The independent and commanding. She is also

The independent and commanding. She is also

The Da Vinci CodeBy Dan BrownFor my book report I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code has one main character and many supporting characters.

The main character is Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist and professor. He is a tall American with coarse black hair and blue eyes. He is very intellectual and very modest.

He is a quick thinker under pressure and doesn’t give up easily. He is careful with his words. The most important supporting character is Sophie Neveu. She is a cryptologist the and granddaughter of Jacques Sauniere, the murder victim. She has blond hair and green eyes and is French. She is very independent and commanding.

She is also very intellectual, fluent in two languages, and good at breaking codes. She is a very determined person and does not give up with out a fight. She is also very quick witted.

She is a very good liar, very convincing. She likes to take matters into her own hands.The second most important supporting character is Leigh Teabing. Sir Leigh Teabing is a avid researcher of the Holy Grail.

He has bushy red hair and hazel eyes. Both his legs are in metal braces. Leigh is a sly Englishman, who is obsessed with discovering the hiding place of the Grail. He is a very good actor and loves to exaggerate. He is never at a loss for words.Another main supporting charater is Bezu Fanche. He is the officer who is leading the search for the murderer and suspectcs that it is Langdon.

Fanche is a large cold man who is desperrate to find this culprit. He grealt needs this case to be solved because his reputation is on the line here. He made a few too many mistakes and needs to restore his reputataion or he risk losing his job.I also believe that another imortant supporting character is Jaucques Sauniere. He is murdered in the first chapter, however throughout the book Jaucques Sauniere affects the story line dramatically.

Jaucques Sauniere is man who really believes that you need to work for what you get and nothing should come easily to you. He is an amazing code specialist and when he hides something it will stay hidden unless he wants you to find it.The Da Vinci Code is about the journey Robert and Sophie take to find the Holy Grail.

It begins in the Louvre Museum of Art where Jaucques Sauniere who was a curator in the Louvre. He was also the master of a secret organization called the Priory of Sion. His identity as the master is not revealed until later in the story. His murder was the result of his identity being exposed. Langdon is charged with his murder and this is where the story really begins. Sophie and Robert are left clues by Sauniere which eventually lead them to the hiding place of the Holy Grail. In this quest they request the help of a old friend of Langdon’s, Leigh Teabing.

Leigh and Robert reveal to Sophie the true nature of the Holy Grail. In the book, the Grail, in fact, is not a chalice, but has three parts, a person, a line of descendants, and the sangreal documents. It is revealed that Grail is in fact Mary Magdalene.

She was the wife of Jesus and bore the fruit of his womb. Many of the clues that were necessary in order to find true meaning of the Holy Grail were referenced to in the paintings of Da Vinci. The whole Christian religion is based on the fact that Christ was a divine prophet. Christ was made to be a divine prophet after Jesus’ death when the Pagans and the Christians were fighting with each other over religion. In order to solve the problem, people portrayed Christ as a divine prophet in order to make Christianity look like the one and only religion.

But with this came consequence. All Jewish men are given the task to marry. Jesus being good Jew did marry.

After had been changed to be refered to as a divine prophet, he no longer could have taken part in mortal activities. They then had to destroy her significance in the life of Christ and the significance in the churches history. The church then cast her as a prostitute after she had fled in fear of her life, and that of her unborn child.The Priory of Sion’s job is the protect the descendants of Mary Magdalene and the Sangreal documents which describe the life of Christ as it really was. They also were said to protect the corps of Mary Magdalene.

Jaucques murderer belonged to a secret society called Opus Dei. They are a very conservative reactionary society in Catholicism. They are also trying to find the Holy Grail.After this information has been revealed to Sophie the three of them set out to find the Grail. They are betrayed by Leigh who was acting almost as a double agent for Opus Dei yet he was really only working for himself and betrayed both societies in the end. However Sophie and Langdon did Persevere. In the end the clues lead Sophie to find the true identity of her family.

They did not find the location of the Grail nor did they learn all the answers. They did however find rest in what information they found.Everything in The Da Vinci Code happened for a reason or had some sort of affect on the main plot.

For example Sophies Grandfathers death and his choice to leave clues for them launches them into their quest to find the Holy Grail. Their choice in seeking help from Teabing not only leads them to understand additional clue but also unwittingly brings them into contact with the sinister force which is manipulating all the characters without their knowledge. The detectives suspicion of Langdon as the prime suspect for the murder and his hot pursuit of them adds a element of haste which keeps the story moving at a fast pace. Their simultaneous pursuit by the murderer from Opus Dei, who unknowingly guided by Teabing, increases the already present tension and suspense. Teabings betrayal unexpectedly leads them to the true root of the mystery and Sophies discovery of her own family’s intimate connection to the Grail.The Da Vinci code has many deeper meanings hidden in it’s text. There are many references to the lost power that women once held in both pagan religions and early Christianity.

I believe that the author is saying that when religion put women into second class status it contradicted many of their original beliefs and distorted religious truth. I believe that the author was also referencing to how deeply rooted religious mysteries are embedded in our life. People are willing to spend their lives searching for deeper religious meaning to human experience.I thoroughly enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. It was well written and very fascinating.

Dan Brown is very good at weaving mysteries within mysteries. Once you solve one mystery it leads to another one. For instance inside this cryptex, an egg like box that you have to aline the letters properly in order to open it, is the keystone. You cannot try to smash the box because inside lies a small glass vile containing vinegar which will dissolve the parchment on which the message is written. Once Langdon, Shopie, and Teabing open the first cryptex another lies inside. He also never lets the story slow down or stop moving.

There is always an unexpected twist which will astound you yet make perfect sense. Such as Teabing betrayal. It was totally unexpected yet it fit Teabings personality perfectly.

He always wishes to have the upper hand. Another unexpected twist was that the Grail really wasn’t hidden in Great Britain in the Rosslyn which all the clues seemed to lead. Another unexpected twist was that both Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion both wished to keep the contents of the Grail hidden. Dan brown is also good at gathering real information and joining it together to make a story that seems possible. His story is based on facts which he has distorted to make fit to what he wishes to achieve. You can never tell what is coming next or what the outcome of an action will. He constantly keeps you guessing and I enjoy that.

I give this book two thumbs up.The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, DoubleDay publishing 2003.