Ouestion of Research: in this she said that; question of identity are also pressing and take on a particular poignancy and urgency as students explore questions and take their own and others’ identities and the ways in which they are shaped by cultural forms. At the same way question of identity shown in The Da Vinci Code if we can compare Sophie’s character with it than we came to know that Sophie doesn’t know her real identity and that’s why quest for knowing and quest for identity emerge. Furthermore Ann Gray said in this chapter when the very things we are getting have shaped us, influences us, made us what we are and what we become? In oreder to develop her project with working –class women Beverrley Skeggs (1994) drew on what Guba (1990) has argued are the three fundamental research questions that structure any research project:
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three fundamental research questions
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Ann Gray describe these three questions in detail and says that how these three are important for question of identity, we can apply these three questions in The Da Vinci Code because in the novel one of the major questions is about ‘identity’ and ‘knowledge about the self’.
Now let’s discuss fundamental questions in detail.
1. What
is there can be known- what is knowable? this is an ontological question, it refers to the aspect of social reality
to be studied but also deals with assumptions we are willing to make about the
nature of reality. It requires you to take position in relation in your project
and to define your ‘knowable space’ How you construct your knowable space and
how you go about exploring and investigating that knowable space will depend
upon your theoretical approach to the social world. So here we are shown that
how can we define our knowable space and what can be known to us, we are shown
different ways, methods, theories, perspectives, aspect, choises, and research
questions here. Another aspect is that relationship between knower and the
known.
2. What
is the relation of the knower and the known? this is an epistemological question and
put simply asks how we know that we know. The assumptions that are made about
this depend upon how we perceive of the reality although Guba does not suggests
this, how we locate as subjects within our research. What we bring to our work
how our own knowledge and experience is brought to bear on the research itself
will certainly shape it. It is to acknowledge what we ourselves bring our
research in terms of our lived experiences. So these researches bring to our
attention the importance of acknowledging that in many things so knower and the
known both are different from each other.
And
third last question is mainly stressed that it is too difficult to find out the
things but there are so many methods which are useful to finding out he things.
3.
How do we
find out things? These are methodological question so in this
we come to know that there are many ways to find out the things. These three
questions are very much related to the novel because one of the major thing of
the novel is that; knowledge and knowability. So for that perspective
understanding of these things from Ann Gray’s book is very helpful. In that
book Ann Gray differentiate so many things which can be applied in the novel.
Some chapter’s ideas are also presented in some theories and characters of The
Da Vinci Code. Especially theories of this book are for cultural study but at
some extent questions about the knowledge and knowability presented in the
novel. In chapter-10 of research methodology theorists furthermore talks about
knowledge.
Chapter-10
sources of knowledge and ways of knowing: in this chapter Denzin and
others says that; these might be thought of as the common-sense approaches
knowledge that posit a knowable world and a researcher who can come to know
through the application of particular observational method. Further in another
theory people contested claims that what constitutes knowledge. Scholars argued
that ‘knowledge comes from experience’
So in the novel idea of knowledge and
knowability is reflected through so many characters like; Robert Langdon,
Sophie Neveu, Leigh Teabing, Silas etc. Because the novel is conspiracy fiction
and it is frontal attack on Christian faith so we also don’t know so many
things so now let’s discuss unknown things from the novel with the help of Ann
Gray’s perspective. ‘idea of knowledge leads towards calmness’
I don’t know
what I don’t know it is very necessary for understanding this
idea.
Robert Langdon’s
quest for knowing:
Professor Robert
Langdon is a fictional character created by author Dan Brown. In the
beginning of The Da Vinci Code,
Robert Langdon is in Paris to give a lecture on his work. Having made an
appointment to meet with Jacques Saunière, the curator of the Louvre,
he is startled to find the French police at his hotel room door. They inform
him that Saunière has been murdered and they would like his immediate
assistance at the Louvre to help them solve the crime. Unknown to Langdon, he
is in fact the prime suspect in the murder and has been summoned to the scene
of the crime so that the police may extract a confession from him. While he is
in the Louvre, he meets Sophie Neveu, a young cryptologist from the DCPJ.
He spends the rest of the novel dodging the police and trying to solve the
mystery of an ancient secret society, the Priory of Sion, which was once
headed by Leonardo Da Vinci. At the end of the novel, Langdon uncovers
the mystery behind Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail But his entire journey and
quest for knowing is very interesting while the quest of the Holy Grail Langdon
passes the stage of knowing and he know the things from different levels. And
at the end of the novel it is his last stage of knowing he was standing to
beneath the ancient Rose Line at least he sensed and he understood the true
meaning of the grand master’s verse and ‘the
quest for the Holy Grail is the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary
Magdalene. A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one, and at last with a
sudden upwelling of reverence Robert Langdon feel to his knees. So we can say that Robert Langdon’s quest for
knowing is one idea of knowability because at the end of the novel he knows
that sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene is beneath the museum, and symbolically
novel ends with the end of quest of knowing.
Sophie’s self-identification: 
Sophie Neveu is the granddaughter of Louvre curator Jacques Saunière. She is a French National Police cryptographer, who studied at the Royal Holloway, University of London Information Security Group.
She was raised by her grandfather from an
early age, after her parents were killed in a car accident. Her grandfather
used to call her "Princesses Sophie" and trained her to solve
complicated word puzzles. With the help of Langdon Sophie finds out at the end
of the book that she is a descendant of the Merovingian’s, and a living
descendant of the historical Jesus. She first starts suspecting this when Sir
Leigh Teabing reveals the truth of the Holy Grail, but dismisses the idea when
Langdon tells her that neither her surname nor her grandfather's is a
Merovingian name. (The surname Neveu
is the French word for "nephew.") In fact, as she later finds out,
her parents and ancestors had, for protection, changed their family names of
Plantard and Saint-Clair. When Sophie went to Rosslyn Chappell with Langdon at
that time she said that “my grandfather must have brought me here when I was
young I don’t know it feels familiar” it is also one way of looking the idea of
knowability. It is the starting point of knowing and at the end of the novel
she identifying herself as ancestor of Christ so her self-identification and
her journey to know about herself is also presented very well in the novel. So
she is important character whom we can apply idea of self identity. Like
Langdon she is also at the process of knowing especially self-identification.
For her we can say that after a long journey of knowing her completely knowing
herself. So idea of knowability presented through Sophie’s character.
Silas’s illusion to know everything:
Silas is an albino numeracy of the Catholic organization Opus Dei, who practices severe corporal mortification (he is seen using a metal cilice and flogging himself). During the events of the main storyline, he is about forty years old. The film portrays him as younger. The novel depicts him as a monk, although Opus Dei has no monks. Silas's real name is unknown. He had originally lived in Marseille with his parents. However, his father was furious at having an albino for his son, and blamed Silas's mother, repeatedly beating and eventually killing her. Enraged, Silas murdered his father using a butcher's knife and fled. He was only seven years old. He grew up on the streets, eating garbage and waste. Other young runaways excluded him due to his strange appearance. After he pummeled a girl for making fun of his condition, police gave him an ultimatum to either leave Marseille or go to prison. He moved to Toulon, where he continued living on the streets. After getting into a fight with two sailors, he killed one, and was imprisoned in Andorra in the Pyrenees until freed by an earthquake that destroyed the prison walls. He found refuge with a young Spanish priest named Manuel Aringarosa, who gave him the name Silas, after a person in the Bible who was the companion of Paul of Tarsus, imprisoned at Philippi and freed by an earthquake after singing. Aringarosa eventually became a bishop and the head of Opus Dei. Before the story's main narrative, Aringarosa puts him in contact with an enigmatic figure called The Teacher and tells him that the mission he will be given is of utmost importance in saving the true Word of God. Under the orders of The Teacher, he murders Jacques Saunière and the other three leaders of the Priory of Sion in order to extract the location of the Priory's. However, Silas is reluctant to commit murder, knowing that it is a sin and does so only because he is assured his actions will save the Catholic Church. So idea of knowability presented here.
Even Silas don’t’ know who the teacher is but then also he works for him and killed so many people under the order of the Teacher. Silas follows the information given by the Priory leaders to the Church of Saint-Sulpice, however he discovers that he was duped with false information at that point we can say that he thinks that now he know everything but latter on he know nothing. By mistake he shoots Aringarosa after carrying him to the hospital he vows to kill the Teacher but Aringarosa saying that if he had learned anything from his teaching; he must know that “forgiveness is God’s greatest gift” In his last moment Silas goes out alone and prays to God for mercy and forgiveness, idea of knowability can be presented here because Silas know that whatever he did God must punished him even he himself punished his body and pray to God for his bad deeds. At that level he know the things at least he thinks that he know so he is knower but we came to know that he know nothing.
after Robert Langdon Leigh Teabing is another character whose quest for knowing is as similar as Langdon. Leigh Teabing is the primary antagonist of the Da Vinci Code, he is a British Royal Historian a knight of the realm Grail scholar and friend of Professor Robert Langdon. At some unrevealed point during his life Teabing had suffered from polio. When the millennium comes and goes without the Priory of Sion the only ones beside Teabing who know the truth about the Holy Grail. Teabing revealing the truth Teabing blames the Catholic Church as the ones behind it, and so he schemes to find the documents revealing the truth and show them to the world from that point his journey for quest for knowing and quest for the Holy Grail started. But he doesn’t know the password of keystone so he helped Sophie and Langdon. Teabing is the Teacher but from the beginning and half-middle of the novel no one knows that Teabing is the Teacher but when he killed his butler Remy Legaludec at that time we came to know that he is the Teacher.
Teabing instructs Silas to kill four members of the Priory of Sion, and at the same time gain the whereabouts of the secret keystone which leads to the Grail. There are so many complications about his character but his stage of knowing is very interesting. He then minister of West minister Abbey where the keystone’s riddle leads to Langdon and Sophie arrive shortly after Teabing and there he reveals to them his identity as Teacher at that time Sophie and Robert knows his real identity. He hands over the keystone to Langdon but later Langdon throws the keystone up in midair Teabing tries to catch it but it slips out of his hands and on the ground just when Teabing thinks the secret of the Grail lost forever.
And then he knows that Langdon had already guessed the password.
Before Teabing can know what the clue is, the police arrived and arrest him for Teabing we can say that he is important character and we can apply the idea of knowability here also. And through his actions he prove that he know the things, apart from these characters; Robert Langdon, Sophie, Leigh Teabing and Silas Holy Grail is also symbol of knowledge and knowability, how let’s discuss.
Holy Grail is kind of symbol of knowledge:
According to the novel
the secrets of the Holy Grail as kept by the Priory of Sion only they know
where the Holy Grail is. Even readers don’t know what the Holy Grail is. The
Holy Grail is not physical chalice but a woman namely Mary Magdalene who
carried the bloodline of Christ the Grail relics of Mary Magdalene were hidden
by the Priory of Sion. While reading of it we come to know that Grail is Mary
Magdalene. Holy Grail itself is idea
of knowledge because it inspired us to lead towards the knowledge.
“it is the mystery and
wonderment the serve out our souls not the Grail itself , the beauty of the
Grail lies in her ethereal nature” Marie Chauvel said to Langdon and gazed up
at Rosslyn. “For some Grail is a chalice that will bring them everlasting life,
for others it is the quest for the documents and secret history. And for most I
suspect the Holy Grail is simply a grand idea..a glorious unattainable treasure
that somehow even in today’s world of chaos , inspires us.”
So it gave knowledge
to us so Ann Gray’s ideas are very much presented through the characters, and the
idea of knowledge leads towards calmness.
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