The Da Vinci Code: Fact, or Fiction?

My final paper for Composition 101.



1. Introduction

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown is, as of 2006, a 43 million-copy best seller (Clapp). It’s been rewritten as a movie starring one of the top actors of the 21st century, Tom Hanks. It’s action packed, and a page turner. The book centers around Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology, and Sophie Neveu, a French national Police cryptographer. After the murder of Jacques Saunière�"Sophie’s grandfather, curator of the Louvre, and leader of the Priory of Sion�"Langdon is called in to examine clues left behind about the murderer. What Langdon doesn’t know is that he is the primary suspect in the murder because of a clue Saunière left behind, “P.S. Find Robert Langdon.” In the journey to find Saunière’s true murderer, Langdon and Sophie discover the truth about the Holy Grail, the Priory of Sion, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei, and many other historical figures (Brown).

Sounds like a good read, right? It is, but since the book’s release in 2003, The Da Vinci Code has been the biggest source of controversy in recent pop-culture. Not only does it make assumptions about one of the best artists in history, it also indirectly attacks Christianity, in its entirety.

“All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Dan Brown included this in the preface to the book that made him famous. Most of the debate about the book is whether or not it should be treated as a work of fiction, or a book revealing secrets the world would never have known…if Brown hadn’t “stumbled” upon them. The Da Vinci Code delivers these supposed facts as actually being true. Until further research, a reader may actually believe these “facts.”

A second…and even third look at some of the key points reveal many errors in the “history” presented in the book. The Priory of Sion, The Knights Templar, and Opus Dei are just a few of the things Brown has seemed to written the “truth” about.

2. The Priory of Sion

    In the novel, The Priory of Sion is supposedly the organization to have kept the secret of the Holy Grail and the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. “The Priory of Sion�"a European secret society founded in 1099�"is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Biliothque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci (Brown, Preface)”
    In reality, the Priory of Sion was an actual organization, three times. The first Priory of Sion was a monastic order founded in Jerusalem in 1100, and in 1617, it was absorbed by the Jesuits. The second and third Priory of Sion was ruled by a Frenchman by the name of Pierre Plantard. In 1954 he formed the Priory of Sion to help those in need of low cost housing. This organization lasted until 1957. Finally, in the 1960’s and 70’s Plantard forged documents claiming to have information proving the existence of Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s bloodline. These documents placed the bloodline through the kings of France and ultimately “proved” himself to be the rightful heir to the French throne. In 1993, Plantard admitted under oath to a French judge that he had forged the documents (RBC, Holy Grail).

3. The Knights Templar

    Dan Brown also included the Knights Templar in his tale. Like the Priory of Sion, the Knights Templar have a basis in history, but again, like the Priory of Sion, the “history” in The Da Vinci Code is not as accurate as it seems. The Knights Templar were formed in 1118 as a military religious order to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. The Templars did not become wealthy by discovering the secret of the Holy Grail�"they became rich because they were bankers. There is no evidence that they were dismantled because they had knowledge of it. Also, the Knights Templar were not suppressed by Pope Clement V as revealed in the book. According to true history, King Philip the Fair of France suppressed the organization. King Philip charged the Knights not with ritual fornication, but with sodomy.  The Da Vinci Code mentions the Knights Templar worshipped a stone idol that was associated with fertility when, in fact, in only one of more than one-hundred confessions is this association made (Miesel)

4. Opus Dei

    In Brown’s book, the Catholic organization, Opus Dei, is portrayed as the “bad guy.” Silas, the albino monk, follows orders from “The Teacher.” Once again, Dan Brown is inaccurate in his descriptions of Opus Dei. If one were to believe the “facts” in The Da Vinci Code, they would believe that all Opus Dei members are monks, practice bloody mortifications, view males as the dominant sex, and lie, murder, and drug people. Opus Dei has published an article rebutting each of these claims. There are no monks in Opus Dei. As any other Christians, Opus Dei members condemn immoral behavior. Although the Catholic church advises members to practice mortification, Opus Dei do not do bodily harm to themselves. Instead, a member may fast on a specific day, or persevere during a time they would normally give up. Also, the most important�"in Opus Dei, both sexes are treated with equal dignity and status, which means one sex is not favored above any other (Opus Dei).

5. Pentagram/Pentacle

    One of the many symbols Langdon explains the “history” of is the pentagram, or pentacle. Once again, as no surprise, Langdon…or Brown, rather, is wrong. Langdon claims that the planet Venus traces a perfect pentacle every eight years and that this eight-year cycle was the basis for the Olympic Games. He also claims that the pentacle was almost the symbol for the modern Olympics. Venus does trace a pentacle, not a perfect one, but a pentacle nonetheless. Regardless of this, the Ancients would have been oblivious to this, so the Olympic games are not based on the eight-year cycle, but rather held in a four-year cycle in honor of Zeus. There is no evidence to support the theory that the pattern that Venus traces was to be the symbol for the Olympics (Religion Facts).

6. Technical Errors

    Along with these important factual mistakes, Brown makes a few technical mistakes. The following mistakes take place during the scenes at the Louvre. Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, “Virgin of the Rocks,” hangs in the Grand Gallery, not the Salle des Estats. Also, it is not the painting hung across from the infamous “Mona Lisa.” The Louvre has a group of 60 curators�"so it would be impossible for Saunière to be the only curator, unless he was the single curator devoted to the “Mona Lisa,” which was never implied (Wilson).
    Robert Langdon is reputed to be a professor of symbology at Harvard, but there is no such position. There is no real academic discipline devoted to symbology. In a discussion about tarot cards, Langdon states that there are 22 cards per deck, when in fact, there are 78. The final scene of the book contains Langdon having a sudden realization that the Holy Grail is underneath the pyramid entrance of the Louvre, which supposedly has 666 glass panes. It really has 793 (Wilson).

7. Conclusion

    Cracking Da Vinci’s Code is a book written to specifically ‘debunk’ The Da Vinci Code. In it, the authors write, “It has never been proven that da Vinci purposely included symbolism in his works for a future enlightened generation to unravel. Thus, the intention of this book is not to unravel da Vinci’s code, for we are not convinced there ever was one. We refer at times to da Vinci’s code, but for the most part we call it Brown’s code, for we believe Mr. Brown is the original source of this code, not Leonardo,” (Jones) Ten books have been written to debunk The Da Vinci Code. There are numerous articles available on the internet on the topic. Although the book was released over seven years ago, a lot of controversy still remains about whether or not Brown had actually stumbled upon a code in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Some points made about da Vinci’s art may be true. Only Leonardo knows if in “The Last Supper” the person sitting to the right of Jesus is John or Mary. He is the only one that knows exactly who “Mona Lisa” is, and even if she is the female version of himself, or whether or not he is the flamboyant homosexual that he is reported to be in the novel (Boddy-Evans).
    Dan Brown has written a fairy tale. One full of action and conspiracy theories. To make a claim, such as he has, that “all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate,” was a fatal error on Brown’s part. Almost each “fact” presented in The Da Vinci Code be proven wrong. The Da Vinci Code should not be treated as a source of historical information, but as the fictional novel that it is. The only history that Brown correctly addresses with the writing of his book is that, in 2003 a man tried to fool the world. That man was Dan Brown.

WORKS CITED

Boddy-Evans, Marion. "The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Is Fiction Not Fact." About.com Painting -- Learn How to Paint, Painting Tips, Creativity. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. New York: Anchor, 2006. Print.

Clapp, Rodney. "The Appeal of the Da Vinci Code." Religion Online. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Debunking the Da Vinci Code. 14 May 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2010. <

"Holy Grail." The Da Vinci Code: Separating Fact From Fiction. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Jones, Kim. "Cracking Da Vinci's Code: You've Read the Fiction, Now Read the Facts - James L. Garlow and Peter Jones - Christian Book Review." Christian Music / Gospel at About.com - CD Reviews, Artist Information & News. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Miesel, Sandra. "Dismantling The Da Vinci Code." Catholic Education Resource Center. 2003. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

"Opus Dei - NEWS - The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei." Opus Dei - Finding God in Daily Life. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <

"ReligionFacts - The Pentacle or Pentagram and The Da Vinci Code. " Religion, World Religions, Comparative Religion - Just the Facts on the World's Religions. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Wilson, Tracy V. "Howstuffworks "How The Da Vinci Code Doesn't Work"" Howstuffworks "Entertainment" Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <

Author's Note

If you have any disputing ideas, share them! I'd love to hear what you think!

Reviews

[The Good Luck Victoriou..]

A well researched piece.

I like that you have 'inserted a critic' into your writing by critisising Brown's claims. This gives your essay a purpose so that it's not just a summary of the book.

The only critisism I have of your essay is that it fails the 'so what' test. That is, if someone were to ask you 'what is the point of this essay', or 'who cares', how would you answer? Adding something to your introduction that states that Brown has misrepresented numerous people and organisations, and that this could lead to prejudice/bias etc. against the subjects will allow your essay to pass the 'so what' test by giving it a purpose.

[Frank F. Atanacio]

a very good informative piece an actual eye-opening story :)