0 pages • 0 minutes read
Dan BrownA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Sister Sandrine Bieil, the maintenance administrator for the Church of Saint-Sulpice, is awoken during the night by her boss’ request: Open the church to an Opus Dei numerary, instruction direct from Bishop Aringarosa. Though confused, she agrees. Sister Bieil is unsettled by Opus Dei’s ascension to prominence, its close ties with the Vatican. She disapproves of their traditionalism on matters of orthodoxy as well as their marginalization of women. She follows her orders despite her intuition.
Inside the Grand Gallery, Langdon stares at Sauniére’s final message:
13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5
O, Draconian devil!
Oh, lame saint! (47).
He puzzles over the enigmatic message, noting that it’s written in English rather than French. Fache pulls back the light to reveal a circle circumscribed around the body, what Langdon interprets as a reference to Da Vinci’s famous sketch, Vitruvian Man, the circle a symbol of male/female harmony. Langdon hypothesizes that the Da Vinci reference plus the coded message might be a condemnation of the Church’s marginalization of the divine feminine in favor of a male-centric orthodoxy, an idea Fache dismisses. He thinks the curator was trying to communicate the identity of his killer, a person he presumably knew.
By Dan Brown
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Art
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Historical Fiction
View Collection
Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense
View Collection
Mystery & Crime
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Religion & Spirituality
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection