The Da Vinci Code: Six Steps Of The Quest
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In the book The Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown, is a question of Jesus being divine or human. This is the struggle that the protagonist, Robert Langdon, goes through to find the truth in the murder of Jacques Sauniere. He has been murdered because of religious morals and for gain. By completing the six steps of the epic journey, according, to the mythologist Joseph Campbell, Langdon finds many amazing things.
The first step of the epic journey is the call; Robert Langdon is visiting in Paris, France and gets called to the Louve by a French policeman named Fache who brings Langdon to the museum to force his confession to a murder. The last action Sauneire did was write a riddle as he was dying that ended, “ps find Robert Langdon”(Brown 155) Before Langdon can be arrested, another French officer, Sophie neveu, rescues Langdon. Neveu knows that Langdon was unaware of the danger he was in and told Langdon of the actual danger.
The second step in the quest, the journey, is very important during the quest, according to Campbell, because it is where the character finds what they are after. Langdon’s journey is one with a different challenge and discovery around every corner. The journey starts off with Sophie and he faking their escapes from the Louve, while working out the answer to the riddle left behind by Jacques Sauniere. They next find themselves blocked by the French Police and ultimately being led to a safety deposit box after finding a strange key behind a painting in the Louve. This leads to the discovery of a cryptex, a medieval device used to pass secret messages from one point to another through the use of a 5 letter alphabetic code. Finally their journey takes them to the south of France and a friend who specializes in the Holy Grail.
The third step is the helpers, which is an important step in the quest because it is where the character finds who is going to help him and who he will interact with throughout the rest of the story. Langdon is helped by Sophie Neveu in this step. Who turns out to be the grand daughter of Jacques Sauniere. This link is critical as Jack Saniuer is a member of the Priory of Scion. He also turns out to be the Grand master. The Prior is a secret society involved in a myth of the Holy Grail. It has long been associated with hiding or protecting the Holy Grail. This is why they needed the help of Sir Leigh Teabing. A Grail historian and one that had long tried to tie the Grand Master of the Grail to his theory. That being that the Grail was not the cup of the last supper, but in reality that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that Mary carried a child into the world. A bloodline of Christ on the planet, a Royal Blood Line of Christ. Which would the defeat the premise of the Catholic Church about the divinity of Christ. With only the clues left by the now dead Saniuer to help them find the truth,, that being that the Scion were in reality the protectors of the heirs to Jesus Christ and as that was in direct conflict with the Church teachings.
The fourth step is the other which the antagonist or someone who causes distress to the protagonist. This is an important part of the quest because we see who is trying to stop the protagonist and this shows what may be ahead in the story. Fache and a monk named Silas are the two others in this book. Both Silas and Fache are chasing Sophie and Robert but for two very different reasons. Fache is chasing Langdon because he is the main suspect in a murder investigation. Fache is a good police officer that allowed his judgment to be corrupted by his faith. As Fache is a member of Opus Dei, a sect of the Catholic Church, he allowed himself to be drawn into the murder investigation by a High-ranking Bishop. Who told Fache that he has broken the Sacrament of confession, in order to stop Langdon. Stop him from finding the secret that Sauniere was to take to his grave.
The Monk, Silas, is also an Opus Dei fanatic, fanatical o the extent